EUROPEHOUSEHOLD ENUMERATION

REPORT

GUGULETHU, CAPE TOWN, OCTOBER 2010

Informal Settlement Network,Europe Community Leadership and

Community Organisation Resource Centre

PREFACE

The Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with main offices in Cape Town but operating in all provinces that supports communities prepared and willing to help themselves. CORC provides support to networks of urban and rural poor communities who mobilize around their own resources and capacities. CORC’s interventions are designed to enable rural and urban communities to learn from one another and to create solidarity and unity in order to be able to broker deals with formal institutions, especially the State.

The Informal Settlement Network (ISN) is an alliance of settlement-level and national-level organizations of informal settlement dwellers, active in all of the country’s major metropolitan municipalities. Since 2009, ISN, often in partnership with local authorities, has been piloting incremental informal settlement upgrades that put organized communities of the urban poor at the centre of such processes.

In 2009 a partnership was established between the City of Cape Town, CORC and the leadership of ISN, to embark on a multiple-site pilot project looking at informal settlement upgrading. In each of the pilot sites, the first step for any development has been identified in the data gathering about population and about the site itself, and its existing meagre infrastructure.

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Contents

PREFACE.................................................................................................................................2

Introduction..............................................................................................................................5

Methodology.............................................................................................................................6

Background to the enumeration..............................................................................................6

Questionnaire development....................................................................................................7

The enumeration process........................................................................................................8

Fieldwork................................................................................................................................8

Data management...................................................................................................................8

Key findings..............................................................................................................................9

Household details.................................................................................................................10

Education..............................................................................................................................13

Employment.........................................................................................................................14

Income and expenses............................................................................................................15

Disaster history.....................................................................................................................18

Migration history..................................................................................................................21

Health and sanitation............................................................................................................23

Nature of shack.....................................................................................................................24

Summary of findings............................................................................................................26

Appendices..............................................................................................................................27

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List of tables

Table 1: Summary of the contents of the Europe Enumeration questionnaire.....................................7Table 2: Settlement profile of Europe....................................................................................................9Table 3: Number of people living in each structure.............................................................................10Table 4: Education enrolment by gender of household head..............................................................13Table 5: Employment distribution by type..........................................................................................14Table 6: Total labour force by age.......................................................................................................14Table 7: Number of households without any working people by household head gender.................15Table 8: Number of persons receiving a grant.....................................................................................16Table 9: Breakdown of monthly expenses...........................................................................................17Table 10: Shopping centres utilised (based on number of mentions).................................................17Table 11: Disaster history while staying in Europe..............................................................................18Table 12: Numbers of people affected by disasters.............................................................................19Table 13: Disaster frequency by household.........................................................................................19Table 14: Origin of Europe residents...................................................................................................21Table 15: Reason why households have settled in Europe..................................................................22Table 16: Type of structure use in Europe...........................................................................................24Table 17: Shack size in square metres by number of households........................................................25Table 18: Space available to each person............................................................................................25Table 19: Number of rooms per shack.................................................................................................25

List of figures

Figure 1: Population distribution by age category...............................................................................11Figure 2: Household head age distribution..........................................................................................11Figure 3: Gender breakdown of household heads...............................................................................12Figure 4: Education enrolment............................................................................................................13Figure 5: Unemployment as a percentage of the total labour force....................................................15Figure 6: Percentage of households receiving any welfare grant........................................................16Figure 7: Transport used as a percentage of mentions........................................................................18Figure 8: Number of years residents have lived in Europe..................................................................21Figure 9: Number of years Europe residents have lived in Cape Town................................................22Figure 10: Access to health services....................................................................................................23Figure 11: Type of sanitation used by residents..................................................................................24

List of Maps

Map A: Existing Europe drainage.........................................................................................................20

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INTRODUCTION

The informal settlement of Europe is located 16km east of Cape Town in the township of Gugulethu. The settlement sits on a piece of land running parallel to the N2 highway, opposite the Gugulethu graveyard and between the informal settlements of Barcelona and Vukuzenzele. The settlement is the result of an increased rate of urbanisation where people leave rural areas and make the journey to the city in the hope of finding employment and a better life for their families. However, what they find upon arrival in the city is that these hopes are not easy to achieve. The basic human need for shelter serves as the first major stumbling block and due to high prices of rent and housing, as well as a huge housing backlog, people are forced to resort to informal forms of housing as the only cheap and accessible housing alternative.

As is the case with many other informal settlements in the country, the community of Europe is led by a committee which oversees all issues concerning their settlement. With a degree of organisation, opportunity exists to change the status quo of these excluded settlements and create the space for informal settlement dwellers to have a say in their own development. This is where CORC has taken up the challenge and has been helping a growing number of communities to participate in an inclusive process of informal settlement upgrading. Part of this process has been to include community members in telling the story of their settlements. This has been focused along the lines of gathering data on the areas by the people who know the real issues best, the inhabitants of informal settlements themselves. The tool for gathering this data is that of enumeration whereby community members assist in the process from planning and execution through to data capturing and reporting on the results.

This report will provide a brief background to the enumeration process followed for the Europe informal settlement as well as summary findings from the data collected. The aim of the report is to provide community members of Europe with the tools to help them participate in their own settlement upgrading and development by allowing them to report on the facts of their current living conditions and be able to engage local government constructively with regards to what their real and most pressing needs are.

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METHODOLOGY

Background to the enumeration

The enumeration exercise was conducted by volunteers who participated in different aspects of the project. This included data collection, manual data capture, measuring and mapping of the area. The Europe informal settlement enumeration was concluded on 10 October 2010.

As a norm of community-driven socio-economic surveys, the enumerators volunteered from a number of informal settlements around Cape Town who are in the same predicament as Europe. The community leadership was part of the whole exercise, which proved helpful in creating the enumeration road map. A great deal of work was done during the preparation for the enumeration with the aim being to help people understand the main motives and objectives behind the project. Initially many people were hopeful that the community enumeration survey would lead to housing delivery. The objective of the enumeration was later decoded by the entire community after a series of meetings between the community and the Informal Settlement Network enumeration team. The main motive of the enumeration was outlined as the need to create a platform which would benefit the community in terms of planning and implementation of basic service delivery and other forms of incremental development. Above all, it was highlighted that the enumeration would help encourage the community to participate in planning and strategising for the development of their settlement together with the City government.

In addition to this, the enumeration of Europe informal settlement served as a pilot for a new way of mapping communities in South Africa. This involved the use of geographical information systems (GIS) by community members who possessed little or no GIS cartographical skills. This method is also currently being used by communities in Kenya. Initially it was perceived that GIS mapping would decrease community members’ participation in their own enumeration but this has not been the case. As much of the work as possible was still done by community members, with a team comprising of people who were responsible for “manual data capturing” — that is, capturing the information as the completed forms came in with data collectors. This is a method also borrowed by the South African enumeration team from the Namibian colleagues during a learning exchange held in Swakopmund, Namibia. Results were made available relatively soon after the data collection process.

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Questionnaire development

The questionnaire was developed from the previous enumeration exercises conducted in the first two pilot projects in 2010 under the partnership with the City of Cape Town mentioned above: Sheffield Road and TT Section. Consultations with informal settlement residents and leadership committees took place to decide what information needs to be captured by the enumeration exercise. Communities were given the opportunity to make improvements on the questionnaire to ensure that more relevant and comprehensive information about their specific area would be collected. Below is a summary of the contents of the questionnaire. A copy of the questionnaire can be found in the appendix.

Table 1: Summary of the contents of the Europe Enumeration questionnaire

DOMAIN OF ENUMERATION ITEMS INCLUDED IN THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Household details

Identity number and gender of household head His/her age Number of families occupying the structure Number of young people in the house Number of people attending school Number of adults staying in the house Number of aged persons in the house

Employment, income and expenses

Number of people employed in the household Type of employment Grants received Monthly basic expenses Transport and costs Shopping options

Nature of house Type of house Area of house Number of rooms

Disaster & relocation history Disasters experienced by the household

Migration history Period lived in the community Place of residence before Europe Period lived in Cape Town

Health & sanitation Type of toilet available to the household Number of people using the toilet Collection of waste from common bins Access to health services

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The enumeration process

The enumeration team consisted of three teams: Measuring Team, Numbering Team and the Data Collection Team. The community was divided into different sections marked by the main paths in the settlement. All these sections were numbered alphabetically. Within each letter assigned section, shacks were given numbers. This was placed on the front of the shack so that each shack had a unique number and could be clearly identified.

Prior to the data collection exercise, the Community Task Team, CORC fieldworkers and ISN members conducted a preparatory workshop. This was to equip fieldworkers with the necessary technical skills needed for conducting the enumeration. The enumerators were instructed to collect information from people in their structures, which were measured and numbered by the Enumeration Numbering Team. In the SDI enumeration methodology, enumerators were instructed to collect information only through face to face interviews with household heads. For this reason, each team included at least some Europe community members. The inclusion of these local members in these teams was also significant because they had better knowledge of their community and all its sections. This increased the level of accuracy in the survey and also ensured that the survey was not seen as an external intrusion, but rather as a tool to serve the informal settlement upgrading initiative.

For the survey component of the exercise, enumerators surveyed every structure in each and every section in Europe. All the questions in the questionnaire were generally completed in 10 – 15 minutes. All answers provided by the respondents during the interview were treated as strictly confidential and respondents were assured of their anonymity. It was also made clear that they could refuse to answer certain questions or even the entire interview if they chose to do so. All effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the data collected. There were however households which could not be interviewed due to the unavailability of residents during the enumeration period.

Fieldwork

Data collection was conducted by the enumerators for a period of four weeks. Interviews were conducted mainly during the day; however, there were instances where interviews were conducted at night by the community enumerators. This was because some people could not be reached during the day due to their work commitments.

Data management

All questionnaires were captured into digital format in the form of an excel spreadsheet. This was done by volunteers and local community members. The excel spreadsheet was then converted into a STATA dataset using Stat Transfer. The dataset was cleaned in STATA and tested for internal consistency. Frequency tables were produced for the purposes of presenting information in tabular and graphical formats.

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KEY FINDINGS

Key results of the enumeration will be discussed in this section and will be primarily presented in the form of graphs and tables. The following table summarises the settlement profile1 established through the enumeration.

Table 2: Settlement profile of Europe

“Slum” Name Europe

Age of Settlement More than 20 years

Status at the time of the survey at the date of drafting this report

There is no eviction threat to the settlement; community has engaged the University of Cape Town on sanitation issues.

Structures Informal residential units

Population 1409 households housing 4413 residents (plus the households who could not be reached due to unavailability)

Not enumerated 319

Ownership The land is owned by the Municipality of Cape Town.

No. of Individual Toilet Blocks 361 bucket system, 40 chemical toilets, 10 pit toilets

No. of Community Toilet Blocks 361 bucket system toilets and 40 chemical toilets

Ratio of toilets to total number of people 411 toilets for 4413 residents

Most urgent needs Most urgent needs are roads, electricity, streets and water.

1 Settlement Profile format adapted from Ahmad Nagar Settlement Profiling, India (2009)

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Household details

Shacks serve as the only structures in the settlement and are used for all the community’s housing, business and religious needs. There were 1832 shacks counted in the settlement of Europe of which 1409 were enumerated. The remaining households were not enumerated due to the unavailability of the structures’ owners/occupants. For the rest of the findings section, all results discussed will be based on the total of 1409 enumerated shacks (unless otherwise indicated) which represents over 75% of all shacks in the Europe settlement. The 1409 enumerated shacks in Europe are home to 4413 residents. These residents make up 1414 different families.

On average, each shack in the Europe informal settlement is home to three persons. 37% of shacks in the settlement house four or more residents (see table 3 below) alluding to conditions of overcrowding

Table 3: Number of people living in each structure

Number of people living in structures Frequency Percent Cumulative

Percent

1 283 20.09 20.092 262 18.59 38.683 342 24.27 62.954 241 17.10 80.065 164 11.64 91.706 64 4.54 96.247 30 2.13 98.378 12 0.85 99.229 8 0.57 99.7911 2 0.14 99.9312 1 0.07 100Total 1409 100  

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Figure 1: Population distribution by age category

0 to 6 7 to 14 15 to 17 18 to 35 36 to 64 65 and older0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

20

15

6

40

17

1

Age categories in years

Perc

enta

ge

The majority of residents in Europe are under the age of 36 years old (82% see figure 1). This indicates a very young population with 41% of residents under the age of 18 years. This is reflected in the age distribution of household heads (see figure 2) where 53% of all household heads fall into the age category 18 to 35 years old.

Figure 2: Household head age distribution

18-35 36-64 65+ Missing data0

10

20

30

40

50

6053

39

1

8

Age categories in years

Perc

enta

ge

11

It must be noted that the age of household heads was calculated using identity numbers hence the 8% indicated as missing data were those instances where the household head did not supply an identity number.

Figure 3: Gender breakdown of household heads

Male59%

Female41%

Forty-one percent of all household heads are females. This is much higher compared to the provincial statistics for 2009 Western Cape2 which puts female headed households at 29.8%. This has both positive and negative consequences. Research has proven that female-headed households tend to spend more on education and nutrition than those of male-headed households.

Female headed households do however face discrimination in terms of gaining access to employment opportunities, credit, housing and basic services. In cases where we have female headed households, these are often single parent households so women face the additional burden of having to manage the household and child rearing responsibilities which generally means they can only take on part-time, informal low income jobs.

2 Social profile of South Africa, 2002–2009, Statistics South Africa

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Education

From Figure 4 it can be seen that 27% of all residents in Europe are enrolled in some form of education. The biggest contributing category in terms of education enrolment is primary school (15%) again indicating the youthful nature of the community.

Figure 4: Education enrolment

Primary

Secondary

Tertiary

Total

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

15

8

4

27

Percentage of total population

Educ

ation

leve

l

Table 4: Education enrolment by gender of household head

(Cell percentages N = 1192)

Education EnrolmentMale

household head

Female household

head

Primary school 26 29

Secondary school 11 17

Tertiary 6 7

Total 46 53

Total number of school going persons   1192

Missing data: 40 Household head genders (3%)

When looking at enrolment based on the gender of the household head, It is revealed that even though female household heads make up only 41% of all household heads (figure 3), 53% of all persons enrolled in education come from female-headed households. Enrolment figures for both primary and secondary school are higher in female-headed households than male-headed households suggesting more value placed on education by female-headed households.

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With regards to educational enrolment, Figure 4 seems to suggest that school attendance is good amongst the school-going age residents of Europe. According to Figure 1, 21 percent of the population falls into the age category 7 to 17 years old. This would be typical school-going age in South Africa (it must be noted that due to pre-defined age categories, six-year-olds and 18-year-olds who would also be in school generally speaking, are lost to categories 0 to 6 years and 18 to 35 years therefore showing that the 21 percent figure, in all likelihood, underestimates the size of the school-going population). According to the educational enrolment figures, 23 percent of the Europe population attends grade school (i.e. primary and secondary school). It would therefore appear that residents who are of school-going age are in fact enrolled in primary or secondary school. Unfortunately, because data was collected on a household level, exact enrolment rates cannot be calculated.

Employment

Table 5 below shows that 1337 residents of Europe (30% of 4413 residents) are employed in some form or another. Of these 1337 residents, 49% are in full-time employment and 39% are employed on a part-time basis.

Table 5: Employment distribution by type

Total employment breakdown Frequency Percent

Self-employed 164 12

Part-time 516 39

Full-time 657 49

Total 1337 100

Statistics South Africa, defines the unemployment rate as the percentage of people of the total economically active population who are not employed. The economically active population as defined by Statistics South Africa are those people aged 16 years and older.

Table 6: Total labour force by age

Labour Force Frequency

Age 15 to 17 years 279

Age 18 to 35 1783

Age 36 to 64 759

Age 65 and older 34Total labour force 2855

Table 6 gives a good estimate of the economically active population in Europe settlement. This numbers 2855 residents. In Figure 5 below we see that the unemployment rate for Europe is 53%. This is much higher than the official unemployment rate for South Africa and points to a lack of employment opportunities for the urban poor.

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Figure 5: Unemployment as a percentage of the total labour force

Employed47%

Unemployed53%

Total Labour Force: 2855 persons

A further analysis of employment by household head gender reveals the following statistics.

Table 7: Number of households without any working people by household head gender

Household head gender

Number of households without any

working people

Percentage of total

households

Number of people

Percentage of total

population

Male 103 7 292 7

Female 130 9 424 10

There are 130 female headed households that have no employed people living in them compared to 103 male headed households. Within these 130 households, the female household heads have to support approximately 10% of the total population of the settlement. More refined research is required to determine how these households with no apparent income are able to survive.

Income and expenses

The response rate for the income question in the Europe enumeration was very low and cannot be used to provide an accurate assessment of the income for residents. The method employed by CORC is to examine the expenses of households which can be used as an estimate for the income of that particular household. Another source of income data which is very important for informal settlement dwellers is that of social welfare grants.

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Table 8: Number of persons receiving a grant

Grant typeNumbers of

People Receiving

% out of total

population

Disability 83 1.88

Child Support 961 21.78

Pension 39 0.88

Refugee 6 0.14

Other 21 0.48

Total 1110 25.15

Total population 4413  

A total of 25% of all residents in Europe receive some form of social welfare grants (table 7). The child support grant is the biggest contributing category (21.78%).

Figure 6: Percentage of households receiving any welfare grant

53%47%

Yes or record of welfare grant No answer or No record of welfare grant

When looking at all the households in Europe, 53% receive some form of income through a welfare grant (Figure 6). What is more revealing though is looking at households who have no working people in them and receive a welfare grant. In the Europe settlement there are 168 households who rely solely on social welfare grants to survive. These 168 households (12% of all households) are home to 599 residents.

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Table 9: Breakdown of monthly expenses

TOTAL EXPENSES Amount Percentage of total

Food R 596 070.00 46

Electricity R 116 425.00 9

Transport R 217 023.30 17

Rent R 8 270.50 1

School fees R 60 678.00 5

Clothing R 261 395.00 20

Water R 2 593.00 0.20

Other R 36 384.00 2.80

Total R 1 298 838.80 100

As can be seen from the table above, food is the biggest monthly expense for the residents of Europe. It accounts for 46 percent of all expenses each month. The next biggest expense after food is clothes which make up 20 percent of all expenses. Overall it can be seen that the community of Europe contributes to the economy of Cape Town to the tune of approximately R 1 298 838 each month. This once again shows that informal settlements do play a role in the economic life of the city. It must be noted that figures for clothing expenses appear to be over-inflated and should be referenced with caution. Another big expense for the residents of Europe is transportation costs which account for 17% of all expenditure each month. The average cost for transport per day for residents is R18.77. This indicates that residents of Europe informal settlement have to travel outside of their community to access certain services, basic needs and employment.

79 of the 1409 households did not declare any expenses. This leaves 1330 households which spend R 1 298 838.80 per month. This equates to an average monthly expense total of R975.57 per household. There are 77 households in Europe who do not have any people working and they do not receive any welfare grants. 56 of these 77 households claim to have some form of monthly expenses. How these households secure an income is a mystery and may reflect the constantly changing employment status and work opportunities for the urban poor.

So where are these households spending their money?

Table 10: Shopping centres utilised (based on number of mentions)

Shopping Centres Frequented Frequency Percent

Goal Shopping Mall 654 43.89Gugulethu Shopping Mall 679 45.57Nyanga Junction 28 1.88Other 129 8.66Total 1490 100

From Table 10 it can be seen that 45% of mentions were for Gugulethu shopping mall and 43% for Goal shopping mall. As mentioned earlier, transport costs are one of the big

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expenses for residents and this is most likely related to having to travel to work and to the shopping centres mentioned above.

Figure 7: Transport used as a percentage of mentions

18%

41%18%

23%Private

Taxi

Bus

Train

Residents in Europe reported that taxis served as their main mode of transport. The next most frequently used mode of transport is the train. This once again indicates an under-serviced area in terms of public transport and the reliance on taxis may be the main reason why transport costs are so high for residents.

Disaster history

Some of the major problems facing informal settlement dwellers in South Africa are related to weather disasters in the form of heavy rain and flooding as well as man-made disasters in the form of runaway shack fires. Due to the informal nature of the Europe settlement, proper road, drainage and safety mechanisms regarding fire hazards are not in place. This has meant that the residents are exposed to a number of dangers while living in the area.

Table 11: Disaster history while staying in Europe

Disaster typeNumber of households

affectedPercentage

Fire only 267 19

Flooding only 1128 81

Evictions only 0 0

Total 1395 100Missing data: 14 households    

81 percent of all households in Europe have experienced a flooding disaster. This highlights the plight of residents when it comes to winter time and the rainy season in Cape Town.

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Approximately 3626 residents of Europe have been affected by flooding alone. Fire disasters appear to be less frequent but have still impacted on 326 residents again showing how the community of Europe has been subjected to disasters.

Table 12: Numbers of people affected by disasters

Disaster type Number of people affected Percentage

Fire only 326 7.4

Flooding only 3626 82.2

Evictions only 0 0.0

Total 3952 89.6Total population 4413  

When asked about what type of flooding occurs, the highest mentions count was for flooding from underground water. Of the households that experienced flooding, over 60% claimed that their shacks remained flooded for at least half a day or longer. This points to inadequate drainage systems as well as an increased risk in the potential for outbreak of waterborne diseases.

Table 13: Disaster frequency by household

Disaster Type Number of households affected Frequency of events

Ave no. of events per household

Flooding 1128 11031 9.78Fire 267 326 1.22

Table 13 shows that households that experience flooding have on average experienced almost ten such events whereas fire has a frequency of about one event per household that has experienced a fire disaster. Clearly flooding is a major concern in the Europe informal settlement and needs to be addressed. Residents have made their own attempts to protect themselves from flooding in particular with the most popular method used being to dig trenches. In some instances sandbags have also been used as a preventative measure. As a community, digging trenches also appears to be the most frequently used method for preventing flooding.

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Map A: Existing Europe drainage

Map A above shows the current situation with regards to drainage in the Europe informal settlement. The community’s ingenious response in reducing flooding was to build earth drains but the earth drains are only marginally effective. As can be seen, there are ten earth drains of varying length with large tracts of the settlement not having any form of drainage at all. These earth drains are clogged regularly causing serious flooding in the winter and green water in the summer. There is an existing concrete open drain which has been constructed by the City but again this services only a small section of the settlement. The flooding problem is aggravated by Europe’s location on a landfill. This is compounded due to the lack of trash containers, proper roads and waste disposal. Additionally, the city and the residents keep filling up potholes and puddles with sand, subsequently raising the level of the roads. Thus the roads are higher than the shacks causing even worse flooding.

The map also indicates the location of existing taps (17 in total) which serve the needs of over 4000 people.

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Migration history

Figure 8 below indicates that there are a few household heads who claim to have been living in the area for more than 30 years. 56 percent of household heads in Europe have been living there for at least six years and as long as 15 years. This points to a fairly well-established community with community members having been resident in Europe for a considerable amount of time. Only one quarter of the household heads have moved to Europe in the last five years.

Figure 8: Number of years residents have lived in Europe

0 to 5 6 to 10 11 to 15 16 to 20 21 to 25 26 to 30 more than 30

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

25.12

34.99

21.29

16.82

1.49 0.21 0.07

Years in Europe

Perc

enta

ge

Table 14: Origin of Europe residents

Area where lived before Freq. Percent

Bloemfontein 1 0.07

Cape Metro 865 61.39

Eastern Cape 517 36.69

Gauteng Province 13 0.92

KwaZulu Natal 5 0.35

Limpopo 1 0.07

MC 1 0.07

Namibia 4 0.28

Missing data 2 0.14

Total 1409 100

From Table 14 it can be seen that 61% of Europe household heads were living in the Cape Metro region before moving to Europe. This highlights the fact that the majority of

21

respondents are generally residents of Cape Town. There are however 36% of household heads who came directly from the Eastern Cape to live in Europe. This once again highlights the influx of people from the rural areas to urban centres in the hopes of finding employment. In some instances the connection of having a family member in the area is the main driving force for moving to the city.

Table 15: Reason why households have settled in Europe

Reason for living in this area Freq. Percent

Close to family 599 43.12Close to friends 19 1.37Close to work 689 49.6Close to family & friends 1 0.07Close to family & work 7 0.5Other reason 74 5.33

Total 1389 100

Missing data: 20 households    

As can be seen in Table 15 above, 43% of all household heads claimed to have moved to Europe settlement in order to be close to family. But finding work is shown to be the main reason why households have moved to Europe. The high percentage of responses for “being close to family” also indicates the importance that social/familial/community networks have for the urban poor and adds to the argument that relocation destroys these networks and does not provide a holistic solution to the housing shortage.

Figure 9: Number of years Europe residents have lived in Cape Town

0 to 5 6 to 10 11 to 15 16 to 20 21 to 25 26 to 30 more than 30

Missing data

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

13.91

29.1

23.28

19.87

7.453.69

2.480.21

Years in Cape Town

Perc

enta

ge

Figure 9 shows that the majority of Europe household heads started moving to Cape Town between five to 15 years ago. This would match the trend of movement of most informal

22

settlement residents who were not originally from Cape Town. It must also be noted that 56% of the household heads have been living in Europe for ten years or more – again showing the permanence of the settlement and the community that has grown there.

Health and sanitation

The residents of Europe informal settlement seem to access a variety of health services.

Figure 10: Access to health services

1% 2%

6%

44%45%

2%

Traditional HealerGeneral PractitionerEmergency ServicesMobile ClinicHospitalMissing data

Figure 10 reveals that 89% of respondents receive medical attention at the mobile clinic or an actual hospital. Of the households who used these health services, 92% felt that their medical needs had been taken care of at these facilities. It also reveals that 44% receive medical care via the mobile clinic.

With regards to access to sanitation, the situation in Europe is dire. No households reported using water system toilets and the overwhelming majority use the bucket system as their toilet (95%). The remaining 5% uses the bush. It is very clear that sanitation needs to be upgraded in this area as there are very low levels of service delivery currently.

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Figure 11: Type of sanitation used by residents

Bucket System Bush0

102030405060708090

100 95.63

4.12

Sanitation type

Perc

enta

ge

Nature of shack

As mentioned at the start of the findings section, shacks are the only structures in the Europe settlement and serve all the community’s needs. The majority of shacks fulfil the role of residential use only. There are a few shacks that serve as residential and church as well as residential and “spaza”3 shops but these are very few.

Table 16: Type of structure use in Europe

Structure Use Frequency

Residential only 1147

Dual Use Residential & Church 2

Dual Use Residential & Spaza 4

Dual Use Residential & Other 5

Dual Use Residential & Pre-school 1

Missing data 250

Total 1409

In terms of size, the shacks range predominantly from five square metres up to 30 and above square metres. 63 percent of all shacks in the Europe informal settlement are 25 square metres or smaller.

3 A Spaza shop is an informal convenience shop in South Africa, usually run from home.

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Table 17: Shack size in square metres by number of households

Shack Sizes in square metres Freq. Percent Cumulative percent

No measurement 20 1 1Less than 5 square metres 1 0 15 to 10 square metres 263 19 2011 to 15 square metres 220 16 3616 to 20 square metres 223 16 5221 to 25 square metres 166 12 6326 to 30 square metres 134 10 7331 to 40 square metres 191 14 86Over 40 square metres 191 14 100Total 1409 100  

Table 18: Space available to each person

Total people 4413Total area in square metres 34809.4

Square metres per person7.88792

1

What this means is that on average each person in the settlement has about 7.8 square metres of living space. It needs to be remembered however that this includes any spaces that may be used for other uses besides sleeping areas. 36 percent of shacks are 15 square metres or smaller. When looking at the number of people living in these shacks, it turns out that the square metres per person drops to 1.6 indicating extreme overcrowding.

87 percent of all shacks have three rooms or less (Table 19). About 30 percent of all households in Europe informal settlement live in a one-bedroom shack again alluding to conditions of overcrowding.

Table 19: Number of rooms per shack

Number of rooms Freq. Percent Cum.

1 412 29.96 29.96

2 507 36.87 66.84

3 281 20.44 87.27

4 134 9.75 97.02

5 29 2.11 99.13

6 9 0.65 99.78

7 3 0.22 100

Total 1375 100  

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Summary of findings

The Europe informal settlement displays a number of key statistics that shed light on the current situation in this particular settlement. The settlement itself may be informal in nature in terms of the physical structures located there but as a community it has been a part of the City of Cape Town for ten years with residents claiming residency up to as much as 20 to 30 years. Even with this in mind, it still remains grossly under-developed with an extreme lack of basic infrastructure and services. Sanitation is of a particular concern with no flush toilets in the area. This, combined with the area’s vulnerability to flooding, poses a serious health risk to residents.

As is the case with most informal settlements in South Africa, where unemployment is a huge problem, Europe shows worrying high levels. In some instances there are even households who do not receive any form of income or grant, yet still need to see to their basic needs for survival.

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APPENDIX

COMMUNITY ORGANIsATION RESOURCE CENTRE (CORC)EUROPE ENUMERATION

This enumeration survey collects information on housing conditions, expenditures (and income if possible), employment and sanitation in your community. Please cooperate with the enumerator to fill in this questionnaire.This form asks for the following:

Basic information about the people who are living in your house Specific information about this house and its occupancy Specific information about sanitation services and health conditions.

Thank you for your cooperation.

1. Household Details and Data

1.1 Owner of structure: Shack/House Number

Surname ________________________________ Names _________________________________

ID number (only if you wish to provide it): ___________________________

Age of structure Owner

Gender of the head of the household: Male Female

1.2 Occupant of structure:

Surname ________________________________ Names _________________________________

ID number (only if you wish to provide it): ___________________________________________

Gender of the occupant: Male Female

1.3 The relationship between the owner and the occupant;

Structure owner Tenant Relative of owner

1.4 How many families stay in your house? 1 2 3

1.5 How many people in the house are… (i) 0 - 6 years (iv) 18 – 35 years

(ii) 7 – 14 years (v) 36 – 64 years

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(iii) 15 –17 years (vi) 65 + years

1.6 How many people attend school?

Crèche Primary school Secondary/High School

Tertiary

2. Employment, Income & Expense2.1 How many people are employed in the house? 1 2 3 4 +

2.2 What type of employment are they involved in?

How many How many How manySelf Employed Part time/Casual Full Time

If unemployed list skills (If any):___________________________________________

2.3 Do you receive any kind of a welfare grant? Yes No

2.4 What kind of grant do you receive? Disability Child support Pension

Refugee Other

2.5 How many people have any form of income in your house? 1 2 3 4+

2.6 How much are the main expenses per month?

1. Food 2. Electricity

3. Transport 4. Rent/Maintenance

5. School fees 6. Clothing

7. Water 8. Other items

2.7 What type of transport do you use when going to work? Private Taxi Bus Train

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R R

R R

R R

R R

2.8 How far is the place of employment (or where the household head gets the income)?

(Hours, Minutes of TRAVEL or WALK)

2.9 How much do you pay per day in transport?

2.9.1 Where do you do your shopping?

1. Goal Shopping Mall 2. Gugulethu Shopping Mall

3. Nyanga Junction Shopping Mall 4. Other:_______________

3. Nature of house 3.1 Type of house: Independent Shack Backyard dwelling

3.2 Use of structure: Residential only Church Pre –school

Spaza Other

3.3 What is the size of your house? MT X MT [e.g. 3.50 m x 2.95 m]

3.4 How many rooms does your house have?

1 2 3 4 +

3.6 Do you own a car? Yes No

3.7 If yes, where do you park? (i) Private garage (ii) Drive Way (iii) Other

4. Eligibility for Housing Subsidy4.1 Were you ever approved for a housing subsidy? Yes No

4.2 Would you like to state your income level for the purpose of understanding how many households in the community can apply for subsidies?

5. Disaster & Relocation History 5.1 Disaster History (a) Have you ever experienced the following disasters when staying at Europe settlement? (i) Fire Disaster Yes No how many times?

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. .

____ Hrs ____ min

R

R

(ii) Flooding Yes No how many times?

(iii) Evictions Yes No how many times?

_________________________________________________________________________

5.2 Migration History(i) How long have you lived in Europe?

(ii) Where were you living before you came here? ______________________________________

(iii) How long have you lived in Cape Town? iv) Foreign National?

(iv) Why did you choose this area?

Close to family Close to friends Close to work

Other __________________________________________

6. Health & Sanitation6.1 Which toilet do you use? (i) Bucket System Toilet (ii) How many people use this toilet?

(iii) Water System (Flushed) (iv) Bush

(iv) How often is the bucket being emptied?

6.2 How many times is the refuse (Black Bags) collected in your community?

Once a Week twice a week 3 times a week

Once a month twice a month or NEVER?

6.3 What health facilities do you have access to?

Traditional Healer General Practitioner Emergency Services

Mobile Clinic Hospital

(ii) Are all your health problems solved at this facility?

Yes No

6.4 What health problems have you or your family suffered after a flood?

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About _______people __

Year/s

Year/s

____________times p/week

Cough Flu running stomach Other _________________________

Please Note: All Enumerators have to write their names including dates during the process. THANK YOU! ENKOSI! DANKIE!

ENUMERATOR:_____________________________________

CODE:_________ DATE:____/ _____/ 2010

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