The socialist movement of residents from the Abahlali baseMjondolo slums has accused the government of an inability to help poor and marginalized populations. According to the movement, authorities do not show political will to carry out land reform and view residents of informal settlements and rural areas as temporary 'electoral bases' and 'human waste.'
The movement asserts that processes of gentrification, zoning, and profit-driven development continue to exclude poor citizens of South Africa. This forces marginalized communities to leave cities and move to underserved peripheral areas, resembling spatial segregation from the apartheid era.
Against the backdrop of upcoming local elections on November 4th, the serious consequences of historical segregation, slow implementation of municipal policies, and ineffective urban planning are coming to the forefront. Spatial planning experts and bodies such as the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) emphasize that many local municipalities continue to face spatial injustice, operating within deeply fragmented, racialized boundaries left over from apartheid. Despite decades of democratic governance, post-apartheid spatial planning has encountered significant obstacles in overcoming these entrenched geographical divisions.
Despite the adoption of frameworks like the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA), intended to dismantle the urban footprint of apartheid, systemic issues hinder the achievement of genuine spatial transformation. According to Abahlali baseMjondolo, the reason for this is the lack of political resolve in addressing land distribution issues.
A representative of Abahlali baseMjondolo, Tapelo Mokhapi, stated: 'People live or build in dangerous places not because they decided so themselves, but because there is no political will to solve the land issue. This happens because the poor and marginalized residents of informal settlements and rural areas are not considered by the government.' He added that their dignity does not matter, and they are only seen as 'vote banks' or 'human waste' to be dumped in areas without any services.
Mokhapi also noted that zoning policy is driven by the pursuit of profit, not the well-being of the poor. He cited the City of Cape Town, where residents were relocated for business interests, moving them to peripheral zones such as Wolwerivier and Blikkiesdorp. He strongly demanded that the government stop talking about people without considering the people themselves, insisting that slum dwellers are capable of independent thought and are citizens of the country.
According to data tracked by the South African Council for Planners (SACPLAN) and urban planning experts, the slowdown in spatial redress is caused by a number of systemic factors. SACPLAN points out that frequent changes in political leadership, votes of no confidence, and fragmented municipal coalitions seriously disrupt long-term infrastructure planning. Furthermore, the movement stated that technical decision-making in planning departments is often undermined by political interference and the appointment of senior management based on non-professional criteria rather than technical competence.
During the SAPI conference in Cape Town, Minister of Housing Thembi Simelane emphasized that historical segregation forces low-income households to live on urban peripheries, far from employment centers and vital resources. She noted that such geographical division increases family travel costs and puts a strain on municipal infrastructure budgets.
Poor urban zoning and inadequate spatial planning have directly contributed to the transformation of heavy rains into catastrophic natural disasters across South Africa, especially in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). This also exacerbates water and electricity crises, placing excessive strain on aging infrastructure and creating fragmented urban landscapes.
In response to a question about how SALGA ensures priority infrastructure funding to address historical deficits in vulnerable areas, rather than servicing wealthy suburbs, a representative from Motaletale Modiba requested more time to answer, citing heavy workload. In turn, a representative from Cogta, Pearl Maseko, reported that she would return with an answer regarding the metrics used by the Municipal Land Use Scheme Success Assessment Department to achieve spatial justice according to SPLUMA, but could not answer at the time of publication.
The human rights organization Lawyers for Human Rights called for a review of South Africa's planning system, noting that the zoning process under SPLUMA does not reflect the realities of the country. Lawyer and researcher David Dickinson believes that universal rules applicable to all socio-economic environments are unacceptable, as land use in townships and slums is mixed. He concluded that the long-term solution lies in economic development and equality.
The Department of Land Reform and Rural Development reported that Section 24 of SPLUMA requires municipalities to adopt a unified land use scheme for the entire territory, which is an important reform aimed at replacing fragmented and historically unequal urban development plans with a unified land use management system. The department is also reviewing provisions related to ensuring compliance with land use schemes within proposed amendments to SPLUMA.