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DAM-L forced resettlement/ South Africa
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Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 10:24:02 -0800
To: irn-safrica@netvista.net
From: Lori Pottinger <lori@irn.org>
Subject: Alex squatters and the environment/LS
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From an SAfrican environmental group.
MOVING ALEX SQUATTERS GOOD FOR ENVIRONMENT
Perhaps the methods used were not ideal but both Gauteng's MEC for
Environment and the Rennies Wetlands Project agree that the shacks
along the Jukskei river had to go
Last week about 100 families were removed by armed men from their
shacks perched on the degraded banks of the Jukskei River in
Alexandra township, Johannesburg. This was condemned as
'apartheid-style forced removals' and hit the international headlines
on CNN, the BBC and Sky News.
What was completely ignored in the heated coverage were the important
environmental and health reasons for moving people off the riverbank.
Environmentalists, who have been warning people about the degradation
of the Jukskei River for the past decade, silently acknowledged that
though the means were questionable the end was not - a long overdue
move for the river's reprieve.
"The plight of displaced people is not to be minimised but their
shacks and latrines have contributed to the ongoing erosion of the
Jukskei's banks which has in turn intensified the damage caused by
the almost annual floods," says David Lindley, national co-ordinator
of the non-government Rennies Wetlands Project (RWP). "And with
cholera cases now numbering nearly 50 000 countrywide, experts'
warnings that pit latrines releasing raw human waste into the river
on a daily basis is a health time bomb are also proving to be
correct."
The removals were carried out by Gauteng's Department of Housing as
part of a larger process to rehabilitate Alexandra Township which has
been described as both 'unsanitary' and 'ungovernable'. Although it
appeared that the cholera in the river was the main reason for
relocating people, the process in fact began in November 1999 when
the floods washed away many of the shacks and resulted in great
hardship for the Jukskei squatters. "Each time it floods it destroys
people's homes, and coupled with the cholera in the water, makes
living at the river's edge bad for the people as well as the river,"
Lindley points out.
Gauteng's Housing Department obtained R10 million from the Emergency
Flood Relief fund in October last year and set about using the money
to obtain alternative accommodation for the shack dwellers. People
were grouped into those who qualified for government housing (married
people and those with dependents) and those who did not (single
people with no dependents).
"We started registering people along the Jukskei in November last
year for housing subsidies," explains Carien Englebrecht, chief
director, housing tenure and asset management for the Gauteng
Department of Housing. "We went from shack to shack explaining that
people had to be moved because of the continual flooding and
unsanitary conditions, and we helped them fill in subsidy
applications. Finding alternative land was a real challenge since
nobody wanted an influx of displaced people - Diepsloot and
Dobsonville were the only sites available."
"The move to relocate the Jukskei shack dwellers was absolutely
environmentally correct, " says Mary Metcalfe, Gauteng's MEC for
Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs. "Cholera is
a growing problem, and in any case, the riverbanks are not suitable
for housing because of their flood attenuation function. The banks
are going to be reclaimed as part of a broader regeneration of
Alexandra in which environmental components including public open
space, sanitation and solid waste removal will be central."
"We applaud the courage shown by the provincial government in taking
an unpopular but environmentally important decision," says Lindley.
"We commiserate with people who have suffered as a result of the
removals but feel that nobody is acknowledging the critical health
and environmental benefits of the relocation. Firstly, people have
been removed from unsanitary and unsafe conditions. Their pit
latrines seep raw human waste into the river daily. Children were
playing in water which has become an ideal breeding ground for
cholera and other infectious diseases."
"Secondly, riverbanks are wetlands which regulate water flow and with
the shacks removed, this function can be restored. Riverbanks cannot
attenuate floods if they are denuded of vegetation and used for
housing. We commend Gauteng's decision to go beyond simply removing
the shacks to proactively rehabilitating the riverbanks because
riparian vegetation is essential for stabilising the riverbanks.
Vegetation also helps slow water flow and reduce erosion which are
vital during times of flooding."
Engelbrecht adds that some shacks were built on top of an old rubbish
dump, which is gradually subsiding. "It's an accident waiting to
happen," she comments. "It's traumatic and unpleasant to be moved but
we cannot allow people to continue living in such appalling
conditions. We are going to convert the riverbanks into green open
spaces, which people can use for recreation. This use will not
interfere with the riverbank's flood attenuation function."
"Although it's hard for the people now, in the long term the move is
in their best interests," comments Lindley. "In fact moving people
out of the one in 50 year flood line is for the greater social good.
It's a basic environmental, indeed a common sense principle, that you
don't develop within the one in 50 year flood line. If you do, you
end up with the current Jukskei debacle - such bad riverbank
degradation that floods are amplified tenfold because the water rages
through wide, straight channels instead of flowing through a
meandering river with sturdy riparian vegetation. We hope the
rehabilitation of the Jukskei riverbanks sets the precedent for the
rehabilitation of other flood prone rivers in urban areas."
The rehabilitation of wetlands is the cornerstone of RWP's work and
the vehicle through which it educates people about the critical
importance of wetlands in a water scarce and flood prone country. RWP
has achieved a small miracle - assessing the condition of over 30 300
hectares of wetlands and rehabilitating many of them, changing the
law and bringing role players together to conserve wetlands - on a
shoestring budget and with a handful of staff. RWP has made
improvements in 21 core wetland areas nationwide. The Rennies
Wetlands Project is a Project of the Wildlife and Environment Society
of S and the World Wide Fund For Nature - SA. It is supported by the
Mazda Wildlife Fund, South African Breweries and Rennies. Ends.
For further information, please contact David Lindley of the Rennies
Wetlands Project on 083 - 222 9155 or e-mail on
lindley@wetland.org.za or visit the website on www.wetland.org.za to
find valuable resources on all aspects of managing wetlands.
--
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Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
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