Hloniphile Simelane [Opinion] In July 2004, at their meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, heads of the member states of the African Union made a declaration to actively promote the implementation of legislation that strengthens women’s land, property, and inheritance...
While national government reduced conditional grants to some metros, they all benefited from the R11 billion increase in equitable share funding in the national adjustments budget approved in August. Consequently, we see an overall increase in spending, but not for...
This week, the Planact team is spending time in Witbank/ Emalahleni in Mpumalanga with journalists from Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism to support them with capturing stories on the inadequate basic service delivery in the informal settlement communities we...
The Emalahleni Informal Settlement Cluster (MASCOM) held its first physical meeting last week in Masakhane after a long break since declaration of the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020. The Cluster meeting was held on 08 October 2020 under strict adherence to lockdown...
Up to 45% of informal settlement residents contracted the coronavirus in the first wave. This is not surprising because they are sharing dirty taps and toilets. The sharp increase in the number of red traffic lights in Asivikelane 11 makes us worry that the second...
Asivikelane has reported many persistent service delivery problems in informal settlements – some of which have yet not been addressed. This month we also asked residents whether anyone in their households has lost their jobs in the last 4 months. Sadly, but...
The latest financial audit performance snapshot on municipalities in Mpumalanga province highlights a systemic decline according to the latest Auditor-General’s report titled Not much to go around, yet not the right hands. “The audit outcomes indicate that...
Advocating improved public participation in local government underpins one of Planact’s projects in partnership with informal settlement clusters in Ekurhuleni and Emalahleni municipalities. Planact’s success in building capacity of these informal settlement clusters...
Asivikelane 9 shows that providing clean taps and toilets in informal settlements could be the most effective way of reducing Covid-19 infections. Informal settlements are hotspots for infection because they don't have enough taps and toilets, and these communal...
This week a new question about public lighting was added on the report with a focus on gender. Two thirds of Asivikelane participants are women and most of them say that there is not enough public lighting in their informal settlements. while most metros now...
Asivikelane reiterates its call for government to take the lead in ensuring access to clean sanitation facilities in informal settlement communities as the country observes its Covid-19 peak. Every two weeks since the beginning of the lockdown Asivikelane has been...
The provision of sanitation in metro informal settlements has not improved and remains at crisis levels everywhere except Ekurhuleni. This situation should be addressed urgently in order to slow down the exponential spread of Covid-19 in the informal settlements of...
Why is the #MetsiKeBophelo (Water Is Life) campaign necessary? Access to water is a constitutional right in South Africa, not a privilege. According to research[i], 1 in 3 people in South Africa don’t have access to safe or reliable water. That’s about 20 million...
Inadequate service delivery is finally getting nationwide attention. On 10 June 2020, 15 radio stations broadcasting in all 11 South African official languages aired a segment on Covid-19 and informal settlements. On that day, South Africa recorded 55 421 positive...
Planact, together with eMalahleni Informal Settlement Cluster (also known as MASCOM), are concerned to learn that the Emalahleni Local Municipality is heavily indebted on its water bill. The article was published in the local newspaper, Witbank News, on 05th June 2020...
This week started with media reports that some informal settlements are now part of the list of Covid-19 hotspots. Like we have done in the last two months since the beginning of the lockdown #Asivikelane today is releasing data aimed at assisting in limiting the...
This week's results show wonderful progress in some metros, like eThekwini becoming the first metro to reach an orange light for the distribution of soap and handsanitiser and Ekurhuleni remaining the only metro to get...
Over half a million of Johannesburg’s 5.8 million people live in 181 informal settlements. The number of Covid-19 cases in the City increased rapidly from 971 on 6 May 2020 to 1,153 on 15 May 2020, a jump of 20 percent in less than 2 weeks. Shared water and toilet...