6. Implementing the Urban Strategy: Focus Areas

This section outlines the core policies and immediate Programmes which form part of the Urban Strategy, and which provide the basis for further initiatives by the major role players within and outside the public sector.

6.1 Integrating Cities and Towns and Managing Urban Growth

The Urban Strategy seeks, foremost, the physical, social and economic integration of our cities and towns. This means that:

• Jobs, housing, and urban amenities of all kinds must be furnished in more efficient and integrated urban and metropolitan settlements. Co-locating urban functions will make cities and towns more efficient in a number of ways. The first is less rigid and more flexible, mixed land uses. It will also be necessary to bring into mare productive use the many large tracts of under-utilised or vacant land, particularly state and parastatal-owned as well as mining land. This should be done especially with a view to provide low-income housing closer to business and industrial arm. In similar vein, under-utilised developed areas - like inner cities - should receive attention when urban reconstruction is planned. Physically more integrated cities and towns would also mean shorter commuting distances and times. Such interventions will not only make individual cities and towns more efficient, but they could also have a significant effect on the national economy.
• Urban settlements must foster the long-term sustainability of the urban environment. In particular, the environmental impacts of new development will have to be carefully monitored and managed according to the legal requirements of Integrated Environmental Management. Moreover, the corridors or open spaces necessary for the maintenance of biodiversity as well as for psychological health will be required to form an integral part of environmental planning processes.
• Intensified development should focus public investment around both developed and emergent nodal points in the urban system. This selective intensification should also occur along already existing transportation corridors. In this way "reurbanisation areas" and "activity corridors" will be created. Such intensified development must aim at establishing better conditions of access to an expanded range of nearby facilities.

• The rebuilding of the townships is an essential part of urban reconstruction and integration. The dormitory, role of low-income areas must finally be terminated. Specific attention will be focused on these low-income areas: townships, informal settlements, and low-income inner city, residential zones. These areas represent an under-utilised resource for the future. They have to be transformed into productive, habitable, environmentally healthy and safe urban environments, free from crime and violence. Rebuilding the townships is unquestionably the single most important urban development challenge facing the country. It cannot occur in isolation from integrating strategies. The intention is certainly not to reinforce the segregation between different parts of the dry. What needs to be done, however, is to ensure equity across the urban landscape and thus offer all urban residents proper opportunities and facilities. This transformation will include augmenting and diversifying urban functions, upgrading existing and constructing new housing, restoring and extending infrastructure services, promoting investment and economic activities and alleviating environmental health hazards.
• Public passenger transportation routes and systems should be improved and made more flexible. Better urban transportation will increase household mobility and thus access to wider labour markets and opportunities. Links between central city areas and outlying areas and between nodal points in the urban system will have to be strengthened.
• Physical integration and social integration should go hand in hand. An understanding of the "interwoven destinies" of urban stakeholders is a precondition for improved economic performance. Seen through the prism of the global economy, our urban areas are single economic units that either rise, or stagnate and fall together.19

To achieve this, the following short, medium and long-term interventions are either already underway or being planned:

6.1.1 Reform of the urban land and planning system

Urban integration and the management of urban growth depend on effective land use planning incorporating the principles of Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) and a well-functioning urban and regional planning system. This requires drastic reform of the current planning system.

South Africa's planning system is extraordinarily complex, internally contradictory and incoherent. It is based on a large number of racially based laws and ordinances inherited at national and provincial level, as well as from former homelands. This system holds back - rather than facilitates - urban land development.

The Development Facilitation Act - aimed at addressing urgent land delivery needs - is at the core of the government's stabilisation initiative in this regard. In the longer term, other fundamental reforms of the planning system are envisaged.

• The Development Facilitation Act: The departments of National Housing, Regional Affairs, Agriculture and the RDP Ministry have all collaborated on the Development Facilitation Act (DFA). This legislation marks a start to a further process for the restructuring of urban and regional planning in South Africa.

  The major immediate purpose of the DFA is to expedite land development projects. It strives to bypass bottlenecks in existing regulations, especially those impeding the delivery of serviced land for low-cost housing. The Act provides a nationally uniform point of reference to assist land development. Promulgated at the national level, provinces will be able to use it until introduction of their own land use legislation (which they can pass in terms of their ascribed competency under the Interim Constitution).

  The Act seeks to promote efficient and integrated land development through a set of general principles as the basis for future land developments. These principles include the location of residential and employment opportunities in close proximity or integrated with each other; a diverse combination of land uses, countering urban sprawl; optimising the use of existing resources, notably underutilised infrastructure, and promoting environmentally sustainable land development in terms of the Environment Conservation Act. 73 of 1989. Provincial premiers can add to these principles.

  To set the framework and tone for reform in land development and planning laws and policies, the Act makes provision for the establishment of a Development and Planning Commission. This body will advise both the national and provincial governments. Also proposed is the introduction of provincial development tribunals to over see government approvals of land development in terms of the Ace. This will also ensure that planning is done according to the principles of IEM.

• The DFA introduces the concept of Development Tribunals, which are to be appointed by the Premier in each province. Tribunals bring together experts, officials and stakeholders to review, overturn, amend or uphold executive decisions on development. They have the power to subpoena officials, and suspend restrictive legislation, as well as to impose prescribed timeframes for development decisions. The work of tribunals will thus expedite development processes.

• The DFA initiates local level planning through measures to facilitate the formulation and implementation of land development objectives by reference to which the performance of local government may be measured.

  It thus focuses on a particular dimension of development - land and spatial development - which is crucial in current circumstances, and which deserves and requires urgent intervention.

The DFA is not a replacement for comprehensive and integrated development planning. It anticipates a restructured development planning process. Importantly, it serves to reinforce a strategic approach to development - requiring objectives to be set against the backdrop of socio-economic analysis and consultation and strategies to be formulated accordingly. It links strategies to key performance indicators and plans, and ultimately to programmes, budgets and monitoring activities.

The DFA permits the setting of development performance measures, such as housing targets, as a fast track alternative to time-consuming current procedures. In this fashion, the development performance of local government can be assessed by provincial governments. In view of the urgent need for the rapid assembly and release of land for housing the homeless, government is also investigating other measures to fast-track land development. Such measures will complement the DFA's provisions in this regard.

The DFA also defines land development procedures for the subdivision, servicing, and zoning of urban and rural development, and schedules for the amendment of legislation now in force.

• Reform of the development planning system: An intergovernmental forum has been established to reappraise and reform the urban and regional planning system in South Africa. The Forum for Effective Planning and Development includes the provincial MECs responsible for development planning, the RDP coordinators from each province, the Ministers of Land Affairs, Housing and the PDP and their representatives as well as technical advisors.

  In its discussions about a new integrated development planning system for the country, the forum has been focusing on:

  • The suitability of current legislation (such as the Physical Planning, Urban Transport and Town and Regional Planning Acts);
  • Formulating a proposal for new legislation for development planning;
  • Options for the establishment of new or the redefinition of current consultative structures for planning;
  • Patterns of industrial and commercial land ownership in order to define targets for such ownership amongst historically-disadvantaged communities.

  A new development planning system will incorporate:

• The upgrading of national-scale regional planning (including a reassessment of the Regional Industrial Development Programme);
• Support for provincial governments in their Schedule Six competency to coordinate/integrare development planning;
• Support to metropolitan and local governments to formulate growth management plans (like the Cape Metropolitan Area's Spatial Development Framework).

This development planning system will thus provide for integrated urban development. But it will also connect the national and provincial levels of government to the other tiers of government constitutionally charged with urban management, i.e. local and metropolitan government. Integrated development strategies and growth management plans will be the primary vehicles to locate the intensified development that can structure more integrated urban and metropolitan settlements. This will provide the basis for coordinated land use, transportation, environmental, economic, institutional, infrastructural and fiscal planning in urban areas.

Any strategy aimed at integration of South Africa's dries and towns has to address issues of transportation. Apartheid planning forced many people to five far from urban amenities and resources. Journeys to work are long and time-consuming for many, and transportation costs high for both households and government. Transportation subsidies alone cost the fiscus in excess of R2 billion a year, and are particularly excessive in providing for the inhabitants of far-flung 'commuter townships.' This system urgently requires wholesale reform.

The Department of Transport has primary responsibility in regard. It is focusing on two spheres:

• Passenger transport: Policy towards the country's public passenger transportation system requires immediate re-appraisal. A committee of key stakeholders has been established to review present passenger transport policy and to develop new strategies for financing and operating the system.

  The policy review will cover all dominant passenger transport modes: including bus, commuter rail, minibus taxis and the private car. It will establish mechanisms to assure better coordination be the different parts of the transport system. The issue of subsidies will receive special attention. The department also intends to promote the better integration of land use and transportation planning. Specific reference will therefore be given to the support that can be afforded to such integrated planning within a reordered transportation planning system at provincial, metropolitan and local levels. Co-locating housing and employment and making better use of existing transport corridors for intensive development are cornerstones of such thinking.

  The major investment required in urban public passenger transport systems over the next five years demands that such investment be fully coordinated with other investments in urban infrastructure. In reviewing transportation policy, government will, as a matter of urgency, determine the available funds to drive a public passenger transport investment programme in that period. Government recognises the crucial role of mass transit in providing greater accessibility to urban opportunities.

  As it reassesses the public public passenger transport system, the government is particularly concerned about die unacceptable levels of conflict and violence in the minibus taxi industry. This industry now conveys as many passengers as the bus and rail industries combined. Specific steps are being taken to alleviate the situation. A national taxi task team, consisting of ten representatives from the industry and nine officials from central, provincial and local government, has been established. In seeking to stabilise the industry, the team will address such issues as permits, illegal operators, road safety and passenger needs.

• Transportation infrastructure: The Interim Constitution defines public transport as a provincial responsibility while the Urban Transport Act assigns the provision of transport infrastructure in metropolitan areas to the provinces. Where possible, transportation planning should be aligned to planning processes in new metropolitan authorities. Where metropolitan authorities lack the capacity to support this effectively, it will be necessary to link transport planning to an appropriate constitutional tier of government like the provincial.

  Specific provincially-based initiatives thus form a core part of the strategy around transport. Each province will establish a Provincial Urban Transport Fund which may be used to finance urban transport infrastructure and to allocate funds to metropolitan transport areas, following approval of their transport plans. These transport plans will ideally form part of broader economic development plans aimed at integrating land use, transport infrastructure, housing delivery, urban development and regional planning. This will locate transport within the overall provision of infrastructure and services. Investment in urban transport infrastructure will focus on high impact projects that improve mobility and accessibility, especially for disadvantaged communities.

Environmental management forms an integral part of this Urban Strategy. Housing, planning, infrastructure and other services all have a direct bearing on environmental quality and the health and well-being of urban residents and workers.

It is therefore essential to manage development in these areas carefully so as to enhance and protect the quality of the environment within which urban dwellers find themselves.

The government does not regard environmental concerns as a luxury. Much as decent living environments demand environmental awareness and actions, it will simply not be able to address the challenges of alleviating poverty and reconstruction and development if the urban environment is not managed. Steps will be taken to encourage the widest possible cooperation in this regard, but the government will not shy away from introducing the necessary measures to preserve the country's environmental assets.

Environmental management will therefore be integrated more fully with other strategic objectives. As a starting point, the Environmental Conservation Act 73 of 1989 and Notice 51 of 1994 will be used as they guide central, provincial and local authorities towards promoting the objectives of the General Environmental Policy and the principles of IEM.

This is in important commitment, as this policy emphasises the importance of a healthy, safe and dignified fife. It links urban development and management to holistic and integrated planning, public participation, and the improvement of environmental expertise. In this vein, the government will emphasise environmentally-sensitive land use planning and impact assessment, the sustainable use of resources and protection of ecologically sensitive areas, the protection of cultural heritage as well as pollution control. Environmental education across the widest possible spectrum of society win receive increasing attention.

Environmental management in the context of urban development will be secured through:

• Land use planning: The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEA & T) is tasked to promote ecologically sensitive urban planning and development. For this purpose, guidelines for the implementation of Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) have been developed. Legislative instruments are also being developed for environmental impact assessment to support the implementation of IEM principles. This will include assessment requirements for listed urban developments.

  Environmental potential atlases are also being developed in the metropolitan areas to align planning to this environmental agenda. The regulations of the Development Facilitation Act include adherence to the principles of IEM.

• Support for international agreements: South Africa is already a signatory to international conventions promoting environmental management and awareness. This affects the urban areas directly and a conscious effort will be made to ensure effective links to the urban and rural strategies in support of the RDR Key actions in this regard are:
  • International Agenda 21, which is a plan of action for sustainable development and one of five agreements forged between governments at the United Nations Earth Summit in Brazil in 1992. The International Agenda 21 guidelines and programmes require that local authorities initiate comprehensive Local Agenda 21 strategies for sustainable development. Targeted cities will be assisted by DEA & T and other role players to develop local environmental strategies and action plans as part of the Local Agenda 21 process. Community participation will remain a priority throughout. Tocomply with the reporting requirements which form part of the global implementation of Agenda 21, the DEA & T will compile annual reports on its implementation in South Africa.

  • South Africa his much to learn and considerable work lies ahead in the formulation of policies and the creation of an awareness of the key issues. This is why a firm commitment to such further policy work will be maintained. Moreover, active steps will be taken to stay abreast of and involved in international initiatives and also to find practical ways for the implementation of the policies and strategies that am being developed. A report produced by the Department and the Foundation for Research Development (FRD) on the Global Forum 1994 Meeting on Cities and Sustainable Development will form the basis for further development of national policy and strategy.

  • The World Health Organisation's Healthy Cities Programme is at present supported by Greater Johannesburg and the South African Medical Research Council. The government will engage with these processes to identify needs and opportunities for effective support. At the same time, the drive for environmental management will only be effective if all stakeholders subscribe to the view that this is not a matter for government alone. Government interest and support will be managed in this spirit of partnership with other stakeholders.

• Open space planning: The DEA & T is involved in the promotion of integrated open space planning and the productive use of open space. Three forums have been established to encourage the efficient and sustainable utilisation of and planning of urban open spaces. This will include the compilation of guidelines and policy on the role of urban agriculture in improving nutrition, creating jobs, and recycling waste. Certain ecologically sensitive sites within urban open space are also being protected through national and international programmes and agreements such as the Ramsar Convention on wetlands, and the natural heritage programme. Cities such as Cape Town and Durban already have environmentally sensitive urban open space planning.

• Community involvements The DEA & T is involving role players at community level with the promotion of the concept of "Primary Environmental Care." Targeted communities will be helped to organise themselves and to apply and strengthen their capacities for the care of the environment, while simultaneously satisfying basic needs. Guidelines will be developed on the basis of experience gained in these communities.

• Management of cultural assets. The DEA & T is initiating a national cultural resources management policy, together with other programmes addressing die protection of cultural resources in the urban development sphere. Role players such as the National Monuments Council are presently engaged in the listing, restoration, and protection of sites and structures of cultural and historical significance in towns and cities throughout the country.

• Research and environmental education: Research by the FRD and the World Bank will form a basis to determine sustainability and environmental quality indices for cities to aid monitoring at national level. Liaison at the provincial and local authority levels revealed the need to support the development of environmental expertise at those levels.

  Capacity building is also needed for the planning professions, inter alia through environmental inputs into curricula. A strategy to involve the youth and make them aware of the urban environment was initiated with a publication titled Discover the City,. This will aid the environmental inputs given into the curricula of formal education subjects through a committee established for that purpose.

• Pollution control and waste management: The DEA & T is developing a national straregy for waste management and a policy for integrated pollution control. This seeks to combat littering, promote recycling and control toxic wastes.

  The government supports the endeavours of Keep South Africa Beautiful. The campaign established a forum in August 1994 to identify problems regarding refuse removal and litter abatement in Gauteng. The department was asked to initiate, coordinate, manage and monitor environmental awareness and educational programmes for the youth by employing NGO's active in the field.

6.2 Investing In Urban Development

Both the public and private sectors have an interest in the effective functioning and future success of South Africa's cities and towns. The GNU is determined to fulfil its responsibilities in this regard, but will seek - in tune with international trends - to encourage private sector investment over the widest possible front.

Investment in urban development should support the transformation of cities and towns in line with the urban vision. A consistent national framework is firstly important because it will support the clarification of roles between and within the different levels of government. It will also enhance effective and efficient allocation of scarce resources. Such an investment programme will augment and diversify urban functions, secure the extension and better maintenance of infrastructure, upgrade existing and construct new housing; and alleviate environmental health hazards and the loss of biodiversity.

6.2.1 Augmenting and diversifying urban functions

Many of the points raised under the previous heading of Integrating the cities and Managing urban growth are relevant here and will not be repeated. It is, however, important to note them in an investment context as the government is determined to base its support on this objective of urban integration. This has a number of important implications:

• Public sector investment in economically unviable new developments will as far as possible be avoided. People need to be able to live near their places of employment - if they do not, it should be their choice and the structure of the city or town should not compel them to five far away. Given this choice element, the public sector will gain the moral authority to base its transport policies on functional urban areas. Costly and uneconomic subsidies will be phased out. The spatial development of urban areas should assist the movement away from the inefficient subsidy system of the past.

• Public investment at all levels will be expected to relate to the economic or functional base and potential of an area. Proper spatial economic and cost benefit analysis will be done to assess the economic, functional and financial feasibility of projects. Naturally, rigid bureaucratic approaches will not be appropriate, but anybody approaching government or any parastatal for support, must know that tough questions will be asked. All relevant public sector agencies at national level - including departments and parastatals - have either already started or will be expected to develop criteria and methodologies appropriate to this task. Where necessary, the government is engaging with other levels of government to address their capacity-building needs. In this context, the evolution of a development planning system, mentioned earlier, is a particularly high priority.

• Services and infrastructure will be introduced in line with the affordability levels of communities affected. The principle that people should pay for the services to which they have access is central to this strategy. This means that the level of services in each area should relate to what the consumers there can afford and are willing to pay for. Where government support is needed to ensure basic service delivery, it will be provided transparently. Deliberate steps will be taken to remove any disguised subsidies. Limited cross-subsidies to enhance household affordability and secure "lifeline" consumption will be necessary.

• The government has great confidence in the private sector's ability to identify opportunities and secure an efficient on of resources. The preconditions for this are a proper market environment and the necessary supporting mechanisms to address market failure (eg. intergovernmental grants, public intermediaries like the Development Bank of Southern Africa etc.) If these preconditions are met, the private sector can invest significantly in urban areas of different sizes. Ongoing attention is being given to this matter. This is being done in close consultation with various sectors, notably financial and construction interests and public sector intermediaries like the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

• In principle, upgrading of existing infrastructure and facilities should be explored first before embarking on new extensions. A flexible - but determined - approach will be followed. It has to be acknowledged that many areas lack even the most basic services. Furthermore, in many cases no systematic attempts were made in the past to ensure that communities have access to a diversity of facilities and services. These factors will be important when decisions are made about priorities in particular areas.

  This underscores the importance of integrated development planning which takes into account not merely physical and financial factors, but also economic realities. Moreover, adequate steps to ensure that those affected by developments - whether they entail upgrading or new initiatives - are involved, will be an essential part of the delivery process.

There can be no talk of developed urban areas unless urban residents are better housed and provided with well-functioning infrastructure services." Two considerations are central to developing a strategy to make this possible. The first concerns needs and the ability of consumers to pay. The second entails the economic and social impact of infrastructure.

Based on these considerations, housing and infrastructure investment programmes have and are being developed. This section focuses on the infrastructure aspects of these programmes. It first relates needs and developmental impact to a policy framework for systematic and strategic infrastructure investment. The attention then turns towards some more immediate interventions aimed at addressing urgent needs and laying the basis for ongoing learning (especially from the Extension of Municipal Infrastructure Programme and the Special Integrated Projects (SIPS)).

• Needs: Government has taken purposeful steps to ascertain the extent of South Africa's urban infrastructure needs. Since December 1994, an Urban Infrastructure Investment Planning Task Team has developed a comprehensive perspective on infrastructure needs in South Africa's metro- poles, cities and small towns. This Municipal Infrastructure Investment Framework (MIIF) highlighted that urban infrastructure needs are vast:
  • Some 4 million people (15 per cent of the urban population) only have access to water which is untreated and not reticulated;
  • About 8 million (30 per cent) have access to only minimal sanitation (ie.
  • shared toilet facilities and unimproved pit latrines);
  • Approximately 8.5 million (32 per cent) do not have access to electricity);
  • Some 8 million (30 per cent) do not have formal road access to their residence, nor do they have any form of stormwater drainage.

  The cost of addressing these backlogs depends on the levels of services introduced. The Task Team estimates that an appropriate mix of basic, intermediate and fun service investments linked to household affordability in the forthcoming 10 years will cost the country approximately R61 billion. This cost refers to municipal infrastructure only. It thus excludes economic (commercial and industrial) and social facilities as well as national bulk schemes like darns and electricity generating plants. It also excludes recurrent (running) costs of services like water and electricity.

  Careful targeting is essential to ensure that basic needs are met in a way which the country can afford. The strict appraisal criteria applied by government structures at all levels and by parastatals are therefore necessary. South Africa - and this means South Africans - simply cannot afford irresponsible decisions. Two realities need to be confronted: first, people need services and, second, service provision has to be expanded in an affordable manner.

Source: Municipal Infrastructure Investment Framework, Ministry in the Office of the President and Department of Housing, 1995.

The investment strategy outlined below maps the GNU's views on how this can be achieved within a realistic macro-economic mindset and well-designed institutional framework.
• Economic and social impact of infrastructure investment: Investment in infrastructure is crucial to the efficiency and habitability of our urban areas. In this regard, the following points should be made:

Source Municipal Infrastructure Investment Framework, Ministry in the Office of the President and Department of Housing, 1995

WHERE TO INVEST When supplying infrastructure, government and the private sector can either Reinforce apartheid patterns by supplying Infrastructure where: People currently live due to past restriction and so reinforce apartheid, and Supply infrastructure and housing on distant greenfield sites where land is cheap or seek to integrate cities and towns by ensuring that infrastructure and housing are suitably located. (Development Facilitation Act legislates for this option

• World Bank research indicates that investment in infrastructure stock has a significant impact on GDP growth;
• If managed developmentally, the direct employment and entrepreneurial impact of infrastructure development could prove significant. The government has already developed some instruments to ensure that these benefits are actively pursued as part of the investment programme. These instruments include: the funding and project criteria applied by government departments and agencies as well as key parastatals; the National Public Works Programme; and ongoing priorities identified and formulated through development planning at all levels;
• Focused infrastructure development will have a major effect on spatial efficiency. The MIIF will, for example, release vacant land for development, ensuring better transport and fostering an economic base in historically disadvantaged areas. It will therefore increase the mobility and widen the locational choices of households and businesses;
• Infrastructure will raise general levels of welfare and health. Better housing and infrastructure will reduce air and water pollution and enhance the supply of adequate water, the provision of proper sanitation and drainage, and the proper management of solid and industrial waste'.

• Policy framework for the urban investment programme: The government believes that a ten year programme costing R60-R70 billion in capital expenditure and R7-10 billion in land costs is feasible from a macroeconomic point of view. The policy framework to ensure this entails:
  • Fiscal, monetary and functional policies aimed at an economic growth rate of at least 3 per cent;
  • Levels of services have to he differentiated according to needs and affordability. The choice of service levels is a local decision, subject to local affordability within the context of national and provincial guidelines. Responsibility for project selection and capital investment is inextricably linked to responsibility for recurrent costs. An average national distribution of 55:25:20 between full, intermediate and basic levels of services in municipal areas is considered a realistic target for the infrastructure investment strategy over the next 10 years. To comprehend the choices which face decision-makers in this regard, a definition of the types of services under each category and an indication of the target groups of each is necessary":

    "Basic services" mean communal standpipes (water), on site sanitation, graded roads with gravel and open stormwater drains and streetlights (electricity). These services will be targeted at households with an income of less than R800 per month and charged for at between R35 and R50 per month.

    "Intermediate services" entail water provision through yard taps on site, simple water-borne sanitation, narrow paved roads with no kerbs and open drains and 30 amps electricity with prepaid meters for households. These should be affordable to households which earn between R800 and R1700 per month and will cost them between R100 and R130 per month.

Source: Municipal Infrastructure Investment Framework, Ministry in the Office of the President and Department of Housing, 1995.

"Full services" mean house connected water supplies, full water-borne sanitation, paved roads with kerbs and piped drains and 60 amps electricity provision. It is anticipated that households in the R1,700-R3,500 monthly income class could afford "low consumption" costing them between R180 and R220 per month. Households with monthly incomes of above R3,500 will be assumed able to pay for "full services at high consumption" at charges between R270 and R350 per month;
• Capital costs will be borne in the following manner half at local service provider level, through redirection of existing capital budgets, borrowing and equity from private sector investment in service delivery companies (some R35-40 billion); one-tenth (R7-9 billion) by high-income households paying full costs for internal services and connection fees; and the remaining 40 per cent (some R30-35 billion) through capital grants from the national government including part of the housing capital subsidy. In order to avoid duplication of subsidies, specific steps are taken to develop an effective central database;

• Recurrent (operating) funding will be increasingly generated at local level. This requires, first, that all consumers at least pay at appropriate levels. Existing tariffs and taxes will also have to rise by 2-3 per cent per annum during the duration of the programme. Systematic steps will have to be taken to ensure a redistribution from richer to poorer households. Two problems should be confronted in this regard. First, the government is fully aware that many poor households will continue to experience difficulties paying for services in full. Second, there is relatively limited scope for extensive redistribution through local taxes and charges. It is therefore inevitable that transfers to local authorities (which currently amount to some R700 million) will need to continue for some time.

• There is, therefore, a great need to develop a more systematic system of intergovernmental grant financing which would also support municipal infrastructure development. In this regard, the various grant mechanisms, like the housing subsidy, the municipal infrastructure extension programme and other subsidies channelled through line departments like Water Affairs, Transport and Public Works will be reviewed and co-ordinated. The grant system should not only be systematic, but it should be transparent and simple.

Source.M.I.I.F (Note: These are not absolute standards and should be seen as indicative rather than fixed).

• The institutional and financial of the Urban Strategy will prove critical to successful infrastructure investment. This is being discussed elsewhere in this document, but principles like partnerships, the need for legislative reform, the role of public sector intermediaries and expanding delivery choices through alternative mechanisms should be highlighted.

• Effective information systems will receive priority attention. Only with good information and statistics available can appropriate decisions be taken on the allocation of resources and institutional actions. Most of these needs can be achieved through the normal line activities of government departments in collaboration with other roleplayers like NGOs and private companies.

  Developing information bases will thus not require extensive additional resources. But it will be important to reshape the basis for indicators and to select the very essential and most critical ones which will ensure mom effective planning and monitoring.

• Special transitional and urgent interventions

  The sub-sections on infrastructure have thus far emphasised the importance of a long term and systematic investment framework. However, the needs of many South Africans are urgent and require priority attention. This is why the GNU has already embarked upon short and medium term programmes to kick-start reconstruction and development. These interventions will not only be utilised as starting points for GNU strategies. They will also serve as learning experiences, aiding the ongoing formulation and implementation of the Urban Strategy.

  Three such programmes are particularly relevant to urban development and form part of the evolving Urban Strategy. They are the Extension of Municipal Services Programme, Special Integrated Projects (SIPS) and the Masakhane Campaign.

  • The Rehabilitation and Extension of Municipal Services Programme: The importance of urban reconstruction and development as part of national transition has motivated the design and implementation of the Extension of Municipal Services Programme. R800 million has been approved for this RDP programme for the 1994/95 and 1995/96 fiscal years. The rehabilitation and extension programme must underpin the local government transition by facilitating the speedy and visible improvement of municipal services. This will address some critical needs and also lay the basis for the sustained payment of rents and services.

    The extension programme seeks to achieve its objectives through two sub-programmes:

    • Rehabilitation of infrastructure systems and facilities that have collapsed to ensure the provision of basic municipal services;
    • Extension of infrastructure systems and facilities to provide basic municipal services to new areas.

    Such rehabilitation and extension of municipal infrastructure are dedicated local authority functions. Projects thus cover. water, electricity, public transport, roads and storm water, refuse removal, sewerage, land development (industrial, commercial, residential), community facilities (libraries, open space development, sports facilities, community halls), health care, cemeteries, fire protection, arts and culture, environmental protection and traffic control.

    Business plans for the overall programme have been developed for each of the provinces. City and local authorities have been Provided with standardised forms in order to apply for funding directed at needs that fall within the programme's ambit. The Department of Constitutional Development coordinates the Programme.

  • The Special Integrated Projects on on Urban Renewal

    The package of Special Integrated Projects or "SIPS' is one of the 22 lead projects announced by the president shortly after the GNU came to power. These Urban Renewal projects are intended to kickstart development in selected highly visible areas. They focus on violence torn and crisis ridden communities. In line with the RDP, they aim at the integrated provision of infrastructure, housing and community facilities, job creation and capacity building.

    The SIPS are therefore fast-track, one-off projects aimed at immediate delivery. They are intended to set precedents for integrating delivery mechanisms, the structuring of integrated development finance packages and for promoting community participation. As projects of a "pilot" nature they will reveal existing blockages in the urban development delivery system. This will provide valuable information to support the establishment of monitoring and evaluation systems for the consolidation of the Urban Strategy.

    Areas chosen for SIPS include Katorus on the East Rand, Cato Manor in Durban, Ibhayi in Port Elizabeth, Duncan Village in East London, and the Serviced Land Project on the Cape Flats. Latest allocations have ensured that there are now SIPS in every province.

    The Masakhane Campaign: The Masakhane ("Let us build each other") Campaign was launched in January 1995 to address problems related to community development, service delivery and financing. It is a joint initiative of the Government of National Unity, the major political parties and local government stakeholders.

    The campaign is part of government's drive to normalise governance and the provision of basic services at the local level. It aims to persuade people across South Africa to contribute to this process through participation in developing housing and services. This follows a widespread acknowledgement that if payment levels do not rise, the RDP will be severely hampered.

    Masakhane is incorrectly perceived as being merely concerned with getting people to pay for rent, services and loans. Important as the principle of payment for services is, the campaign has a distinctly wider developmental purpose. Mobilising state, private sector and community resources, a major concern is to accelerate the delivery of basic services and housing. But it approaches this challenge in a fundamental way by addressing institutional, financial and other practical issues as part of a strategic work programme. Grounded in the quest for the democratisation of local government, the campaign seeks to create conditions for investments in housing and infrastructure services. It also encourages local economic development (LED) - one sub-committee focuses specifically on developing LED methodologies. The aim is therefore to enhance the capacity of transitional local, metropolitan and district councils to deliver and administer services more effectively. This has to occur amidst community participation and a civic culture where citizens hold their rights dear as well as fulfilling their responsibilities.

Specific initiatives to be noted are:
• A local government training fund to train councillors, electoral staff, and local authority personnel;
• Funding for local government demarcation boards to mark out boundaries;
• Funding for provincial committees for local government to perform their duties to organise the elections;
• Financing associated projects initiated by NGOs.
• A coordinated and ongoing communications strategy at national, provincial and local levels: This aims, generally, to inform South Africans about progress made. But it also attempts to persuade residents to meet their obligations to service providers and to take responsibility for the economic development of their own communities.
• Active steps to improve the metering and billing for services (the Local Government Finance Working Group has set up a task team to deal with this matter).

The campaign should thus be seen in the wider context of an integrated RDP This makes it an integral part of institutional development processes as well as implementation of key investment programmes. Given its local government focus, it has a direct fink with the Extension of Municipal Services Programme.

Housing entails the creation of habitable, stable and sustainable public and private residential environments. This combines infrastructure, shelter and economic development.

Targets and policy approaches are therefore equally important in this housing approach. As far as targets are concerned, the government's aim is to increase housing's share of the budget to 5 per cent and housing delivery to a sustained 350,000 units per annum within five years.

Ultimately, however, the government's housing approach is directed towards creating an enabling environment for partnerships involving the various tiers of government, the private sector, labour and communities. This is being guided by the Department of Housing, but based upon effective interdepartmental coordination and cooperation. This will be pursued through seven key strategies:

• Stabilising the housing environment: Apart from the Masakhane Campaign, engagement of the private sector in housing finance and delivery is receiving high priority. Housing credit will be the main focus, although private investment will be sought across the full spectrum of urban development activities.

• Ensuring institutional, technical and logistical support to enable communities to improve their housing circumstances on a continuous basis: Interventions include engaging the Indian government's HUDCO agency and the UNCHS in the establishment of housing support centres. However, systematic initiatives will aim at sustainable support mechanisms, managed and directed by local stakeholders.

• The mobilisation of individual and collective private savings and housing credit at scale, on a sustainable basis, while ensuring adequate protection for consumers. This will be done through:
  • Discouraging redlining and discrimination: An agreed code of conduct for mortgage lending will require banks to apply credit criteria on a non-discriminatory basis;
  • Mortgage Indemnity Scheme (MIS): Government is to indemnify financial institutions for losses within certain limits. This will apply where normal contractual rights to access and attached securities provided for mortgage loans cannot be exercised due to a breakdown in the due process of law-,
  • Existing Properties in Possession (PIPS): Where no payments are being made by occupants, and financiers are unable to obtain relief in accordance with court orders and contractual rights, actions taken will have to be consistent with those of the MIS.
  • Rightsizing: A service organisation, SERVCON, has been established which will help borrowers to downsize/right size their accommodation to suit their afford ability level.
  • Home Builder Warranty Fund: This will protect consumers against poor workmanship.
  • The formation of a National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC): Its aim will be to unlock housing finance on a sustainable basis. This will facilitare long-term mobilisation of appropriate credit to the lower end of the housing market. The nature and functions of the NHFC are currently being finalised. It is envisaged that it will act as an agency of government and the National Housing Board, operating as a parastatal business corporation.

• Providing subsidy assistance to disadvantaged individuals to gain access to housing: Targeted provision of end user subsidies will be a cornerstone of the government's approach to the housing challenge. Subsidy policy will be flexible in order to accommodate a wide range of tenure and delivery options. The intention is to enable a variable application of subsidies at the delivery level. This will ensure maximum gearing with private investment, savings and sweat equity.

Several subsidy policies have already been introduced or are currently under consideration. These focus on individual and collective ownership, social housing, rental housing and redressing the anomalies created by previous policies.

From this, it should be clear that the GNU does not believe in a single, uniform housing solution. The goal is to secure shelter and tenure for all South Africans, but it is fully acknowledged that the form this takes could vary sharply. Informal settlements, for example, have become part and parcel of the urban landscape and offer many people the most feasible option. Others attach greater value to formal structures and environments. Others do not wish to own property and would rather rent. The government does not wish to prescribe and will continue to develop a range of options.

Apart from accommodating different preferences in this manner, this also opens greater fiscal possibilities. The housing backlog will simply be beyond reach if fully serviced formal housing is the norm. There needs to be space for incremental approaches to realistically relate what people get to what they are willing to pay. The experience in many South African urban areas shows that viable communities can develop in informal settlements. This opens the door to creative and varied approaches. It is not necessary to confine housing strategies to conventional approaches and technologies.

• Rationalising institutional capacities in the housing sector within a sustainable long term institutional framework: Government's strategy, on institutional reform will focus, first, on finalising the restructuring of statutory and advisory structures. It will also be refocusing, Rationalising, consolidating and repositioning parastatal housing bodies at national and provincial level. The establishment of appropriate links and relationships between national and provincial/local governmental, statutory, parastatal and corporate institutions will receive specific attention. It will also be necessary to rationalise the assets and liabilities of various statutory housing funds.

• Facilitating the speedy release and servicing of land: The Development Facilitation Act, described above, has been drafted for this purpose. Reform of the planning system will also eliminate red-tape while ensuring proper technical and participatory planning.

• Coordinating and integrating public sector investment and intervention on a multi-functional basis: In this manner, integrated approaches, focusing on shelter and basic infrastructure, will be promoted.

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