Slovo Park informal settlement: Portfolio committee expresses project fears

An informal settlement earmarked for development is in its third decade of a fight to be formalised.

Residents of Slovo Park informal settlement have been promised dignified housing since the mid-nineties but little has changed in the intervening years.

The Portfolio Committee of Human Settlements on Wednesday heard a presentation by City of Johannesburg (CoJ) and provincial department of human settlements (DHS) on the progress of the area’s development.

Plans for July 2025 handover

Not to be confused with Slovo Park near Spings, Slovo Park informal settlement is located near the Nancefield industrial area outside Eldorado Park.  

The informal suburb is a microcosm of all settlements that are in limbo due to town planning legislation and the slow turning of government mechanics.

The land occupied by the informal settlement was previously owned by DHS, with the ownership since handed over to the city.

Running through the various approvals required, the CoJ said the site would be ready for handover by July 2025, however, the township application and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submission had not yet commenced.

Additionally, layout plans, detailed designs and traffic impact reports had only had their drafts approved.

Committee member, EFF’s Mbali Dlamini was “uncomfortable” with the presentation, wondering out loud why only information from 2024 onwards was referenced.

Dlamini was sceptical of the timelines and relayed her belief that the entities were going through the motions.

“Now, I have a fear that we are given a perception that there is work going on when there is none,” said Dlamini.

“There must be an explanation as to why it has taken so long, and I have not gotten that explanation,” she added.

2 200 households to be moved

The CoJ’s approved plans make allowance for 947 stands, but officials say approximately 2200 households will need to be relocated.  

The 2 200-houshold overflow will be accommodated into the Southern Farm development which will be built on adjacent land near the N1.

However, the city confirmed that a decision on who will receive housing first has yet to be made.

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The ANC’s Sello Dithebe envisioned this lack of clarity on who would benefit first had the potential to ignite tensions in a community unafraid of violent protests.  

“Given that not all of them will be accommodated on the available land, where will the rest of the people be taken to?” Dithebe asked.

“Have [officials] stress-tested the eventuality of people who will not be accommodated there feeling deprived,” he continued.

Revolving political doors

As recently as 2023, a service delivery protest in the area turned violent, which resulted in the death of 16-year-old Karabo Chaka.

Slovo Park Community Development Forum (SPCDF) was formed in 2006, and a task team linked to the community group outlined the residents’ struggle for recognition.

Then Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa promised development in 2003, while EIA consultants were only appointed in 2006.

By 2010 the CoJ presented a plan to develop 575 stands in the area, resulting a 2014 High Court application that concluded with a 2016 order stating that relocating residents was unlawful.

A task team comprising of SPCDF, municipal entities and other civil organisations was formed in 2017 and they have since been working to have ground broken on this long-awaited project.

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The task team wants an immediate improvement of water and sanitation conditions as well as the taring of the roads while they wait for the project to begin.

The task team believes the settlement has the potential to be a high priority national pilot for the upgrading of informal settlements, but Dlamini suggested the election cycle could be another stumbling block.

“There have been promises time and time again, and I can imagine these promises happen during the period we are in now — the last year before the local government elections,” said Dlamini.

“[Residents] will probably get a cycle of different types of political parties and politicians coming to them and making promises, and they will never deliver.

“I worry because the term is going to end next year and there clearly isn’t a handover process as to how to take over from the previous administration to the new one,” Dlamini warned.

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