The impact of informal settlements on environmentally sensitive areas: a case study of Cato Crest informal settlement, in Durban.
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Date
2019
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Abstract
Apartheid policies promoted racial segregation and thus acted as a catalyst to the rising
slum settlements in post-democratic South Africa. The encroachment of informal
settlements on to the existing natural environment, the shortage of housing and service
delivery is prevalent in Cato Crest. The shortages of living abodes and the cramped
living conditions have forced residents within the settlement to continuously invade the
neighbouring natural environment and animal habitat.
This study intends to examine the environmental impacts caused by the informal
settlements within the Cato Crest area, ecological challenges experienced by the
residents of Cato Crest due to the lack of essential service infrastructure, and provide
answers to the reasons for the emergence of informal settlements in the Cato Crest area.
The study further analyzes the environmental effects of the lack of essential service
infrastructure within Cato Crest area and the effects of urbanization within the study area
of Cato Crest. The study area of Cato Crest informal settlements forms part of Cato
Manor. Cato Manor is located 5 kilometers off the Durban Central business district.
A qualitative research method was adopted and primary and secondary data sources
were used to elicit data on the relationship between informal settlements and the
encroached environmentally sensitive areas in Cato Crest. Non-probability sampling
methods were adopted to execute purposive and judgmental samplings. A sample size of
30 respondents was interviewed during the acquisition of primary data. A thematic
analysis was used to analyze qualitative data.
The key approaches of this study are delineated in the key frameworks which are
namely; the theory and concept of urbanization, the definition and characteristics of
informal settlements, the unravelling of the natural environment, the principles and
concepts of sustainable development and the relationship created by the encroachment of
informal settlements in Cato Crest against the existing natural environmentally sensitive
areas. Theoretical concepts such as the Bronfenbrenner’s theory of human ecology and
development, the development theory and the theory of New Urbanism are used to
define their relationship with the state of Cato Crest informal settlement. These key
frameworks and theoretical concepts are explicitly interrogated to extrapolate the
influences and attachment they have to relationship of the natural environment and
residents of Cato Crest informal settlement.
The residents of Cato Crest informal settlements live in a poverty-stricken environment.
The natural environment is being heavily encroached and polluted. The lack of essential
services such as electricity, running ablution facilities and waste disposal are also a
contributing factor to the pollution of the natural environment and environmentally
sensitive areas.
The study suggests the following recommendations for both the municipality and
residents of Cato crest informal settlement. There needs to be a concise community
involvement in order for a bottom up approach to be implemented to improve the quality
of living at Cato Crest informal settlement. Controlled encroachment onto
undevelopable and environmentally sensitive land will ensure that damage to the
existing biodiversity is limited. The improvements of the beneficiaries’ socio economic
status can be achieved through the structuring of small business enterprises by providing
monetary funding, thus reducing unemployment. A change in the dependency mentality
of residents into a system of self-reliance will reconstruct social and economic norms
within Cato Manor which will engineer a thinking pattern that is both optimistic and
positive amongst the community members.
The conclusion reached in the study is that the perpetual existence of socio-economic
poverty in the African diaspora can be attributed to the highly subtle capitalist
affirmation of developmental theories and legislation. Developmental theories favour
and protect economic interests more, rather than changing the status quo of societal
issues. This is also administered and maintained at the detriment of the natural
environment. According to the eThekwini Municipality, the complete eradication of
informal settlements has since been halted by the municipality. These results indicate
that a deeper conversation on creating a symbiotic relationship between informal
settlements and the natural environment is critical.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal. Durban.