A VIEW OF THE WEEK: So what if there is a shack in the back?

A few weeks ago, a shack went up in a backyard down the road. Suddenly, the world ended.

Community members first questioned what the structure was for. They were told it was a tuckshop, and then a room to rent, and finally a garage.

As the story changed, community members grew angrier, and the owner disappeared. It became a suburb crisis, and a deadline was set for it to be disbanded, or residents would take it down. The shack was soon removed.

This incident could have played out in numerous areas across SA.

As the economic hub of the country, Gauteng is most overburdened by this rush for space. A recent Stats SA study found 46% of the country’s 55,719 homeless people set up camp in the province.

Most of those making the exodus to cities are for jobs and economic opportunities. But with an expanded national unemployment rate of 41.9%, and two in five people in Gauteng not having a job, their chances of success are often slim.

ALSO READ: A VIEW OF THE WEEK: Can someone please give Ramaphosa a real tour of Joburg?

Shacks and crime hotspots

Left with no place to go, people set up informal housing on vacant land.

A public safety report by the City of Johannesburg this week found that over 1 000 shacks were destroyed for breaking bylaws over the last three month of 2024.

Among the challenges it acknowledged was the temporary suspension of a security contract that “has led to an escalation in land invasions, creating a situation that is difficult to manage and control”.

Others take over abandoned buildings. These derelict buildings then become crime hotspots, with properties in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Durban among those spotlighted this week.

At worst, they are a breeding ground for criminals who menace communities. At best, they pull on already strained water and electricity infrastructure. Both cases point to a collapse of adequate policing and governance.

When officials do try to remedy the situation or remove squatters, they are often met with legal challenges and outrage from humanitarians who are blinded by their own virtue-signalling. It is a near-impossible stalemate that may have now taken the crisis beyond the point of no return.

No jobs outside the city

It also highlights government’s failure to create jobs outside of major economic hubs, with projects to address this often underwhelming or overridden by corruption. Politicians and officials meant to spearhead and monitor these efforts often surrender to mafias that infiltrate every level of service delivery, or are part of them.

ALSO READ: A VIEW OF THE WEEK: Forget VAT and trim the fat of corruption

A mayor wages war … but it may be too late.

City of Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero has acknowledged the issues facing the city because of crime and over-population.

In a briefing this week, he painted a grim picture of more than 250 traffic lights being vandalised and needing reconstruction. He also pledged to fight the scourge of illegal connections that often plague informal settlements.

“The city will not tolerate lawlessness and will intensify disconnections throughout the city,” he vowed, without detailing how exactly this will be done when previous efforts have often descended into violence.

Like many others, a city struggling with policing cannot stretch its already limited resources on enforcing by-laws and land rights. Sadly, there are few other solutions when the situation has been allowed to deteriorate so much.

It will take a herculean effort from all sides, residents and city alike, to stop the mushrooming of informal settlements and the associated health and infrastructure issues they bring.

It all starts with addressing the shack at the back.

NOW READ: A VIEW OF THE WEEK: Load shedding or not, what’s the difference?