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Slums Act
16 May 2009

THE legal objections to the provincial government’s controversial 2007 “Slums Act” this week reached the Constitutional Court. On paper, the legislation has admirable objectives: to eliminate and clean up existing slums and to prevent the development of new ones. Slums are undesirable places and slum-dwellers are vulnerable to all manner of ills?—?the ravages of the weather, fire, disease and crime. Clearly government has a responsibility to intervene. On the other hand, KwaZulu-Natal’s new law seems to run counter to both the spirit and the letter of the national Constitution and legislation that protects the rights of people to hold land, especially those whose tenure is legally insecure.

The Concourt’s eventual ruling will have far-reaching legal implications, but it may not resolve the problem on the ground. The fact is that it is no longer possible for rural people to live off the land. The migration to urbanareas is a reality. Without access to formal housing, the new arrivals must build shacks, and they will build them as close to job opportunities and infrastructural resources such as transport, power and water as they can. Once there, despite all the discomfort of their existence, their fear of being displaced is real, and they cannot be removed by the stroke of a legislative pen. A wiser approach would be to acknowledge this reality and deal with it, bringing in the infrastructure that will facilitate the evolution of more stable, settled communities.