The more things change, the more they stay the same: a case study of Westbury, Coronationville and S

5 Report 5 in the series Spatial Transformation through Transit‑Oriented Development in Johannesburg

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME: A CASE STUDY OF WESTBURY, CORONATIONVILLE AND SLOVO PARK INFORMAL SETTLEMENT

Neil Klug

A

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

B

Partners

Agence Française de Développement (AFD) City of Johannesburg (CoJ) South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning, University of the Witwatersrand (SA&CP, Wits)

Steering committee members

Alexandra Appelbaum (SA&CP) Camille Chastagnol (AFD) Arthur Germond (AFD) Prof. Philip Harrison (SA&CP) Prof. Paul Jenkins (Wits) Herman Pienaar (CoJ) Dr. Margot Rubin (SA&CP) Prof. Alison Todes (Wits) Martha Stein-Sochas (AFD) Liana Strydom (CoJ) Dylan Weakley (CoJ)

Editors

Prof. Philip Harrison, Dr. Margot Rubin and Alexandra Appelbaum

Project manager

Alexandra Appelbaum

Authors

Dr. Margot Rubin and Alexandra Appelbaum

Spatial Transformation through Transit‑Oriented Development: synthesis report

Dr. Margot Rubin

The City as a Laboratory: Experimentation, Observation and Theorisation from Urban Labs

Dr. Sylvia Croese

International case studies of Transit-Oriented Development-Corridor implementation

Dr. Kirsten Harrison

Transit Corridors and the Private Sector: Incentives, Regulations and the Property Market

Neil Klug

The more things change, the more they stay the same: a case study of Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park informal settlement

Dr. Tanya Zack

Platform to an Arrival City: Johannesburg’s Park Station and Surrounds

Alexandra Appelbaum

Contestation, transformation and competing visions: a study of Orange Grove and Norwood

Lindsay Howe

Constancy and Change: Marlboro South as an interstice of marginalisation and development in the Gauteng City-Region

Prof. Umakrishnan Kollamparambil

Multiple Words and Experiences: Conditions of Life and Work along the Corridors of Freedom

Research assistance

Emmanuel Ayifah Kwanda Lande Mamokete Matjomane Lucky Nkali Lyle Prim

Survey company

Outsourced Insight

Maps

Alexandra Appelbaum and Reitumetse Selepe

Photographs

Mark Lewis

Historical photographs

Museum Africa Collection

Copy editing

Kate Tissington and Alexandra Appelbaum

Design and layout

Louise Carmichael

I

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

At the time that these reports were researched and written, the City of Johannesburg was using the term Corridors of Freedom to refer to the Louis Botha, Empire Perth and Turffontein Strategic Area Frameworks. Although the name is currently under review we have used the original terminology throughout the reports.

All quantitative data referred to without an explicit reference is drawn from the survey conducted by Outsourced Insight as part of the Spatial Transformation through Transit-Oriented Development project. 1200 people (a mix of residents, business owners and users) were surveyed in the four case study areas of this report series. All mapped data was also drawn from this survey. © City of Johannesburg 2016 To access the original data please contact the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning, University of the Witwatersrand. www.wits.ac.za/sacp

Referencing the report:

Klug N (2016) “The more things change, the more they stay the same: a case study of Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park informal settlement”.

Report 5. Spatial Transformation through TransitOriented Development in Johannesburg Research Report Series. South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning. University of the Witwatersrand: Johannesburg.

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

II

Executive summary The Spatial Transformation through Transit-Oriented Development in Johannesburg report series is the product of a project undertaken between the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) and the NRF South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand.

The project aimed to provide operational support to, and empirical evidence for, the City of Johannesburg’s Transit‑Oriented Development (TOD) programme – at the time known as the Corridors of Freedom (COF). It was a unique and important collaborative endeavour, in which the project proposal, research questions and final approach were co-produced by the three partners. The reports cover a range of topics, from an international comparison of TransitOriented Development Corridors, to an in-depth study of the regulatory, institutional and incentive environments in the COF, and the response from the private sector. It also included a survey of 1 200 residents, users and businesses and an indepth qualitative case study analysis of four nodes: Marlboro South; Park Station Precinct; Orange Grove and Norwood, and Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park. The case studies encompassed a wide range of the environments along Johannesburg’s corridors, including older suburbs, informal settlements, townships, public housing stock, industrial areas and transit nodes in the inner city. The team consisted of academics, officials, consultants and community members.

Methodologically, all reports relied on academic and media sources, with the majority consisting of an integrated analysis of survey findings and key stakeholder interviews.

The summary that follows looks at the key points from each report and offers a concise sense of the main findings.

Key findings: • The international experience supports the case for transit corridors, noting that they are useful and necessary planning instruments in urban regeneration – improving sustainability; increasing access for poorer communities, and improving rates bases in strategic areas.

• Transit corridors have been associated with an improved municipal fiscus that is able to provide denser urban environments with consequently higher efficiencies in the urban form.

• The current forms and institutional arrangements of TOD corridors in the CoJ demonstrate much promise and have some of the key features of successful corridors found elsewhere, i.e. a lead department with high levels of technical skill.

• However, there is a need for greater coherence at both the planning and implementation level, and a need for more buy-in from all departments in the CoJ. • The CoJ has set an ambitious approach to the development of the Corridors – attempting to create a ‘guided’ enabling environment for the private sector that incentivises and attracts investment into these sites, whilst balancing the needs of the public good, and the larger

III

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

•

•

•

•

•

developmental agenda.

There are some important locations that will potentially satisfy private sector interests of lowered risk and higher demand; these include affordable housing along Louis Botha Avenue and investment opportunities in the Knowledge Precinct.

The TOD programme has a long-time horizon.

However, after just four years it has seen some successes, including the provision and use of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) by certain communities; significant public environment and infrastructure upgrades, and the construction of vital services, such as clinics in areas that were previously under-served.

In order for the impact of TOD – which extends beyond just the BRT – to be maximised, the City must foster a multi-modal transport system, including the BRT, Gautrain, commuter rail, and minibus taxis.

Across the Corridors it is clear that there is significant youthful energy directed towards micro-businesses, with many residents starting new enterprises. Louis Botha Avenue, Marlboro South and Park Station are already showing signs of being complex multi-use sites that attract people from all over South Africa and the continent.

The transit corridors already have an important economic function in that they are attractive sites due to their accessibility and the ability of residents to save on transport costs. However, demand is forcing up the price of commercial and residential property, making these areas inaccessible for poorer households.

Nodal findings: Each node faces a set of specific conditions that require particular engagements and services.

• Westbury, as a site of older public housing stock, faces severe social pathologies, and very low rates of employment. Residents feel isolated and parochial – despite being quite close to the inner city in terms of physical distance – and there is a need to consider social infrastructure as a key future intervention.

• Slovo Park as an informal settlement requires better services and housing but also greater participation and engagement with residents about their future.

• Louis Botha Avenue (Orange Grove in particular) is mixed-use and mixed-income area and has important businesses varying in size. Here care needs to be taken to support the organic processes of informal and formal entrepreneurship and to avoid potential gentrification and displacement

that could result from interventions. While the Paterson Park housing project is a vital intervention, the governance dynamics in the area provide important lessons for the CoJ in its future interventions in middle-class areas.

• Marlboro South is an area of enormous potential, but has high rates of poverty and very poor living conditions. It is very well located and has a number of businesses, at a variety of scales, which would like to remain. This area requires housing interventions, service upgrades and consideration of the urban environment, especially safety and security.

• Park Station Precinct, as arguably the most important transit node in Johannesburg, suffers from a governance crisis and as a consequence has not been able to capitalise on its cosmopolitan and vibrant nature. There is a lack of support for the economic activities in the area; insufficient affordable accommodation; and the station requires better linkages into the fabric of the inner city.

Recommendations: • Currently, there is a ‘toolbox’ of incentives that is being developed to enhance partnerships with private sector developers, and there is evidence to suggest that this could be enhanced by considering questions of urban management; the release and development of state-owned land, and examining the development of demand – rather than supply-side investments.

• Safety and security, questions of urban management, and employment were themes that consistently appeared across the corridors.

The City needs to pay close attention to these concerns, as they are affecting all aspects of the Corridors, such as the quality of life for residents and the potential future investment from private developers.

• Public participation protocols require rethinking and possibly reconfiguration. In their current formulation they are not sufficiently able to include the voices of some of the poorest and most marginalised. They are also incorrectly conceptualised as information-sharing sessions, rather than real engagement or consultation.

• Furthermore, public participation needs to be seen as part of long term-relationships with communities and stakeholders that occur throughout the process rather than a once-off compliance-led activity.

• Given the need for cross-sectoral and interdepartmental co-ordination, area-based management models could be highly effective in addressing these issues and should be

considered as a way of addressing the host of differentiated needs across the transit corridors.

• The current practice of having ‘point people’ – particularly within the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) – dedicated to specific nodes and corridors is excellent and should be continued.

• All processes in the corridors must be supported by up-to-date websites that are current with ease of access to all relevant information.

• The CoJ needs to promote and publicise its achievements, and let the general public and other departments know what it has accomplished.

• Exceptional care needs to be taken to ensure that built environment interventions do not worsen conditions in vulnerable communities, highlighting the need for better empirical evidence and consultation before implementation.

• Built environment interventions must be complemented with social development and engagement in order for the full potential of the transit corridors to be realised, in terms of addressing the social and economic aspects of marginalisation.

• Overall, there is much to be learned from the first few years of the programme that can improve the CoJ’s TOD initiatives going forward: better engagement and participation; clearer plans; better marketing and overall communication within and outside the CoJ, and careful consideration of the limits of built environment interventions.

In short, the research project revealed that transit corridors are an effective programmatic choice in restructuring the spatiality of the City of Johannesburg and dealing with some of the most intractable urban problems; there are a range of ways to improve Johannesburg’s TOD programme going forward. To realise the full value of the TOD vision, it is necessary for the CoJ to continue the programme with the vigour it has demonstrated thus far. The dedicated and skilled teams in the City have already been able to achieve some successes, and with the evidence base that this study now offers, interventions and plans can be more finely honed and refined to focus in on specific community needs, whilst addressing questions of a declining fiscus and the need to restructure and reinvigorate the City of Johannesburg. This project also included a series of urban labs – a number of engagements between City officials, academics, members of civil society and the private sector and other key stakeholders – on particular issues related to Johannesburg’s future. This report is also included in the series.

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

IV

Westbury/Coronationville/Slovo Park 01

The history of this area has had a profound impact on its continued development, affecting identity politics, economic marginalisation, unemployment and crime.

02

High unemployment is influenced by gender and age. The bulk of women are unemployed due to a lack of skills and childcare constraints. In terms of age, only one third of the population is economically active; criminal records limit many of this group.

03

04

05

06

The community is stable: rates of property ownership are high and most residents are South African citizens.

This is beneficial for community engagement.

07

Westbury is experiencing a perceived and real downward spiral of unemployment, poverty, drug abuse and crime. The result is a decline in morale of the community and mistrust of state-driven initiatives.

08

The area lacks an effective integrated response to the social and economic challenges facing the area, despite the high number of government and nongovernmental social institutions, and relatively high levels of community volunteerism.

09

Densification has occurred through the sharing of houses, construction of backyard rooms and the conversion of garages for leasing. While the increased densities are positive, there are issues of service overloads and impingement into public space.

Despite a plethora of planning frameworks including Westbury, most do not build on previous plans; the understanding of context has been weak; there has been little implementation; and few residents are aware of planning initiatives, including the Corridors of Freedom.

Established businesses are struggling as a result of the influx of foreign-owned tuckshops, which are accused of being highly competitive due to tax avoidance and collaborative strategies. There is also a lack of support for small businesses. Despite this, there is confidence in the potential for business in the area, given established clientele and movement of people.

It is necessary to build an institutional structure – such as an area-based management framework – that will facilitate effective integrated crosssectoral implementations of socioeconomic programs and Corridors of Freedom physical interventions.

Initiatives should include social rehabilitation, crime prevention, skills development and food security.

16.4%

68.6% Jhb 29.8% Other SA 1.6% Foreign migrants

Employed

44.3% 98%

Unemployed, seeking work

of residents originate from South Africa

3.6% 12.9%

7.9%

Self-employed

7.1%

Home duties

7.9%

Unemployed, not seeking work

In education

Retired/ pensioner None R1-R200 R201-R500 R501-R1000 R1001-R1500 R1501-R2500

10

The development of appropriate financial, planning and property development instruments is important in ensuring local residents benefit from the Corridors of Freedom project. Instruments should include: Community Land Trusts and land pooling to secure long term access to land for the poor; special development zones for social housing developments; land value capture; loan guarantee areas; micro-loan financing and microenterprise development.

R2501-R3500 R3501-R4500 R4501-R6000 R6001-R8000 R8001-R11000 R11001-R16000 R16001-R30000

49% households earn between R1001 and R6000 per month

>R30000 Don’t know Refusal 0% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15%

Drugs Crime Unemployment Overcrowding Poor services Poverty Litter/ dirt Foreigners Other challenges

V

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

No challenges 0% 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50%

Table of Contents 01 INTRODUCTION 02 1.1. Outline of Report

02

02 CONTEXT 08 2.1. History of the Area 2.1.1.

2.1.2 2.1.3 2.1.4.

08

The founding of the Western Native Township Crime and policing Poor spatial planning interventions Impacts of the apartheid legacy

08 08 10 12

2.2. Current Profile 2.2.1.

2.2.2.

2.2.3.

2.2.4.

2.2.5.

13

Demographics 13 Unemployment and poverty 13 Migration histories 15 Dwellings and land holdings 15 Travel and transport 19

2.3. Implications for COF Implementation

21

03 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

24

3.1. Profile of Businesses in the Area 3.2. Implications for COF Implementation

24 34

04 SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS

38

4.1. Living Conditions 4.2. Crime and Drug Abuse 4.3. Community Participation and Local Institutions 4.3.1.

4.3.2.

38 42 45

Westbury Local Drug Action Committee (LDAC) Westbury Transformation Development Centre (WTDC)

45 47

4.4. Implications for COF Implementation

47

05 SPATIAL PLANNING INITIATIVES

50

5.1. Newclare-Coronationville-Brixton Corridor UDF 5.2. Proposal for Slovo Park Upgrade 5.3. Corridors of Freedom Project 5.3.1.

5.3.2.

50 50 52

Empire-Perth SAF Westbury Precinct Development Plan

52 53

5.4. Implications for COF Implementation

58

06 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

60

6.1. Summary of Key Issues

60

6.1.1.

6.1.2.

6.1.3.

6.1.4.

6.1.5.

Lack of co-ordination between the interventions in the area Unemployment and poverty Lack of knowledge of the COF project Social threats and crime Mistrust of institutions and politicians

60 60 60 60 60

6.4.1.

6.4.2.

6.4.3.

6.4.4.

Institution-building strategies Social development facilitation Financial models Planning mechanisms

65 65 65 65

6.2. Summary of Key Challenges 62 62 6.3. Lessons for the Corridors of Freedom Project 6.4. Recommendations 63

07 REFERENCES 68 Westbury, Coronationville and

VII Slovo Park Informal Settlement

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

VIII

Abbreviations and Acronyms ABM BRT CBD CBO CLT COF CoJ CPF EEDBS FLISP GDHS GDS JOSHCO JPC LDAC NGO SAF SAPS SDF TOD UDF WNT WDP WTDC

Area-Based Management Bus Rapid Transit Central Business District Community-Based Organisation Community Land Trust Corridors of Freedom City of Johannesburg Community Policing Forum Enhanced Extended Discount Benefit Scheme Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme Gauteng Department of Human Settlements Growth and Development Strategy Johannesburg Social Housing Company Johannesburg Property Company Local Drug Action Committee Non-Governmental Organisation Strategic Area Framework South African Police Service Spatial Development Framework Transit-Orientated Development Urban Development Framework Western Native Township Westbury Development Precinct Westbury Transformation Development Centre

List of Tables and Figures Table 1:

Years of trading in the study area, categorised by business type

24

Table 2:

Allocated budgets for study area as of 2015 (CoJ 2015)

58

Figure 1: Context map of the transit-oriented development corridors and case study areas in Johannesburg

03

Figure 2: Spatial Transformation through Transit-Oriented Development report series

04

Figure 3: Context map of Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

05

Figure 4: The establishment of the Western Native Township in 1918 (CoJ 2014)

09

Figure 5: The redevelopment of Westbury in 1985 (CoJ 2014)

11

The Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park study area in relation to the other case studies in the

Figure 6: Spatial distribution of employment and unemployment in Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park 14 Figure 7: Figure 8:

Aerial view of dwelling types in the study area (Google Earth 2016)

15

Different dwelling types in the area. Clockwise from top left: flats in Westbury; individual houses in Westbury; housing in Slovo Park informal settlement; an individual dwelling in Coronationville (Mark Lewis 2016)

16

Figure 9: Tenure patterns in Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

17

Figure 10: Westbury (Google Earth 2016)

18

Figure 11: Residents’ reasons for not using the Rea Vaya BRT

19

Figure 12: Distribution of business types in Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

25

Figure 13: Tenure of businesses in their premises

26

Figure 14: Monthly business rentals across the study area

27

Figure 15: Map of the answers to the question: Did your business perform well over the past year?

28

Figure 16: Map of the monthly business turnover in the area

29

Figure 17: Map of the monthly business profit in the area

31

Figure 18: Nationality of business owners in the area

32

Figure 19: Monthly personal and household income in the area

38

Figure 20: A Slovo Park resident stands in her dwelling, which no longer has a roof due to a fire

40

Figure 21: Overall residential and business dissatisfaction in Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

41

Figure 22: News coverage of protest by Westbury residents in August 2016 (The Star 2016)

42

Figure 23: Residents’ satisfaction with safety and security

43

Figure 24: Residents’ satisfaction with police services

46

Figure 25: Density proposals in the Newclare-Coronationville-Brixton Corridor UDF (CoJ 2008)

51

Figure 26: Proposed redevelopment of the Slovo Park (CoJ 2011)

51

Figure 27: Empire-Perth SAF density proposals for Westbury and Coronationville (CoJ 2014)

53

Figure 28: Details of proposed forms of densification (CoJ 2014)

54

Figure 29: Functional requirements for COJ implementation (CoJ 2014)

55

Growth in backyard rooms and tuck shops (circled in red) from 2001 to 2015 in one part of

Figure 30: Possible incentives and mechanisms that could be explored in the Corridors of Freedom (CoJ 2014) 56

IX

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

Figure 31: Westbury Development Precinct plan proposals (CoJ 2015)

57

Figure 32: Key issues and narratives identified in the area (Klug 2016)

61

Figure 33: Summary of key challenges (Klug 2016)

61

Figure 34: Structure of recommendations (Klug 2016)

64

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

X

1

INTRODUCTION The Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park informal settlement case study, referred to in this report as the Westbury/Coronationville area, incorporates a number of previously and currently disadvantaged areas (including the Slovo Park informal settlement).1 These areas are located in Region B on a portion of the Corridors of Freedom (COF) that has an already implemented bus rapid transit (BRT) system, so initial impacts of the system on the local communities can be explored. The Westbury/Coronationville case study area is located along the Empire-Perth Corridor, which lies less than 6 km west of the Johannesburg CBD (or an 11 minute drive). The area comprises approximately 1.88 km² and incorporates the suburbs of Westbury and Coronationville, which both lie in Ward 69 of the City of Johannesburg (CoJ). The population is estimated at between 20 000 and 25 000 people, with current densities between 108 and 133 persons per hectare.

The Westbury/Coronationville area has always played an important role in Johannesburg, firstly as the service area for the City and secondly as the site of the first formal ‘black township’ – the Western Native Township (WNT) – in Johannesburg.

The residents of this area have consistently been treated badly by government, over the past decades. This poor treatment was initially through negligent policing, gangsterism and crime, as well as through forced removals as a result of the Group Areas Act. More recently, the community has experienced further poor policing and a sense of alienation from the government. The area has also been subjected to a number of inadequate spatial planning interventions over the past 60 years and the apartheid legacy of forced removals has left a deep scar on the psyche of the population, resulting in mistrust in the state and a feeling of disempowerment as a community. Many of the contemporary problems being experienced in the area are linked to this history, and therefore need to be understood to enable viable future interventions to be formulated.

owners and other stakeholders were interviewed to corroborate and better understand the initial findings of the survey.

1.1. Outline of Report Section 2 provides some context to the Westbury/ Coronationville case study, outlining the history and current profile of the area. Section 3 summarises the economic conditions in the area, while Section 4 summarises the social and institutional conditions.

Section 5 analyses the spatial planning initiatives in the area, with a focus on the Empire-Perth Strategic Area Framework (SAF) and Westbury Development Precinct (WDP) plan. Throughout these sections, some key implications for COF implementation are provided. Section 6 provides a summary of key issues and challenges; some lessons for the COF project; as well as recommendations.

This report combines an initial quantitative survey of the Westbury/Coronationville area, undertaken

by Outsourced Insight in June 2016, with qualitative analysis of the area. The initial survey included randomised interviews of 200 residents, 50 businesses and 50 other users, using a structured questionnaire. After an examination of those findings, literature on the area – including academic articles, professional reports and media articles – was reviewed. Thereafter, 20 residents, business

01

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

The author was assisted by Lyle Prim in this research study.

1

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

02

City of Tshwane Marlboro South

City of Tshwane

City of Johannesburg

Orange Grove and Norwood

Louis Botha Development Corridor

Park Station Precinct

Empire Perth Development Corridor

N1 N14

Midrand

Turffontein Development Randburg Corridor

Mogale City

Roodepoort

Sandton

Louis Botha Development Corridor

Randburg

Soweto Development Corridor N1 Marlboro South

N1

Sandton

N1

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Sandton

N3

Empire Perth Development Corridor

Orange Grove and Norwood

Randburg M1

Turffontein Development Corridor

M1

M1

Soweto Development Corridor

Park Station Precinct Johannesburg CBD

Ekurhuleni Soweto

Turffontein

Sow e to

N17

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Highway

Highway

Rea Vaya BRT

Arterial Roads

Arterial Roads Rea Vaya BRT

N12

N3

Johannesburg CBD

Johannesburg CBD

N1

City of Tshwane

City of Johannesburg

Westonaria

Midrand

Emfuleni Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994 Units: Degree

Date: 2017/05/19

Sandton

N3

City of Johannesburg

M1

Louis Botha Development Corridor Johannesburg CBD

Empire Perth Development Ekurhuleni Corridor

Turffontein Development N17 Corridor

Turffontein

Soweto Development Corridor N3

Soweto

Turffontein Development Corridor Soweto Development Corridor Orange Grove and Norwood

Soweto

Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994 Date: 2017/05/19 Units: Degree

3.25

6.5

13

19.5

Randburg

N1

M1

Park Station Precinct Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Sandton

Louis Botha Development Corridor

Rea Vaya BRT Randburg

N1 Orange Grove and Figure 1: Context map of the transit-oriented development corridors and case study areas in Johannesburg Norwood

03

Westbury, Coronationvilleand Westbury, Coronationville Slovo Park Park Informal Settlement and Slovo

0.75 1.5

Orange Grove and Norwood

Marlboro South

Park Station Precinct

±

Sandton

Marlboro South

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Arterial Roads

26 Km

0

Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994 Date: 2017/05/19 Units: Degree

City of Tshwane

Park Station Precinct

Highway

Orange Grove and Norwood

Turffontein

Park Station Precinct 0

Marlboro South

M2

Marlboro South

Empire Perth Development Corridor

N1

City of Tshwane

M2

Louis Botha Development Midvaal Corridor

M1

3

±

Turffontein

Westbury, 4.5 6 Coronationville 0 0.75 1.5 and Slovo Km Park

3

4.5

6 Km

Louis Botha Development Corridor Empire Perth Development Corridor Turffontein Development Corridor Soweto Development Corridor Highway Arterial Roads

Rea Vaya BRT Empire Perth Development Corridor Figure 2. The Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park study area in relation to the other case studies in the Turffontein Development through Transit-Oriented Development report series Spatial Transformation Corridor Soweto Johannesburg CBD

Development

Corridor Highway

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

04

±

City of Tshwane

City of Tshwane

Marlboro South

D !

! !

Westbury, Coronationville

Orange Grove and Norwood

and Slovo Park Empire Perth Development Corridor

Sophiatown

Park Station Precinct

!

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Sandton

dburg

!

Arterial Roads

Louis Botha Development ! Corridor

Westbury

Main Roads Local Roads

Empire Perth Development Corridor

! ! ! !

&

Open Spaces

Railway Rea Vaya BRT

Turffontein Development Corridor

!

M1

Soweto Development ! !

Corridor

!

Newclare

&

!

!

2 I

Rail Stations

! !

Recreation Centre

Highway

¬ Health Facilities & ! Schools

Arterial Roads

D !

Police Stations

Rea Vaya BRT

I 2

&

! !

Coronationville

Johannesburg CBD

!

City of Tshwane M2

Industria

and Slovo Park

Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994 Date: 2017/05/29 Units: Degree

!

!

Empire Perth Development Turffontein Corridor Slovo Park Open Spaces

Industria West

Sophiatown

!

Crosby

! !

Westbury, Coronationville

0

0.75 1.5

Main Roads

City of Tshwane

!

Arterial Roads Main Roads Local Roads

±

0

0.1

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8 Km

±

Railway

and Slovo Park

Open!Spaces

6 Km

Local Roads

! !

Westbury, Coronationville

Empire Perth Development Corridor

3 4.5 Arterial Roads

Rea Vaya BRT

2 I

Rail Stations

! !

Recreation Centre

¬ Health Facilities & ! Schools D !

Police Stations

Railway Rea Vaya BRT Stations 2 Rail I Figure 3. Context map of Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park !

Recreation Centre ! & !

05 D !

Health Facilities Westbury, Coronationville and Schools Slovo Park Informal Settlement !

Crosby Police Stations

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

06

2

CONTEXT 2.1. History of the Area

2.1.1. The founding of the Western Native Township This western part of Johannesburg began to be developed in the late 1800s. The part of the study area currently known as Westbury was originally part of the Waterfall farm, which was used as a service area for the Johannesburg in the late 1800s. In 1887 a sewerage works was established on part of the farm. Between 1904 and 1918, after the South African War, some 40 suburbs were established towards the east and west of the city, including Sophiatown and Newclare in 1905. These suburbs are located to the northeast and southwest of the study area respectively.

In 1918, with the outbreak of influenza in the inner city African ghettos, the apartheid state used the circumstances to establish the first municipal black township on the former sewerage works (which had been moved to the south of Johannesburg). It was named the Western Native Township (WNT) and along with Sophiatown and Newclare became known as the Western Areas of Johannesburg (Beinart 1975 cited in Chapman 2013: 25). It should be noted that the WNT lay between two major east‑west public transport systems: the electric tram route that ran along Main Road (between Waterfall and the CBD and terminating in Newlands) and the light rail system that ran between the CBD and terminated just beyond Langlaagte, to the southwest of WNT. However, it should also be noted that in 1948, with the closure of the tram service, Main Road became a six-lane roadway, and together with the development of the Martindale industrial strip (in the early 1950s), these formed a buffer, effectively separating WNT from Sophiatown.

The black population of this broader area increased significantly after 1933 when Johannesburg was proclaimed a ‘whites only area’ under the Native Urban Areas Act of 1923. By the late 1930s, the population of WNT was estimated at 12 000 people and the entire Western Areas of Johannesburg at over 70 000 people (Pirie and Hart 1985). As opposed to the surrounding suburbs of Sophiatown and Newclare, the WNT was quite tightly managed by the City Council in terms of planning regulations, and by 1940 the area was provided with sports fields, schools, crèches, a library and hospital (Goodhew 1990).

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Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

In 1950, under the Group Areas Act, people were separated into groups and relocated based on their assigned racial group.Anecdotal evidence from families living in the area suggests that poorer members of the ‘coloured’ community were relocated to WNT during this period, as opposed to those who were settled in Coronationville and Bosmont. This period saw the removal of ‘non-white’ citizens from Sophiatown and the displacement of coloured residents from all over Johannesburg to the WNT. The original residents of WNT were relocated to Soweto at the same time as the relocation of Sophiatown. Over the following 30 years the WNT underwent extensive redevelopment and was incorporated into a wider grouping of officially designated coloured suburbs, including Bosmont, Newclare, Coronationville and Claremont.

The provision of housing, specifically for coloureds, did not begin until 1937 when Coronationville was established (SAHO 2016).

Limited literature exists on the history of Coronationville, other than that it was considered to be a very salubrious coloured township during this time, according to Goodhew (1990). He further indicated that despite Coronationville’s status, by the early 1940s it could not avoid becoming enmeshed in the crime wave emanating from the WNT.

2.1.2 Crime and policing From about 1937 it was reported that there was a significant increase in crime in the WNT area, including theft, rape and gangsterism.2 This seems to be aligned with the increase in population in the Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

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area from 1937. With reference to local gangs and crime, Goodhew’s (1990) historical paper, on crime and policing in the Western Areas of Johannesburg between 1930 and 1962, reveals how dysfunctional the policing was in the area. This was due to the police focusing on apartheid-related pass laws and restricting local beer manufacturing – and their corruption around these issues – rather than focusing on more serious crime. In the late 1940s there was a large increase in the number of gangs in Sophiatown. Part of the reason was that there were about 20 000 African teenagers in the city who were neither at school nor had jobs (SAHO 2016a). Some of the more well-known gangs in the area were the Americans, the Gestapo, the Berliners and the Vultures. In some cases, gangs were set up to defend themselves from the other gangs. For instance, the Ma-Rashea or ‘Russians’ consisted of Basotho migrant mineworkers who were easy victims of the tsotsis and other gangs, and so for self-preservation grouped together in a gang.

Goodhew (1990) describes how, in response to these gangs, local communities secured permission to set up a Civic Guard to help fight crime in 1951; this organisation became politically active in fighting the apartheid state. He refers to possible collusion between the police and the ‘Russians’ in curtailing the activities of the Civic Guard, which further promoted gangsterism and violence in the area (Goodhew 1990). He concludes that crime was used as a means of control in the area by the state (1990: 1): Whilst recognising the deeply anti-social behaviour of such people, researchers have pointed at the role such groups played in offering embryonic resistance to a racist, authoritarian state. Such insights can, perhaps, be extended by exploring the impact of crime on a single black area, the efforts made by residents to police their townships and how such efforts related to wider political activity.

Figure 4. The establishment of the Western Native Township in 1918 (CoJ 2014)

2.1.3 Poor spatial planning interventions In 1985 the Johannesburg City Council undertook an urban renewal scheme for the area, which involved a complete redesign and redevelop of the WNT into the new township of Westbury. The reason for this renewal scheme could be attributed to the attempts of the apartheid government to co-opt the coloured community during this period (with the formation of the House of Representatives giving the coloured

community nominal political franchise). According to Lupton (1992), it could also be attributed to the need for capital accumulation by LTA Grinaker Construction, whose new design of the “trafficable play-courts” was to reduce the stand sizes by removing the backyards that previously existed in the WNT layouts and replacing existing private space with public space (Lupton 1992: 70). This enabled the developer to squeeze more houses into the same area, which were subsequently sold for profit.

It further “consolidated pedestrian and vehicular space and implemented organic street layouts to economise on road infrastructure expenditure” (Lupton 1992: 69 cited in Chapman 2015).

Compared with the layout visible in Figure 4, one can observe the fundamental changes to the layout from a grid with long narrow blocks, to an organic layout of small clusters of houses. Furthermore, the redevelopment replaced the low-density residential houses to the south of the previous sports fields, with clusters of 3 and 4 storey walk-ups set in large grassy blocks. As such, “the new layout replaced the simple logical regular grid layout with an illegible cluster of irregular blocks and cul-de-sacs” (Lupton 1992: 69 cited in Chapman 2013: 29). Furthermore, with the development of schools along the northern boundary, the layout further consolidated the buffer strip between Westbury and what was then Triomf (previously known as Sophiatown). This redesign and redevelopment was vigorously opposed by the local residents, to the point that they organised for an alternative layout to be formulated by Planact, a built environment non-governmental organisation (NGO). However, the City Council and the South African Institute of Architects sued Planact for improper conduct, for working on a project that other professionals were appointed to do; despite the fact that the community had informed the City Council of the decision to appoint their own consultants.

The Council eventually won, and imposed the redevelopment, which was implemented by LTA Grinaker Construction (Chapman 2013).

Another aspect of the redevelopment was that, due to the reduction of plot sizes, additional houses became available for newcomers. According to a local business owner, she and her husband bought a house in Westbury in 1988 for R27 000 through the first-time homeowners bond programme of Council’s Housing Department, having moved from Eldorado Park (interview with Local Business A, 17 August 2016). According to her this area – between

T he reasons for the reported “crime wave” (Goodhew 1990: 2) are not directly explained in this paper. However, according to Kynoch (2008, 629): “A brutalising mining environment, combined with racial ordinances that criminalised Africans and coloureds and exposed vast numbers of men to prison and prison gangs, produced a culture of urban violence unique in colonial Africa” and contributed to the exceptionally high levels of crime in areas like the WNT.

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Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

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Main Road to the east, Florida Road to the north west, Kretzschmar Road to the south west and Fuel Road to the south – was perceived to be slightly “more upmarket” as it consisted of bondholders.

According to a local resident of the WNT (and later Westbury), local gangs had specific territories based on the previous block layout and the spatial transformation forced the reconfiguration of the gangs’ territories. This resulted in another outbreak of gang violence in the township, post redevelopment (Chapman 2013). Since then, the Westbury layout has remained the same and “reads like a collage of disjointed urban experiments” (Chapman 2013: 29).

According to a local resident who was one of the original occupiers of the Slovo Park informal settlement, it was formed in 1995 during the rapid urbanisation resulting from the repeal of apartheid legislation (interview with Local Resident A, 7 September 2016).

This stemmed from the occupation of Transnet land in the south-eastern corner of Coronationville and resulted in the establishment of the Slovo Park informal settlement of some 700 households in the early 1990s. Google Earth photographs of the area dating back to 2001 show a very dense settlement, similar to the existing settlement. There appears to be no documentation of the actual circumstances of the settlement’s formation, nor of the characteristics of the early residents.

2.1.4. Impacts of the apartheid legacy

Figure 5. The redevelopment of Westbury in 1985 (CoJ 2014)

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Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

According to Frescura (2001) the displacement and segregation of people during the apartheid era served as a means of influx control and a way to break down the social structures that existed between different racial groups within South Africa. The effects of racial segregation have had a long-term impact on the social structures within Johannesburg (and South Africa), and indeed reflect in this case study area. According to Dannhauser (2006) problems of crime, violence and gangsterism remained rife in the WNT area until 2001, when the two main gangs – the Fast Guns and the Spaldings – virtually dissolved in the aftermath of a local peace and reconciliation initiative by the churches in the area. Over the past approximately eight years, drugrelated crime activities have increased (possibly influenced by the 2008 economic recession) with claims that some of the previous gang members had become drug lords in the area (interviews with NGO B, 1 August 2016; Local Business E, 30

September 2016). The recent spike in drug related violence in August 2016 has been attributed to conflicts between the various drug lords fighting over territory (refer to section 4 for more detail on this).

Two important aspects of the apartheid legacy, affecting particularly Westbury and Coronationville, are identity and memory. The issue of ‘coloured identity’ was repeatedly raised by respondents in our research into the area, and has been written about extensively since the 1960s. In her book Western Coloured Township: Problems of an Urban Slum, Brindley (1976) has a report on identity in which she attributed the “personal despair” she encountered in her interviews in the township to the effects of apartheid. According to her: “In South African Law it has become customary to define the coloured by exclusion”, meaning not of the White, Bantu or Asiatic race (Brindley 1976: 73). She further attributed to this the community’s sense of marginalisation, and rifts within the community.

While this is possibly a rather simplistic analysis, reflecting the time it was written, it does identify the issue as a precursor to more contemporary research on this topic within the area.

In her master’s thesis Phyliss Dannhauser provides a compelling narrative of the complexities around the issue of the ongoing representation of the ‘coloured’ identity, still so central to the local narrative in the area.

Interestingly, although the political changes in South Africa have made it possible for the community of Westbury to embrace a position in the mainstream of society, it seems as if they are still claiming a marginal space of identification. In remembering the stereotypes of the past, they are claiming identification with other, less obvious stereotypes: the redeemed gangster, the ambitious youth who escapes the ghetto, the tireless worker for social upliftment.

(Dannhauser 2006: 115 – 116) Moore (2014) provides a more complex and nuanced understanding of how identities are produced and reproduced within specific contexts. In his study of Noordgesig he makes a clear argument that ‘coloured’ identity is heterogeneous and therefore needs to be studied within specific contexts. He maintains the importance of studying the local constructions of identity, such as those that occur in Noordgesig, rather than making broad claims of a Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

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City of Tshwane national character. He further argues that coloured identity has changed over the past century in response to events such as the Group Areas Act and the 1976 Soweto uprising (Moore 2014: 6). Finally, he asserts that the inter-relationships between class, race, colour and ethnicity plays a role in how local identities are constructed and how they transform over time.

A recent research project on memory in Sophiatown (Erlank and Morgan 2015) reveals interesting insights around the intertwined history of Sophiatown and the WNT (later Westbury township), as places where multiple histories can co-exist; how people make and interact with space and the everyday; and possible ways of generating a dialogue between the past and the present.

2.2. Current Profile 2.2.1. Demographics

According to the Newclare-Coronationville-Brixton Urban Development Framework (UDF) the area of Westbury has a population of some 13 461 people in an area of 1.03 km² while Coronationville has a population of 4 848 people in an area of 0.85 km². Slovo Park informal settlement (which falls within the boundary of Coronationville) comprises an estimated 2 000 to 2 500 people (CoJ 2008).

The age distribution of survey respondents within the Westbury area was very evenly spread amongst cohorts, although there were a significantly higher number of older residents than in the other case study areas (30.5% of the 51-86 years cohort), whereas the overall mean for respondents for this age group in other case study areas in this series was 17%. According to the sub-place census data for Westbury the gender breakdown is 51% female and 49% male and the inverse for Coronationville.

Of note is that in the Westbury survey, respondents consisted of 61% women and only 39% men. A SAPS officer interviewed for the study observed that most men in the area appeared to be at home during the day, as opposed to the women in the area, who are working (interview, 7 September 2016). However, this is merely anecdotal evidence, as the survey indicates that in this area only 26% of the men are unemployed, while 48% of the women are unemployed. Furthermore, 16% of men and only 4% of women in the area are self-employed.

Of those surveyed, 64% were born in Johannesburg Newclare

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Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

2 I

(85% of Westbury/Coronationville respondents and 17% of Slovo Park respondents). 61.5% are native Afrikaans speakers, while the remainder of residents speak isiZulu, Setswana, Sesotho and Pedi. Consistently, 98.5% of those interviewed are South African nationals. Furthermore, in terms of living mobility (the degree to which people have lived in various different places) 65% of those surveyed in Slovo Park had lived elsewhere, whereas only one third of respondents from Westbury or Coronationville had lived somewhere else. This indicates a relatively entrenchedN1or locally committed community, particularly amongst the Westbury/Coronationville residents.

This was further reinforced by 86% of those interviewed (94% from Slovo Park and 82% from Westbury/Coronationville) claiming that they intend to stay in the area for another ten years or more (this is a higher percentage than in any of the other case study areas). This is despite significant variations between Slovo Park and the remainder of the area in terms of reasons why residents stay in the area. Of those surveyed, 47% stayed in Slovo Park for work-related reasons, while this was so for only 14% of respondents from the remainder of the area. The respondents from Westbury and Coronationville stayed in the area mostly for reasons relating to their birthplace (85%), while this was the case for only 28% of the respondents from Slovo Park.

Marlboro South Sophiatown

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The most startling findings emerging from the quantitative survey are the extremely high levels of Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994 unemployment: 41% overall, with Slovo Park at 48% Date: 2017/05/19 Units: Degree and Westbury/Coronationville at 37%. Interestingly, the spatial distribution of those unemployed is evenly Newclare spread throughout the area, including the Slovo Park informal settlement (refer to figureSophiatown 6). Effectively, only 28% of residents earn an income through being employed I or self-employment. Westbury also has 2 a high percentage of retired residents, who are at least receiving incomes through pensions; however the survey did not reflect those surviving on some Coronationville form of social grant.

Local Roads

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Figure 6. Spatial distribution of employment and unemployment in Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Residents' employment status Employed

Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994

Louis Botha Development Corridor

Westbury

Soweto

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Sandton

2.2.2. Unemployment and poverty

The levels of personal poverty in Westbury/ Coronationville correlate with the above findings, with 37% of respondents having no earnings.

Industria In terms of income levels in the areas, the mode ranges between R1 001 and R1 500 per month. At the household level, only 7% of households claim to

Orange Grove and Norwood

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0.6 Km

Figure 7. Aerial view of dwelling types in the study area (Google Earth 2016)

have no income (which is still higher than the mean of 4% for all case study areas). 49% of households are within the modal categories, falling within the income range of R1Â 001-R6 000 per month.

2.2.3. Migration histories The Westbury/Coronationville area exhibited the most stable community of all of the four case study areas along the corridors, with the mean number of years in the current dwelling being 22.6, and 33.1 in Johannesburg. Further evidence of the stability of the residents in the area is that 57% of the respondents interviewed stated that they have always lived in the neighbourhood, although not always in the same residence. Furthermore, 86% of those interviewed stated that they anticipated remaining in the area for the next 10 years. The longevity of the community within the area should theoretically suggest that it is highly homogeneous and stable, which could provide opportunities for positive and constructive engagement with the City and the straightforward implementation of the Corridors programme. However, the evidence gathered from the survey, literature on the area, as well as qualitative interviews, suggests that the high levels of poverty, unemployment, drug abuse and violence in the area is constraining community unity.

2.2.4. Dwellings and land holdings The area is comprised primarily of freestanding

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Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

homes (39%), informal shacks (29%) and flats/ apartments (28%); with many of the formal dwellings fully paid for (75%). In Slovo Park, 70% of those surveyed sub-lease their dwellings (compared with only 7% in the rest of the area). Figure 7 shows aerial images of different dwelling types in the area, while Figure 8 shows photographs of these dwelling types.

As indicated above, it is significant that three quarters of households in the study area fully own their houses or units. This could be due to people being offered first-time ownership bonds in the late 1980s (during the redevelopment of Westbury) and the Enhanced Extended Discount Benefit Scheme (EEDBS), which transferred pre-1994 rental housing stock to qualifying occupants. Obviously this does not apply to the residents of Slovo Park informal settlement surveyed, as they are occupying Transnet land and their tenure is precarious. In terms of satisfaction with accommodation within the study area, most residents in Westbury and Coronationville are largely satisfied, as opposed to Slovo Park informal settlement where there are high levels of dissatisfaction.

As illustrated in Figure 9, the bulk of ownership is located in the houses in Coronationville and Westbury, and the majority of sub-letting arrangements occur in the flats in Westbury. The anomaly is that those indicating ownership in the Slovo Park informal

Figure 8. Different dwelling types in the area. Clockwise from top left: flats in Westbury; individual houses in Westbury; housing in Slovo Park informal settlement; an individual dwelling in Coronationville (Mark Lewis 2016) Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

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City of Tshwane

City of Tshwane

2001

Marlboro South

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Orange Grove and Sophiatown Norwood

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ndburg

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Figure 9. Tenure patterns in Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Park

Figure 10. Growth in backyard rooms and tuck shops from 2001 to 2015 in one part of Westbury (Google Earth 2016)

Tenure of household Sub-let Westbury, Coronationville and 17 Slovo Park0.3 Informal0.45 Settlement Rental 0 0.075 0.15 0.6

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Rea Vaya BRT

24%

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Don’t have it

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Too expensive

6%

Tags difficult to get

6%

Prefer taxi

3%

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Figure 11. Residents’ reasons for not using the Rea Vaya BRT

settlement, which suggests confusion around the notion of ownership.

Theoretically, this relatively high percentage of property owners should be extremely well placed to benefit from the additional rights that could be accrued from the densification and increased rights opportunities offered in the Empire-Perth Corridor Strategic Area Framework (SAF) and the Westbury Development Precinct (WDP) plan. However, based on the focus group responses and interviews, respondents expressed limited knowledge of the COF plans (interviews with the Community Activist, 13 July 2016; NGO B, 1 August 2016; Local Business A, 17 August 2016).

one and three rooms. The survey also found that only 17% of those interviewed are renting accommodation. The evidence of backyard shacks in almost every site in Westbury, together with the relatively small number of rental households and high number of single family households (96%), suggests that the bulk of backyard rooms are being used by extended family members (as opposed to outside renters). Figure 10 provides an aerial view of a block in Westbury, indicating the growth in backyard rooms and tuck shops (red circles) between 2001 and 2015. This, together with the high levels of poverty, could be the reasons for the relatively low average rentals of R161 per month in the area, relative to other case study areas.

Further, the respondents appeared to have no awareness of the potential financial advantages of holding an asset or property for leveraging or obtaining additional financial resources.

Interestingly, in the focus group, participants expressed the view that one of the best aspects of living in Westbury was that they got “free housing”.

Here they may be referring to the fact that through the EEDBS process, the beneficiaries are simply getting the freehold title to their properties from the State (given that they paid rent to the state under Apartheid for decades).

Respondents reported a drastic increase in tuck shops in the past 14 months (as discussed in later sections of this report), which also accounts for additional structures on a plot; particularly on the road frontage. This has been a problem identified by the local ward councillor, as these extensions are often in the road reserve and therefore private landowners are in effect renting out municipal land (interview with Ward Councillor, 12 October 2016).

The ward councillor maintains that it is a very emotive issue in the community, and needs both a technical and political solution.

Around 68% of households interviewed in the Westbury area occupied an entire dwelling, again significantly higher than in other case study areas.

The remaining 32% of households occupy between

2.2.5. Travel and transport

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Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

The primary modes of transport used within the area are walking (45%) and minibus taxis (29%), with only 8.5% of respondents using the Rea Vaya BRT. Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

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Of the four vendors interviewed in Coronationville, three walk from neighbouring suburbs and the fourth uses a private vehicle in order to reach their respective sales points in Coronationville (interview with Local Business B, 19 August 2016). The reasons given for residents not using the BRT are reflected in Figure 11. It is noteworthy that 74% of users said that the BRT had improved their access to the area.

The vast majority of respondents said they had never heard of the ‘Corridors of Freedom’; they certainly have not linked the term to the Rea Vaya BRT. As such, they claim not to know anything about the project or its intentions. According to a local business owner, public bus services (other than the BRT) no longer enter the area which has led to the decline in public transport usage, however such services could be reintroduced (interview with Local Business B, 19 August 2016).

Many respondents have stated that the cost of the Rea Vaya system deters them from using it.

Currently, 37% of residents have no monthly income, while the majority of those employed earn only between R1 001 and R1 500 per month. Very few residents earn more than R3 500 per month. The current cost of a return trip from Westbury to the CBD would cost R16.20 using a smart card (which costs an initial fee of R26.50). In addition, a large number of residents are unemployed (41%) and as a result do not require public transport services, as they do not travel on a regular basis. The high unemployment and poverty rates within the area restrict the movement of residents.

2.3. Implications for COF Implementation A number of historical points have significance when considering implementation strategies for the COF in this area. First, the issue of ‘coloured identity’ is important, as it is a major contributing factor to the particularly high levels of mistrust and sense of despair harboured by the residents of the area towards authorities and their efforts at interventions in the area. An important question is how the implementation process of the COF can take heed of the identity politics in the area, and contribute to the building of confidence and trust within the community.

The area has suffered the hardships of forced removals, Group Areas Act constraints and high levels of crime and violence emanating from the legacy of apartheid policing and gangsterism. As such it has left a profound legacy of mistrust and severe social

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Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

hardship within the residents of this area. How can the implementation of the Corridors be undertaken in light of safety and crime considerations?

Interestingly, the context of high levels of youth unemployment experienced in the late 1940s and the resultant growth in gang activity is similar to current circumstances in the Westbury case study.

As such, it is important to realise the historical linkages between Westbury and its surrounding neighbourhoods in terms of social development initiatives. Secondly, one needs to acknowledge local identity politics in terms of its historical contextual specificity to inform possible future institutional arrangements. Thirdly, the community’s current relationship with the police (and state more generally) needs to be viewed in terms of the historical experiences with the police as a state institution. Finally, having a better understanding of how memories of the area are constructed and reconstructed may inform how community cohesion and more self-sufficiency in the area can be achieved. The economic recession of the late 2000s and its effects on the area have appeared to contribute to the resurrection of some of the negative social dynamics of the apartheid era, in terms of drug abuse and gangsterism.

If these complex social dynamics, including the ongoing reconstruction of identities, could be engaged with in the planning process, better intervention techniques could be established. As one outcome, levels of mistrust could be addressed together with the implementation of the projects in the area. Improved trust could contribute to a higher chance of buy-in and participation by the community and therefore sustainability of the projects and their intended benefits. It is clear is that any solutions to these issues will need to be community-driven initiatives, assisted by the state.

The current profile of the Westbury/Coronationville area has a number of implications for the implementation of the COF:

• High levels of poverty (correlating with very low levels of access to capital finance) severely constrain the community’s ability to engage with the possible opportunities offered by the COF project in terms of securing additional property rights.

• Women, despite being a larger proportion of the population (61%), exhibit a 48% unemployment rate and only 4% of women are self-employed. As such, women need to be targeted for employment and skills development opportunities in the implementation of the COF. • There is the danger that future possible investment by outside property developers in the area may result in gentrification of parts of the area (probably along the BRT route), which may result in the displacement of people. Although this is not as likely as in other case study areas and is unlikely to occur immediately, this needs to be guarded against, in order to ensure that the benefits of the Corridors accrue to the local population and to those most in need. The lack of technical knowledge regarding property issues – for example around boundary encroachments, value of title deeds and access to capital – need to be addressed so as to ensure that maximum benefits can be derived from implementation of the COF initiative.

• Regarding the BRT, there appears to be a lack of knowledge of the system and how to best utilise it from a cost effectiveness perspective (for example, the use of cards and the points system). This needs to be addressed through better information dissemination by the City.

• There is no local distribution system of public transport, apart from taxis, which could be another reason why more people are not using BRT in the area.

• The high levels of unemployment and associated levels of poverty within the Westbury/Coronationville area need to be acknowledged by the City. This makes the community extremely vulnerable to economic fluctuations and the lure of alternative illegal income activities, for example drug trafficking.

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3

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 3.1. Profile of Businesses in the Area A survey of 51 businesses was conducted in the Westbury/Coronationville and Slovo Park areas. These businesses are primarily retail (47%) and catering (27.5%), with the remainder in the services and motor industries. The bulk of the retail shops in the area are small-scale tuck shops. Businesses within the area source their supplies primarily from three areas: south of the CBD in Crown Mines, City Deep, and Booysens (49%), from the Johannesburg CBD (33%), and within the Westbury and Coronationville area (17%). The mean monthly profit of businesses within the area ranges from R5 000 to R10 000 per month.

Figure 12 shows that the retail businesses are predominantly located along the main roads through the study area. The survey data on business types and their longevity in the study area do not provide a comprehensive picture of the state of businesses in this study area. However, in terms of

Duration in area

trends there appears to be a substantial increase over the past five years in catering businesses and a smaller increase in service-oriented businesses (see Table 1). Although the retail businesses are in the majority, there were fewer retail businesses established over the past five years.

Type of business Retail

Catering

Services

Motor industry

1-5 years

40.00

35.00

25.00

0.00

6-10 years

54.55

9.09

9.09

27.27

Above 10 years

52.38

28.57

9.52

9.52

Table 1. Years of trading in the study area, categorised by business typeCoronationville and Slovo Park

Figure 13 shows that most rented business premises are located along the main roads (Steytler Road and Fuel Road) and tend to be tuck shops, while the mainly catering and service businesses are located in the inner parts of the neighbourhoods.

Businesses are located within formal premises (47%); within the homes of residents (25.5%) and on the street in the form of vendors (22%). Very few businesses own the premises where they operate and conduct their activities: 60.5% of business owners rent and 33% own the building or premises.

Rentals are paid to landlords, with the remainder being divided between management agencies (9%) and other forms of rental collection services (19%). Rental costs consume a significant portion of businesses’ income (see Figure 14). For example, businesses within Westbury state that rental costs

23

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

consume 46.5% of their income, while rates and taxes consume 16% and labour costs 12%. The low labour cost to business could be attributed to the nature of businesses in the area in that they employ few staff and, as corroborated by the survey, employ on average 2.4 permanent staff and 2.3 temporary staff. This could also be one of the contributing factors to the high poverty levels in the area.

Despite high operational costs, many businesses have operated for over nine years within the area.

The existence of these businesses illustrates the need for their services within the area.

Existing businesses stated that the primary reason for their success is the number of customers within the area and on the streets (based on the fact that 25.5% of people in the area pass through the node on their way to work) and the manner in which they Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

24

City of Tshwane Marlboro South Sophiatown

Sandton

ndburg

M1

Orange Grove and Norwood Park Station Precinct

Empire Perth Development Corridor

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Open Spaces

Empire Perth Development Corridor N1

Local Roads

Turffontein Development Corridor

Rea Vaya BRT

Westbury

Empire Perth Development Corridor

Rail Stations

Rea Vaya BRT

M1

Soweto Development Corridor

Newclare

Highway

2 I

Services

Rea Vaya BRT

Coronationville

Sophiatown

Arterial Roads

Johannesburg CBD

Main Roads

Open Spaces

Local Roads

Crosby

Arterial Roads

Industria M2

2 I

Main Roads Westbury

Local Roads

0

Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994 Date: 2017/05/31 Units: Degree

City of Tshwane

0.75 1.5 Rail

2 I

3 4.5 Stations

Types of businesses

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

6 Km

±

Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994

0 0.0750.15 0.3 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 19940.45 Units: Degree

±

Motor Westbury

2 I

Coronationville

Local Roads Crosby

±

0 0.0750.15

0.3

0.45

Tenure of business premises

Main Roads

Sub-let

Local Roads

Rental

Open Spaces

Awaiting transfer of title

Rail Stations

Own, still paying off

Railway

Own, fully paid

Crosby

Rea Vaya BRT

Empire Perth Development Corridor

Industria

Rail Stations

Figure 12. Distribution of business types in Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Park

Empire Perth Development 3 4.5 6 Km Corridor

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Railway

Types of businesses

0.75 1.5

Arterial Roads

2 I

Main Roads

0

Rea Vaya BRT Sophiatown

Services

Arterial Roads

2 I

City of Tshwane

Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994 Date: 2017/06/09 Units: Degree

Catering

Open Spaces

Slovo Park

and Slovo Park

Newclare

Retail

Empire Perth Development Corridor

0.6 Date: 2017/05/19 Km

Rail Stations

TurffonteinWestbury, Coronationville

Slovo Park

Rea Vaya BRT

Crosby

Open Spaces Railway

Industria West

Soweto

Turffontein Railway

Rea Vaya BRT

City of Tshwane

Motor

Perth Development Corridor

Industria West

Turffontein Development Corridor

Arterial Roads

Catering

Empire Johannesburg CBD

Industria M2

Louis Botha Development Corridor

Retail

Westbury, Coronationville andCoronationville Slovo Park

Sophiatown

Sandton

Types of businesses

Arterial Roads

City of Tshwane

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Railway

2 I

Orange Grove and Norwood Park Station Precinct

Randburg Main Roads

Highway

2 I

Sophiatown

Arterial Roads

Soweto Development Corridor

Newclare

Marlboro South

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Louis Botha Development Corridor

Westbury

City of Tshwane

City of Tshwane

Newclare

Retail Westbury, Coronationville and 25 Slovo Park0.3 Informal0.45 Settlement Catering 0 0.075 0.15 0.6

2 I

Km

Industria West

Slovo Park

Figure 13. Tenure of businesses in their premises Tenure of business

premises

Sub-let Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994

Rental 0.3

0 0.0750.15

0.45

0.6 Km

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

26

0.6 Km

±

City of Tshwane

City of Tshwane

Sandton

Marlboro South

Marlboro South

Orange Grove and Norwood

Orange Grove and Norwood

Park Station Precinct

Park Station Precinct

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Louis Botha Development Corridor

ndburg

M1

Sandton

Louis Botha Development Corridor

Randburg

Empire Perth Development Corridor N1

Empire Perth Development Corridor

Turffontein Development Corridor

Turffontein Development Corridor

M1

Soweto Development Corridor

Soweto Development Corridor

Highway

Highway

Arterial Roads

Arterial Roads

Rea Vaya BRT

Rea Vaya BRT

Johannesburg CBD

Johannesburg CBD

M2

M2

Soweto

Turffontein

0

0.75 1.5

3

Figure 14. Monthly business rentals across the study area

27

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

4.5

6 Km

Âą

Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994 Date: 2017/05/19 Units: Degree

Turffontein

0

0.75 1.5

3

4.5

6 Km

Âą

Figure 15. Map of the answers to the question: Did your business perform well over the past year?

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

28

City of Tshwane Marlboro South Orange Grove and Norwood Park Station Precinct Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Sandton

Louis Botha Development Corridor

ndburg

Empire Perth Development Corridor Turffontein Development Corridor

M1

Soweto Development Corridor Highway Arterial Roads Rea Vaya BRT

Johannesburg CBD

Figure 15 indicates that most of the businesses (tuck shops) located along the main roads through the area have not done well over the past 12 months, which tends to contradict the claims made

M2

Turffontein

0

0.75 1.5

3

Figure 16. Map of the monthly business turnover in the area

29

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

have found gaps in the market. These gaps have led to an increase in the number of businesses within the area (as stated by 35% of respondents).

Interestingly, the majority (83%) of business owners reside within the area, with 64% born within the area. Their presence in the area could be the reason for their success, as one could speculate that they are in a better position to evaluate the gaps in the market and opportunities within the area. While the need to reduce operating costs and expenditure was expressed, many respondents said that their monthly profit is increasing. As indicated above, the reasons for this increase are not clear, other than through exploitation of the identified gaps in the market. Significantly, the survey findings showed that 53% of businesses in Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park claimed that business had performed well in the last 12 months (higher than all the other case study areas). In light of this somewhat contradictory information, one can surmise that the gaps in the market are due to the area suffering further economic hardships post 2008 (interview with Local Business E, 30 September 2016), and that the gaps are for yet cheaper daily products, which the tuck shops can provide.

4.5

6 Km

±

The Eagle Wings Bakery (purchased for R27 000 in 1988 by the owner) is a small bakery run from a residence in the northeast of Westbury. The owner indicated that she had been baking part time from home for over 30 years. In 2012, she registered a formal business through the assistance of ABSA bank and Siyabonga Africa (in Brakpan). Interestingly, she made contact with Siyabonga Africa through her daughter sharing her home-baked biscuits at an ABSA small business training course that she attended. She acquired two large industrial baking machines and the bakery currently produces up to 70 loaves of bread per day, as well as other items such as koeksisters, biscuits and cakes to order. Their main clients are the local crèches and other local donor bodies who “they give 10% discount to – for feeding other people”. The bakery is staffed by a range of volunteers, who, in exchange for a salary of R30 per day, learn baking and business skills.

The business experiences two main challenges.

Firstly, they get almost no local support in terms of

by the established business owners interviewed.

However, these declines might be attributed to the construction activity over the past 12 months linked to the implementation of the COF project upgrades.

In terms of safety and security, the survey corroborates what respondents said in interviews: established businesses are more dissatisfied (64%) than recently established businesses (30%), however most respondents gave a neutral response (45%).The GCRO’s Quality of Life indicators used by the CoJ to evaluate business opportunities indicate that levels of safety and security are a problem, as well as dissatisfaction with the conditions of the business premises within the area. According to the 2015 Quality of Life survey, entrepreneurship has decreased. In addition, a fair proportion of entrepreneurs who have worked with government stated that the support offered by government is unsatisfactory, and that it needs to play a more proactive role and provide entrepreneurs with the support necessary to develop more small-, micro‑and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs).

Without the support of government, inequality and a shortfall of employment opportunities will continue to exist. Some local businesses are aware that they need to get access to the Perth Road corridor in order to enhance their business visibility. However, they do not know how to go about this, other than placing a stall on the Perth Road pavement, which they know is illegal. customers, as all the local residents use the local tuck shops who sell loaves of bread for R5 (whereas they sell their white bread for R10 and brown bread for R9 a loaf). The owner maintains that the bread sold at the tuck shops is of lower nutritional value and therefore cheaper. Their second and related challenge is how to grow the business. They do not know how to advertise or how to source additional funding for staffing, raw materials and machinery.

They recently received a massive opportunity to run a canteen in a factory in Industria. However, their dilemma at the time of the interview was that they had no capital to buy the raw materials for the first week of operating of the canteen and no idea of how to source that finance. On following up in midOctober, it was established that they had taken up running the factory canteen and had started with a staff of ten. However, due to cash flow constraints, the staff had already reduced to four and they were struggling to cover costs week by week, despite there being a lot of work in the canteen.

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

30

City of Tshwane Marlboro South Sophiatown

Sandton

ndburg

M1

Orange Grove and Norwood Park Station Precinct

Empire Perth Development Corridor

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Open Spaces

2 I

City of Tshwane

Empire Perth Development Corridor N1

Local Roads

Turffontein Development Corridor

Rea Vaya BRT

Sandton

Empire Perth Development Corridor

Rail Stations

Soweto Development Corridor

Monthly business profitNewclare

Highway

R0 - R2500

Highway

Arterial Roads

R2501 - R6000

Arterial Roads

Rea Vaya BRT

R6001 - R12000

2 I

Westbury, Coronationville andCoronationville Slovo Park

R22001 - R35000 Sophiatown R35001 - R40000

Johannesburg CBD Empire

Perth Development Corridor Open Spaces

Industria M2

Arterial Roads Main Roads

City of Tshwane

0

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Empire Perth Development Corridor Open Spaces

2 I

Rea Vaya BRT 3

Rail Stations

4.5

6 Km

±

Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994

0 0.0750.15 0.3 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 19940.45 Units: Degree

±

0.6 Date: 2017/05/19 Km

City of Tshwane

2 I

Westbury

Coronationville

Figure 17. Map of the monthly business profit in the area

R0 - R2500 Westbury, Coronationville and R2501 - R6000 31 Slovo Park Informal Settlement 0 0.075 0.15 0.3 0.45 0.6 R6001 - R12000

2 I

4.5

6 Km

±

0 0.0750.15

0.3

0.45

Nationality of business owners

Pakistan

Arterial Roads

Malawi

Main Roads

Ethiopia

Local Roads

Somalia

Rea Crosby Vaya BRT

Monthly business profitNewclare

3

Rail Stations

Open Spaces

Rea Crosby Vaya BRT

2 I

2 I

South Africa

Railway Industria

0.75 1.5

Empire Perth Development Corridor

Railway Rail Stations

0

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

R2501 - R6000

R35001 - R40000

Local Roads

Park

Rea Vaya BRT Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994 Date: 2017/05/31 Units: Degree

Sophiatown

R0 - R2500

R22001 - R35000

Main Roads

Slovo Park

Turffontein

Railway

Monthly business profitNewclare

R6001 - R12000

Arterial Roads Local Roads

Industria West

Soweto

Slovo Park

R12001 - R22000

Arterial Roads

2 I

0.75 1.5

Crosby

Main Roads

Westbury

Local Roads

Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994 Date: 2017/05/31 Units: Degree

Rea Vaya BRT

City of Tshwane

Crosby

Railway

N o

R12001 - R22000

Open Spaces

Turffontein

Turffontein Development Corridor

M1

Perth Development Corridor

Industria West

Louis Botha Development Corridor

Westbury

Johannesburg CBD Empire

Industria M2

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Railway

2 I

Orange Grove and Norwood Park Station Precinct

Randburg Main Roads

Westbury, Coronationville andCoronationville Slovo Park

Sophiatown

Sophiatown

Arterial Roads

Soweto Development Corridor

Newclare

Marlboro South

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Louis Botha Development Corridor

Westbury

City of Tshwane

City of Tshwane

China

Rail Stations

Figure 18. Nationality of business owners in the area Industria West

Slovo Park

Nationality of business owners South Africa

Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994

China 0 0.075 0.15

0.3

0.45

0.6

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

32

0.6 Km

3.1.1. Small-scale tuck shops As indicated above, the bulk of the retail shops in the area are small-scale tuck shops. A number of respondents indicated that the most significant increase in businesses over the past 15 months has been in small tuck shops or spaza shops, run almost exclusively by foreign migrants (interviews with CBO A, 27 July 2016; NGO B, 1 August 2016; Local Business B, 19 August 2016; Local Business E, 30 September 2016). According to a respondent, these foreign-owned spaza shops are frequently harassed and abused by criminals in the area; in one incident a tuck shop owner was robbed by an assailant who sprayed him in the face with a water pistol and then looted his shop (interviews with CBO A, 27 July 2016; NGO B, 1 August 2016). These tuck shops tend to be located on the main roads through the area, and have relatively small income and profit margins, as indicated in Figures 16 and 17.

The tuck shop in Slovo Park informal settlement is a freestanding structure made from wood and clad with sheet metal. The products sold tend to be daily requirements in small quantities, which are sold to match resident’s affordability level. According to the owner, he experiences a number of challenges that restrict the growth of his tuck shop. These challenges include crime, rats and other pests, and unemployment amongst his clientele, which results in the need for credit purchases.

In terms of infrastructure, the tuck shop has no internal water connections and there is no electricity within the area. As such, he has to run his fridge and single light bulb off a car battery. He hires a vehicle once a week to purchase products and goods for the tuck shop from the Johannesburg Market.

According to the owner of one of the oldest establishments Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park, established businesses in the area were struggling to compete with the recent influx of “foreign tuck shops” (interview with Local Business E, 30 September 2016). This has had a devastating impact on his business, causing a decline in gross income of some 70% in the past three years (interview with Local Business E, 30 September 2016). He claimed that almost 100%

33

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

of the new tuck shops are run by foreign migrants who are neither paying tax (income tax and/or VAT), nor employing local labour. Furthermore, it is claimed that foreign shop owners are calculating their required income on amounts related to foreign currencies (most often weaker than the Rand). A combination of these factors is resulting in them significantly undercutting local business cost structures. Subsequently, almost all of the longstanding local businesses have shut down over the past three years. The respondent himself sold his supermarket (which his father established 25 years ago) to a foreign national in 2014. The map in Figure 18 confirms that most tuck shops located along the main roads and are owned by foreigner migrants.

3.2. Implications for COF Implementation • There appears to be a changing pattern of business in the area, whereby the more established (mainly retail) businesses are struggling due to emerging competition from smaller tuck shops and from increased crime.

• On the other hand, the smaller tuck shop owners, and those involved in catering, appear to have been doing better over the past year, which may be due to cost structures (e.g. non‑VAT and tax-paying) providing the small tuck shop and catering businesses with unequal advantages. These kinds of institutional and enforcement issues also need to be looked into as part of any mixed-use developments in this area along the Empire-Perth corridor.

• A number of small informal and formal businesses, despite being in a slightly improved market, appeared to lack support in terms of access to finance, marketing skills and, in some cases, basic infrastructure, which is limiting their ability to grow. This needs to be addressed as part of the broader implementation of the COF. • Increased crime levels seem to be having a negative impact on all businesses in the area and combating crime needs to be part of any broader COF implementation strategy.

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

34

Ebrahim and Sons started out as a butchery in Sophiatown, set up by the owner’s grandfather who immigrated from India. The grandfather’s business was closed as a result of the forced removals in the 1950s and the family were relocated to Lenasia, where his grandfather set up a business. As a child, the respondent remembers selling chickens in the street of the CBD as a way of getting around the apartheid restrictions and getting access to customers in the inner city. In 1987 his father established a fruit and vegetable shop in their current location in Westbury, through a nominee arrangement with a local ‘coloured’ resident (due to apartheid legislation a person classified as Indian could not own property in a coloured area and as such a local resident had to put their name forward to the authorities as the owner). He joined his father’s business after school in about 1993 and has run it since. His brother opened a butchery next door in about 1999.

During these years, their customer base of locals was very stable. In 2014 there was a rapid influx of foreign-owned businesses, with owners originating from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Pakistan. These groups own between four and five shops in a single street. According to a community meeting, there are approximately 83 shops owned by foreigners (formal and informal). In 2014 the respondent was compelled to sell the supermarket due to income pressures from local tuck shop competition. He maintains he has suffered a 70% decline in income over the past three years. He is currently still running a fruit and vegetable shop

35

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

and is setting up a take-away set to open in October 2016. He and his brother jointly employ nine people, all living in the local areas in and around Westbury.

All the employees walk to work.

Challenges being faced by the business include competition by the growing number of tuck shops and increasing crime. The owner maintains that three longstanding retail businesses have been forced to close down in Westbury over the past two years, due to the intense competition from the tuck shops. He claims that the tuck shop owners do not pay VAT and income tax and therefore are able to sell their goods at prices that undermine his business. Also, due to their operating styles (i.e. shopkeepers sleeping in the premises) they are able to operate very long hours. Local businesses have approached councillors, SARS, the Community Policing Forum and the Department of Home Affairs to deal with the issue. However, he claimed that they keep passing the problem from one department to another, and do nothing to address it. Furthermore, there is no contact between foreign and local business owners.

Another serious challenge which has worsened in the past few years is crime and safety. He experienced the first armed robbery in 2010 (despite having been there since 1988) and the business has had six break-ins over the last five months, with the last one occurring just a few days before the interview.

The reinforcing steel rods protruding from the side of the roof of the building demonstrated his attempts to make the shop more secure.

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

36

4

SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL CONDITIONS 4.1. Living Conditions

The low income levels (Figure 19) and high unemployment were corroborated by various interviews with local residents and institutions in the area, who confirm that residents within the area are living under very harsh conditions. These income figures also provide reasons why there are so many extended households living together in Westbury. One respondent, in relating her personal circumstances and history, described how she and her husband were forced to return to live with her parents in Westbury due to a decline in their financial circumstances in 2014 (interview with NGO B, 1 August 2016).

Monthly income None R1-R200 R201-R500 R501-R1000 R1001-R1500 R1501-R2500 R2501-R3500 R3501-R4500 R4501-R6000 R6001-R8000 R8001-R11000

Personal monthly income Household monthly income

R11001-R16000 R16001-R30000 >R30000 Don’t know Refusal

0% 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40%

Figure 19. Monthly personal and household income in the area

37

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

38

One of the Slovo Park residents who was interviewed works at the Christ the King Church and has resided within the community since 1995 when the settlement was first formed (interview with Local Resident A, 7 September 2016). Over the last few years, issues of crime, drugs, violence and unemployment have been viewed as being of greatest concern within the area. According to him, these need to be addressed through the installation of CCTV cameras in the neighbourhood to monitor activity within the area. Also mentioned are the periodic fires which have caused huge destruction of property, and in some cases the loss of lives, over the years.

The community was informed about the upgrades to the settlement by Danie Mbombo, a CoJ Human Settlements Department official in June 2016. However, the community want to see boards and advertisements to illustrate what is going to happen and when it will happen. According to this resident, during June and July 2016 builders began working on infrastructure, and have been there for a number of months. However the feeling is that the job should not have taken this long. Workers on the project are from the community and are employed by the City’s Jozi@Work programme, which recruits people from the community.

According to the respondent, the community needs a councillor or someone within government to tell them what is going on and provide them with a date for the upgrades. However, according to the respondent, the community is not organised into any coherent formal development committee and has no elected representatives or leadership structure. He referred to various informal groups (based on ethnic description) as representing interests of their particular groups (and assuming, or trying to assume, leadership of the area).

According to a tuck shop owner in Slovo Park, over 700 households reside within the informal settlement. People are living in very poor conditions in a dense layout of shacks, with limited access to water, sanitation and electricity. The housing conditions are also very poor, with the bulk of building materials consisting of corrugated iron and wood. These living conditions are exacerbated by regular fires in the settlement over the years – 358 fires in August 2011, 20 in April 2013 and 50 in December 2014 – that destroy many shacks.

The settlement has been scheduled for an upgrade, and the community was informed about this many months ago. However residents do not believe that this will ever happen. The tuck shop owner interviewed for the study, who has lived in the informal settlement for over a year, did not know of any formal leadership structures in the area other than the informal structure that exists. These leaders are not elected but are self-proclaimed and primarily serve a single ethnic group. They are not educated and do they possess the ability to promote change within the community.

Despite the appearance that living conditions in Coronationville are better than in the surrounding areas – possibly due to its origins and description

39

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

as a ‘salubrious’ township in the 1940s – the area is also afflicted by the increased violent crime conditions in the area.

In terms of people’s levels of dissatisfaction, the survey found that the highest levels of dissatisfaction were around safety and security (45%), police services (52%) and job opportunities (51%) in the area. In contrast to claims made in the focus group discussion (where participants felt that there was a need for better quality teaching and school facilities), respondents in the survey were least dissatisfied about quality of schools and access to education facilities. With regards to municipal services, not surprisingly, there was a spatial distinction between Westbury/Coronationville and Slovo Park, with satisfaction higher in the former areas and levels of dissatisfaction significantly higher in the latter.

The dominant narrative in almost all the interviews was of unemployment, poverty and crime. When asked why this is the case in this particular area, many respondents alluded to the apartheid history of the ‘coloured community’, poor parenting and poor policing (interviews with CBO A, 27 July 2016; NGO B, 1 August 2016; Local Business A, 17 August 2016).

Figure 20. A Slovo Park resident stands in her dwelling, which no longer has a roof due to a fire Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

40

Dissatisfaction with the area

Safety & security Job/business opportunities Access to health services Quality of health services

Residents Business

Access to schools / educational facilities Quality of schools / educational facilities Municipal services Cleanliness of area Figure 22. News coverage of protest by Westbury residents in August 2016 (The Star 2016)

Police services

4.2. Crime and Drug Abuse

Recreational & leisure facilities

High levels of crime and violence have been part of the story of Westbury since the early 1930s, with various lulls and peaks since then. Over the past two years, gang-related crime and violence has peaked again; with it reaching a breaking point in August 2016, when the community held a large demonstration against crime in the area.

According to South African crime statistics, robbery of residential addresses and common robbery have increased by 29% and 18% respectively between 2014 and 2015.

Roads &public transport & infrastructure Standard of accommodation / business premises Regulation enforcement Size of the market

0 10 20 30 40 50% Percentage dissatisfied

Figure 21. Overall residential and business dissatisfaction in Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

41

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

This dissatisfaction of residents regarding the state of crime and violence in the area is also strongly reflected in almost all the interviews undertaken, which further affirms the findings of the survey. In the survey the three most significant challenges felt by those interviewed were drug dealing (50.5%) followed by crime (17%) and unemployment (15%). These conditions have led to an increased awareness of community policing forums (66%) and ward committees (16%) within the area to

tackle these issues. Interestingly, despite these responses, residents indicated that the provision of employment opportunities was the most important issue (25%), even eclipsing the combatting of crime (19%).

As indicated above, the overwhelmingly dominant narrative from respondents in the area is that the high unemployment rate and the resultant poverty are the factors causing recent drug abuse and distribution activities. They attribute the petty robberies to the drug addicts who are desperate to get money to pay for their next fix, and the violent crime (shootings) as part of gang battles. Despite the above conditions, the survey found that according to 56% of respondents, life has remained the same in the area with only 16% saying it has worsened in relation to 28% saying it has actually improved.

Figure 23 indicates that the levels of dissatisfaction with safety and security are higher in Westbury and Coronationville, rather than in Slovo Park informal settlement. This might be attributable to the increase in drug activity in the former areas.

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

42

City of Tshwane

Survey results indicate that there is an increasing need to create employment opportunities (25%) Rea Vaya BRT within the community, combat crime (19%), Arterial Roads improve housing (17%) and tackle drug abuse Main Roads (12%). The levels of dissatisfaction within the area Local Roads emphasise this point, as residents are not satisfied with the policing of the area (51%), available job Open Spaces opportunities (52%) or the safety and security 2 Rail Stations within the area (45%). In addition, respondents have I stated that the cleanliness of the area is a problem Railway and needs to be addressed. However, the Jozi@ Westbury, Coronationville Work programme is operating in the area and youth and Slovo Park are to be found cleaning the streets as part of this Empire Perth Development programme. Further questions need to be asked and Corridor studies conducted to assess how the unemployment problem can be addressed. Are residents educated?

Residents’ satisfaction What type of jobs are they looking for? What are the with safety andproposed securitysolutions to the problem?

Marlboro South Sophiatown

Orange Grove and Norwood Park Station Precinct Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Sandton

ndburg

Louis Botha Development Corridor

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Empire Perth Development Corridor Turffontein Development Corridor

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Satisfied

City of Tshwane Rea Vaya BRT Coronationville

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Park

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Johannesburg CBD

Main Roads Local Roads Industria M2

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Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994 Date: 2017/06/09 Units: Degree

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Residents’ satisfaction with safety and security

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0.75 1.5

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Railway Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Crosby

Empire Perth Development Corridor Figure 23. Residents’ satisfaction with safety and security

Residents’ satisfaction with safety and security

43

Westbury, Coronationville and Very satisfied Slovo Park Informal Settlement Satisfied

0 0.0750.15

0.3

0.45

0.6

±

0 0.0750.15

0.3

0.45

0.6 Km

±

According to the survey, residents do not believe that their lives have changed since the initiation of Neutral the COF project, but do state that they are satisfied Dissatisfiedwith their lives in the area. This raises questions of people’s perceptions on the COF project and Very dissatisfied their expectations. When asked what he knew of the Corridors of Freedom, a resident in Slovo Park responded, “The corridor with the Rea Vaya is the worst road to walk along. The number of robberies and violent crimes that occur are really bad. People are mugged quite often, stabbed and shot. People fear for their safety and are afraid to use the Rea Vaya because of this” (interview with Local Resident A, 7 September 2016). His view of the deterioration in the crime situation was reiterated by all three workers and four vendors interviewed in Coronationville (interviews with Local Workers, 19 August 2016; Local Business B, 19 August 2016). In response to these findings, an SAPS colonel at the Sophiatown police station stated that while she had only been transferred to the station in the past three months, she had been undertaking her own research of the area in order to familiarise herself with the issues (interview with SAPS Officer, 7 September 2016).

She indicated that she had never heard of COF, and neither had her colleagues in the district crime prevention office (after she asked them whether they had heard of the project). According to her: Corruption is a major problem and many police within the department are corrupt. In addition, the correctional services system is failing the people, as people are out on parole and violating their parole. However, the system is

not putting them back in jail. People are being paid off. However, there are good police officers who are trying to clean the streets. Police are pushing for harsh sentences but the courts are letting them go on bail or giving them light sentences. The justice system fails to recognise the long-term effects of these people on the streets and their impact on the community. The police are doing their part but need help.

Figure 24 shows the responses of residents in terms of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the police services in the area.

According to the SAPS Colonel, each department has a role to play (including the social development and justice departments) and while the SAPS is trying to integrate departments, it is challenging and departments need to be more proactive (interview with SAPS Officer, 7 September 2016). She also feels the Department of Health needs to get involved, as drugs are affecting the mental condition of many residents in the area.

Another policing initiative in operation is the joint operations between the JMPD crime prevention unit and SAPS, to counter drug dealing and associated crimes in the area. The introduction of a JMPD dog unit in these operations has improved their effectiveness (interview with JMPD officer, 9 May 2017). However, this appears to be focused more on addressing the symptoms, rather than dealing with the underlying causes of the drug problem.

Another aspect the SAPS Colonel covered was that of designing for safety. The layout and design of the area and buildings allow criminals to evade police without being detected, or to see the police before they even leave the police station. According to her, the upgrades done to roads as part of the COF project have posed challenges to police officers as some parts restrict the rapid crossing of the road by police vehicles (interview with SAPS Officer, 7 September 2016). This enables criminals to flee from the police. The security risks of a precinct plan need to be evaluated prior to the implementation of the plan, and a security advisor should be consulted to evaluate whether any proposed layout can be properly policed. The Colonel feels that previous plans were not integrated and the police were not consulted; she would like to see the relevant role-players and stakeholders involved in future initiatives (interview with SAPS Officer, 7 September 2016).

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City of Tshwane

4.3. Community Participation and Local Institutions The residents of Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park appear to be both fatalistic in their outlook, as well as highly resilient in isolating themselves from the negative aspects of their surroundings.

An interesting observation from the study is the high levels of volunteerism within the community.

For example, one business feeds over 70 children daily from their own resources as part of their contribution to the community (interview with Local Business A, 17 August 2016). Another respondent undertakes a significant amount of voluntary drug counselling work in the area (Interview with NGO B, 1 August 2016). Many of the volunteers started out in local church organisations.

With regards to policing in the area, the SAPS officer interviewed maintained that the lack of policing is a result of corrupt officers within the police force, who deter people from trusting the police (interview with SAPS Officer, 7 September 2016). This corruption dissuades people from coming forward to report crimes and affects the response time of police officers with regard to solving cases and responding to calls. Furthermore, she highlighted that the number of police officers has not increased – despite an increase in the number of people within the area – and police strategies need to be improved, as technological advances have rendered many strategies ineffective (interview with SAPS Officer, 7 September 2016).

According to the survey findings, Westbury residents were far more aware of a neighbourhood association dealing with community issues in their area (15%) than were residents of the other case study nodes (8% or less). This was particularly evident regarding their awareness of the local Community Policing Forum (CPF) (66%). This awareness could be attributed to the finding that Westbury and Coronationville are more homogenous (in terms of population characteristics) urban localities, where residents have been living for longer.

Significant organisations in the area are the Abraham Kriel Childcare campus and Together Action Group (TAG). The former looks after 500 children with HIV/Aids in Westbury through homebased care. The organisation also offers after-school remedial teaching. The latter organisation offers a restorative justice programme for young criminal offenders involving skills development.

According Newclare

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Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

2 I

to Ngoma (2016), the organisation used to have a working partnership with the Sophiatown Police Station, whereby the organisation used to take convicted petty criminals into their rehabilitation programme as an alternative to a jail sentence and criminal record. This partnership ended for unknown reasons, which resulted in higher incarceration rates of youth offenders in the area.

Marlboro South Sophiatown

Park Station Precinct Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park

Sandton Randburg

As such, more people are aware of associations that deal with community issues. However, this awareness does not appear to translate N1 into action, as only 14% of residents actually attend most meetings (which is below the average for all case study areas). According to a local CPF representative, who has been trying to get various initiatives off the ground with limited success, this lack of action correlates with the apparent litany of failed initiatives in the area – e.g. prayer groups and local community policing structures (interview with CBO A, 27 July 2016). In terms of participation in community activities with people in the area, the survey indicated an average response. Of concern, given the community’s generally higher level of awareness about community issues, is that only 2.5% of those surveyed had heard of the Corridors of Freedom initiative.

Louis Botha Development Corridor

Westbury

Empire Perth Development Corridor Turffontein Development Corridor

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4.3.1. Westbury Local Drug Action Committee (LDAC)

Industria M2

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0.75 1.5

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Railway Westbury, Coronationville Crosby and Slovo Park

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Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994 Date: 2017/06/09 Units: Degree

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Westbury

Encouragingly, there are over 35 active state Sowetoorganisations initiatives, NGOs and community-based (CBOs) operating in the area, mainly focused on the following issues: HIV/AIDS; substance abuse Coordinate System: GCS Hartebeesthoek 1994 and rehabilitation; services for convicted criminals; Datum: Hartebeesthoek 1994 Units: Degree family mediation services; skills development; and Date: 2017/05/19 crime prevention and rehabilitation. Most of these Newclare organisations are members of the Westbury Local Drug Action Committee (LDAC), an umbrella organisation Sophiatown that meets on a monthly basis at the Westbury Transformation 2 Development Centre (WTDC) to share I information, report back and coordinate their activities.

This umbrella body consists of organisations and stakeholders from all sectors involved in substance Coronationville abuse and related problems, including officials from a variety of government departments, Westbury including Justice, Police, Correctional Services, Education, Health and Social Development.

However, the overall findings from the study (including interview respondents) suggest that this umbrella organisation is ineffectual in terms Industria West of outcomes and is certainly not achieving the

Orange Grove and Norwood

Empire Perth Development Corridor

Slovo Park

Figure 24. Residents’ satisfaction with police services

0

Residents' satisfaction with0.15 policing 0.075 0.3 0.45 Very Satisfied

0.6 Km

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Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

46

0.6 Km

±

required integration and coordination between the various initiatives of the individual organisations.

There is a disjuncture between what respondents involved in these organisations state (that they are well coordinated and effective), and local community responses (which are that the drug problem and crime are getting worse in the area).

According to the ward councillor, LDAC is mainly focusing on drug abuse and prevention and none of LDAC’s member organisations are involved in the area other than the WTDC.

4.3.2. Westbury Transformation Development Centre (WTDC) The WTDC in Westbury was created to be the link between the people and the government, and the facility caters for the entire Region B, with the main programme conducted by the City’s Department of Social Development directed at drug abuse and awareness and training for the youth in the area.

The WTDC staff provides door-to-door services to identify people in need in the community. However, the WTDC is short-staffed and there have only two to three social workers to train people. Some of the other programmes are related to: • • • • • •

Drug abuse and awareness; Family reunification; Migration, displaced persons and children; Early childhood development; Caregiver training and afterschool activities; Targeted beneficiaries programmes, including activities for elderly people.

According to some residents, there are projects running but no reports are generated by the WTDC to show how many people have been trained or benefitted from the programmes. Many people have not heard of the events and programmes, including the previous ward councillor, as the programmes are run by other entities. The WTDC is in the process of being redeveloped and on completion will offer computer training, social workers and training for community members, a bakery, sports facilities, a crèche and various other social activities.

According to the ward councillor, people are angry and tired of the way the City conducts their projects and plans (interview with Ward Councillor, 12 October 2016). There is fighting in meetings because of the tension between members of different political parties.

For example, DA councillors were not involved in ANC

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Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

events and meetings, and were stopped at the gates of the meetings. This has diminished the trust between the communities and government. The new ward councillor is trying to change things and re-establish the link between the community and the government.

4.4. Implications for COF Implementation There are a number of implications for COF implementation that arise from the social and institutional conditions in the area. These include the following: • Given the longevity and cohesion of the community there is a high awareness of local community forums. However, the levels of participation in these forums is low. This needs to be taken into account by the City when exploring ways of engaging with the community around the implementation of the COF. • A number of respondents, as well as a large number of community activists, indicated that there are a relatively high number of community members who are involved in volunteer work within the community. This bodes well for possible local government and community partnerships.

• There is no over-arching CBO representing the residents of Westbury/Coronationville or the Slovo Park informal settlement, other than the local ward councillor. Such organisations would need to be established to ensure any meaningful engagement around the implementation of the COF. • Due to the high levels of unemployment in the area, drug syndicates are held in high esteem as the only activities providing job opportunities to local residents. High levels of drug abuse, drug dealing and associated crime need to be reduced in order for any physical upgrade of the area to be sustained, and in order for any socio-economic development initiatives to be viable.

In order to begin to address the above challenges, there needs to significant improvement in not only the coordination of different organisations’ activities, but also an increase in the involvement of additional state institutions to ensure proper integrated planning and implementation. Improved communication linkages between senior CoJ officials and local elected ward councillors is needed in order to improve engagement with the community.

The COF project may be able to play a significant coordinating role in this regard.

Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

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5

SPATIAL PLANNING INITIATIVES The areas of Westbury and Coronationville have remained much the same since the late 1980s. However, between 2008 and 2016 – in addition to the City’s scheduled Spatial Development Framework (SDF) and Regional Spatial Development Framework (RSDF) – there have been a spate of urban development and urban design frameworks, as well as detailed site plan proposals, commissioned. These include the current infrastructure upgrades associated with the BRT system and COF project. This section will briefly highlight what these proposals have achieved, and how they are connected to each other and to the current implementation of the COF.

5.1. Newclare-Coronationville-Brixton Corridor UDF The Newclare-Coronationville-Brixton Corridor Urban Development Framework commissioned by the City in 2008 effectively introduced the notion of a transport corridor to the area and the densification of either side of Fuel Road, including Westbury and Coronationville (see Figure 25). In addition, it proposed increased residential and mixed-use densities, as well as commercial land uses, along Fuel Road; together with mediumdensity housing (row and semi-detached houses) along the eastern edge of Coronationville (including the Transnet land on which Slovo Park informal settlement is located). While the UDF was a clear attempt to address the spatial disconnects created by apartheid planning, the key critique of the plan is that it merely lays out a list of proposals across the landscape of new roads and buildings, without any detail in terms of implementation mechanisms (particularly regarding the densification of private property). The only significant aspect of the plan to have been implemented to date was the R15 million rail underpass linking Bosmont with Newclare.

In 2009 the City also commissioned a UDF for Florida, Unified, Maraisburg, Bosmont, Newclare and Westbury Rail Stations, which represented the first Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) plan for the area. The plan proposed higher densities than the previous plan around stations, but again no mechanisms were proposed in terms of how to implement such densities on private properties.

5.2. Proposal for Slovo Park Upgrade In 2011, the CoJ proposed a plan an upgrade of the Slovo Park informal settlement, in line with

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Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

the 2008 UDF. The plan proposed the demolition of the existing informal settlement and the total redevelopment of the site – including sites to the north and east of Slovo Park – into a fully integrated neighbourhood accommodating 2 148 units in three and four storey walk-ups/flats. This proposal, however, only covers the physical status quo of the area and does not address the area’s history or residents – i.e. income, skills levels, structure of the community, etc. Furthermore, as with the 2008 UDF, no implementation mechanisms are suggested for how to undertake the conversion from the current informal urban form to the proposed multistorey built form from an affordability perspective or institutional perspective. The only financial mechanism proposed is that qualifying beneficiaries will get ‘free’ units and the non-qualifiers will get rental units. While there is a similar project currently under construction in Roodepoort, which intends to use the same financial mechanisms, it has not got to the phase of actual transfer (during which problems may arise in addition to longerterm financial sustainability issues).

According to the ward councillor who represents a section of Slovo Park (another section falls under Ward 69 in Crosby) the upgrade will take place in three phases. However, there has been no interaction between the City and the community or councillors on the plan (the latter having only been shown plans on a PowerPoint). There is a budget of R53 million, however this amount has changed and no one is sure what the current status is. Local councillors have not been informed about the project for the last seven months (interview with Ward Councillor, 12 October 2016).

According to the project manager, the township has been approved and the provincial government Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

50

is currently installing bulk sewer and water infrastructure, which will be followed in early 2017 with roads and storm-water installation (telephonic interview with Project Manager, 1 November 2016).

Towards the third quarter of 2017, the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements (GDHS) is scheduled to install internal connections and to begin construction of the walk-up units. According to the project manager, based on a socio-economic survey of the Slovo Park community conducted some three years ago, the GDHS anticipated that about 80% of beneficiaries will qualify for ‘free; sectional title units, while the remaining nonqualifiers will receive rental units in terms of the FLISP Programme.3 However, FLISP is only designed for landowners, which raises questions about the proposed implementation of the project, as indicated by the project manager.

Figure 25. Density proposals in the Newclare-Coronationville-Brixton Corridor UDF (CoJ 2008)

However, according to the community very little consultation has taken place between the City and residents, and progress is only made before elections (interview with Local Resident A, 7 September 2016).

According to Slovo Park resident Eric Makofane, who has spent 17 years in the informal settlement, government promises are “total propaganda” and he holds little hope that his application for a house will amount to anything (Taylor 2011).

5.3. Corridors of Freedom Project The COF project is the new spatial vision for the city, derived from the Growth and Development Strategy 2040 (GDS) of 2011 and based on the TOD approach. A substantial amount of planning has been undertaken in and around the study area in recent years. While the earlier planning initiatives lack implementation details, the Empire-Perth SAF and Westbury Development Precinct (WDP) plan include the implementation dimension.

5.3.1. Empire-Perth SAF In 2014 the City published the Empire-Perth Development Corridor Strategic Area Framework as part of the COF project, which covers the corridor from Braamfontein to Soweto. As part of the City’s hierarchy of plans for the COF, the SAF is intended to: • Deliver a set of spatial structuring mechanisms and broad development guidelines • Make proposals for desired uses and intensity with form and spatial directives Figure 26. Proposed redevelopment of the Slovo Park (CoJ 2011)

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• Identify spatial projects and interventions required to realise the vision The framework acknowledges issues of the local spatial economy; key land uses; spatial linkages; access to public transport; infrastructure capacities; as well as economic conditions at a broad level. Key proposals relevant to the Coronationville-Westbury study area include: exploring the clustering of services on Main Road on the northern boundary of Westbury; densifying along Fuel Road and parts of Main Road in Westbury and Coronationville (see Figure 27); and zoning these areas mixed-use ‘active edge’ areas. The framework also provides urban design guidelines for the areas.

The densification is proposed at 100–160 dwelling units per hectare with a built form of four to six storey buildings (significantly higher than in the 2009 UDF proposal). Importantly, the SAF suggests approaches on how to densify areas and provides the most comprehensive vision of how this densification process could be implemented incrementally (see Figure 28).

The Empire-Perth SAF also emphasises the importance of a range of institutional mechanisms to implement projects, and sets out four key functional requirements for implementation: project planning; project implementation; urban management and development facilitation (see Figure 29).

One of the most important requirements is development facilitation and this component includes the following support structures to assist private stakeholders: • Guidance on development opportunities • Guidance on favourable funding options and agencies • Advice on sustainability options • Targeted development initiatives • Progress on implementation The SAF goes on to list a range of possible incentives and institutional mechanisms that should be explored with reference to the COF, as indicated in Figure 30 (CoJ 2014: 108).

It should be noted that only a few of the above mechanisms are in operation, while the remainder

3 The Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP) was developed by government to give affordable first time home-ownership opportunities to South African citizens and legal permanent residents who earn between R3 501 and R15 000 per month. This is the ‘affordable/ gap’ market segment whose income exceeds the maximum income to qualify for a fully-subsidised house, but is not enough to qualify for home loan finance.

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Figure 27. Empire-Perth SAF density proposals for Westbury and Coronationville (CoJ 2014)

are still being researched. However, very few appear to be appropriate in terms of addressing the circumstances in the Westbury/Coronationville area.

The City’s GDS and Inclusionary Housing Incentives (yet to be adopted as policy) tend to be more geared towards established property developers (from whom there appears to very little interest at present).

The existing housing subsidies are inappropriate for the urban ‘brownfield’ environment, as current subsidy amounts are generally too low to cover both land and construction costs in these areas.

Furthermore, despite the levels of poverty, many residents in the area would not qualify for subsidies as they are neither first-time homeowners nor do they qualify in terms of the maximum income level of R3 500 per month. Social housing subsidies could apply in the area, while environmental incentives could be partially applicable to some middle-income residents within the area. More appropriate financial support mechanisms need to be explored in such a low-resourced area in order to ensure local homeowners are able to exploit the benefits being offered through densification rights (for example, area-based loan guarantees).

5.3.2. Westbury Precinct Development Plan The most recent plan for the area is the 2015 Westbury Development Precinct (WDP), which is related to the Empire-Perth SAF and contains detailed proposed projects for Westbury. This plan addresses the issue of implementation and considers the identification and elaboration of priority projects in terms of their location, budgets and timeframes. This plan strategically targets projects

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that can be implemented by local government, such as pedestrian bridges, park upgrades and affordable housing (Figure 31).

The aims of the WDP plan are to: • Identify well-located land parcels for housing projects; • Supplement the existing social infrastructure; • Create a public space system that would link the new social infrastructure to the existing housing, by promoting and facilitating a non-motorised movement and activity system; • Ensure that the physical form and land use and transportation are integrated.

The plan relies on public sector investment and catalytic projects, as well as conventional planning mechanisms (e.g. zoning rights), to facilitate private sector developments in the area. One of the aims is to ensure that public investment in the area becomes a catalyst for: • Diversification and intensification of land use; • Mixed-income housing and a diversification of housing typologies; • Densification of the urban fabric; • Increased accessibility to social and economic opportunities; • Vibrant public realm; • All other aspects of regeneration (CoJ 2015).

Figure 28. Details of proposed forms of densification (CoJ 2014)

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Figure 30. Possible incentives and mechanisms that could be explored in the Corridors of Freedom (CoJ 2014)

Figure 29. Functional requirements for COJ implementation (CoJ 2014)

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Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

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In addition to these plans for the area, there are two other major projects currently being explored at the feasibility stage. The first is the Martindale Integrated Operations Centre Precinct, which proposes a concentration of local government departments into one operations centre (just north of Westbury across Main Road). This project, if implemented, has the potential to create a busy node in the area, which may have positive economic spin-offs for the Westbury community. The second project is a detailed housing case study of a portion of Westbury.

If implemented, this will hopefully serve to improve the current layouts of the existing flats in Westbury (from a safety perspective), while densifying the area.

This will result in greater population thresholds, which could enhance economic activities in the area.

The Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), which is responsible for the implementation of the COF project, has budgeted for a range of projects in the study area; the current budget allocations are detailed in Table 2.

Projects

Budget (R)

Dowling Avenue, Kretzschmar Street and Steytler Road upgrades Local Economic Initiatives Fuel Street pedestrian bridge and park upgrade Clinic upgrade Community Centre upgrade Stadium upgrade

Total

33 000 000 650 000 30 000 000 20 000 000 20 000 000 7 540 000 111 190 000

Table 2. Allocated budgets for study area as of 2015 (CoJ 2015)

The most recent planning initiatives within the study area have already been partially implemented, with significant amounts of the above budget having already been spent (in the case of road upgrading; some parks, the clinic, and Fuel Road pedestrian bridge are currently under construction).

5.4. Implications for COF Implementation

Figure 31. Westbury Development Precinct plan proposals (CoJ 2015)

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Despite a series of strategic spatial plans having been formulated over the past eight years in and around the study area, these have mostly focused on physical interventions and have been more vision-oriented (aside from the latest two plans). Due to their lack of implementation mechanisms, only minor aspects of the plans have been implemented and they have not realised any discernible socio-economic improvements.

However, earlier plans have informed subsequent plans and the most recent plans in particular have introduced planning implementation mechanisms.

While many of the existing planning mechanisms may not be appropriate for the levels and types of poverty found in the community, the importance of such mechanisms has at least been acknowledged by the City and additional mechanisms such as inclusionary housing policies are being explored.

There are a number of other implications that these spatial planning interventions have for the implementation of the Corridors of Freedom. In

terms of the upgrading of Slovo Park, it appears that the GDHS is currently implementing a mediumdensity housing development to accommodate the current informal occupiers. It should be noted that part of this development will locate many existing residents closer to the corridor. While encouraging such an intervention, serious questions remain: • How will the socio-economic conditions of the residents improve by being housed in flats?

• Linked to the above, how will these new housing developments be sustainable if the residents cannot afford to pay increased rentals to maintain the buildings?

• How will residents currently undertaking retail and other economic activities within the informal settlement be catered for in the new development?

• How will gentrification displacements (e.g. displacement of future beneficiaries of the ‘give-away’ units selling their units in the market and relocating to an informal settlement) be avoided?

The apparent lack of deep engagement with the residents of Slovo Park around the proposed development is a potential problem for long-term development success, and may be an issue that the implementation process of the COF can address.

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6

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS In concluding this research it should be re-emphasised that the physical planning and infrastructure interventions currently implemented and envisioned for the Westbury/Coronationville area are positive.

The intentions of the physical upgrade are clearly valid – to enhance the public realm and facilities in the area; improve resident’s mobility and access to additional opportunities in the metropolitan region; and use infrastrucutral upgrades to attract property and business interest. However, in order for physical infrastructure provison to accrue its maximum benefit, greater buy-in and participation from local stakeholders; improved urban management; and extensive social and economic infrastructure is vital. This section will present the key issues in the case study area; raise pertinent questions and respond in the form of a series of recommendations.

6.1. Summary of Key Issues As outlined in the sections above, there are a number of key issues facing the community in the Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park area that may well constrain the successful implementation and sustainability of the COF project locally. The diagramme in Figure 32 depicts the main issues facing the community and the key causes, derived from the findings of the report.

6.1.1. Lack of co-ordination between the interventions in the area There are a plethora of private, non-governmental and governmental (both local and national) organisations undertaking long term projects, programmes and initiatives in the study area. While there appears to be some group co-ordination by the TDC, this appears to be limited and, from the results, ineffectual. In addition, there are some bilateral partnerships between the JMPD and SAPS on occasional operations in the area, which are successful in arresting perpetrators, but do not appear to address the underlying causes.

6.1.2. Unemployment and poverty Unemployment is seen as one of the key roots of poverty in the area, and is linked to the high incidence of residents above the age of 51 and below 25 (many of whom see themselves as unemployable either due to advanced age or because many of them have criminal records).

6.1.3. Lack of knowledge of the COF project While a significant amount of physical upgrading has taken place in the area over the past two years

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and is still ongoing, our findings seem to suggest that very few members of the community see the linkages between these upgrades and COF project.

Furthermore, apart from the use of the public furniture and parks, the community are not seeing how they can benefit from the COF initiative.

6.1.4. Social threats and crime Overall, the area appears to be in a vicious cycle of decline, beginning with unemployment, leading to poverty and drug abuse and drug dealing. The latter is one of the most lucrative and widespread economic activities in the area and, according to a number of respondents, drug lords are seen as role models for the youth in the area in that they are the only people with access to significant resources.

Drug abuse results in further crime and domestic violence and many residents cannot see themselves getting out of this cycle, which needs to be broken through targeted interventions. The social problems within the area are having a negative effect on businesses and business growth, as indicators show that security concerns are having a negative effect on investment within the area.

6.1.5. Mistrust of institutions and politicians The historical legacies of apartheid still have a significant impact on the psyche and material conditions of people in the area. Due to the high levels of poverty and crime, and the residents’ perception of responses from state institutions as corrupt and ineffective, there are high levels of mistrust and apathy towards state institutions.

While there is growth within the area, many believe that little has changed and that change Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

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Figure 32. Key issues and narratives identified in the area (Klug 2016)

will come with solutions to unemployment and security issues. Local respondents claimed that ward councillors are only present during election time, and are absent throughout their term and not involved in the activities in the community or WTDC. They expressed a high level of mistrust in local politicians and their commitment to the area.

There is also the perception that the City does not conduct studies or research before implementing projects in the area, and that these projects ignore the concerns of residents or the effect they will have on the activities of the community (further reflecting the community’s mistrust in the local authority).

6.3. Lessons for the Corridors of Freedom Project

6.2. Summary of Key Challenges

Furthermore, there are a number of important lessons that can be learned for the COF project:

The overall challenge identified in this report is that high levels of economic deprivation, social dysfunctionality and mistrust in institutions in the Westbury/Coronationville area could form significant barriers to local participation and hinder the local community’s ability to benefit from the COF spatial planning proposals being put forward (see Figure 33).

Other key challenges include the following: • How to generate more legitimate economic activity in the area?

• How to address current youth attitudes and skills levels to make the youth more employable?

• How to build effective and coherent community structures to challenge dominant drug culture and activities in the area?

• What are the ways to assist local businesses in ‘accessing’ the Perth Road corridor to enhance their viability?

• How to better coordinate and integrate the activities and programmes of the plethora of NGO and government social welfare institutions in the area, and to better link them to the physical development programmes of the City?

Figure 33. Summary of key challenges (Klug 2016)

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• Despite high levels of property ownership in the area there appears to be almost no awareness of how to use tenure security to leverage benefits from the COF proposals (e.g. enhanced property rights, upgrading of the public realm, etc.). How can this awareness be raised?

An understanding of the history of the community and area is important in terms of informing future social and economic initiatives and how they should be linked to neighbouring areas. Many of the most severe problems in the case study area (e.g. unemployment, crime, drugs and family violence) cannot be addressed purely through the physical upgrading of the area, installation of a BRT and the allocation of additional development rights. Indeed, an integration of physical and socio-economic interventions is required.

• Local community initiatives, namely those from local religious organisations, have had a significant impact on social behaviour in the area that could be explored as part of future interventions. The history and circumstances of the area have demonstrated that outside interventions stand little chance of success without proper community partnership.

• There are many local human resources and community development-oriented NGOs in the area which can be drawn upon for assisting in the successful implementation of projects in the area, possibly through community-City partnerships.

• Integrated planning and implementation is a key requirement in the area, as many respondents (from residents to government officials) spoke about the lack of coordination and integration between the different sectors and their programmes and projects in their attempts to address issues in the area.

• There is a need to focus on implementation instruments that can more clearly and directly inform residents of how they can benefit from the upgrades. For example, the BRT needs much more advertising in respect of how it operates (financial benefits of monthly tickets, frequency of trips and speed of trips). Also, financing and land development mechanisms need to be explored for small-scale property developments.

• Environmental design around crime prevention needs to be more extensively explored in collaboration with local SAPS and CPFs.

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It is clear from the above findings, implications and lessons that the material conditions of the bulk of the study area’s residents are not going to change through current and proposed physical interventions unless the underlying socioeconomic problems are addressed in conjunction with physical interventions.

6.4. Recommendations Based on the above findings and lessons learnt,a more integrated planning approach is recommended, as a more effective way of implementing the COF project in the area. As a starting point, recommendations are based on Principle 1 of the City’s 2006 GDS, which is focused on the City’s committed role in eradicating poverty (CoJ 2006).6 These principles are relevant to the case study area, and the question remains of how to apply them effectively?

To this end, the recommendations in this section will build on institutional and implementation recommendations made in the Empire-Perth SAF, which will be used as a further point of departure.

As highlighted above the Empire-Perth SAF sets out four areas of functional requirements for implementation of the COF, with development facilitation – and how to do it effectively in an area of extremely limited and constrained human and financial resources – as key to success. The need is for greater and more nuanced integrated implementation strategies and therefore the following recommendations are based on the City’s integrated implementation model, with a focus on development facilitation strategies (see Figure 34).

With the aim of achieving sustainable, mutually beneficial development through the implementation of the COF project, the proposed strategies will be explained in terms of the following interrelated categories: • Institution-building strategies • Social rehabilitation strategies • Financial models • Planning mechanisms

6.4.1. Institution-building strategies A key requirement established from this research is to ‘restore hope’ to the local community and to change the mind-set of the community to enable them to better engage with the positive COF-related interventions being made by the local authority.

An important first step would be to set up appropriate institutional structures to better implement the COF project in Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park. Given the relatively small area and population thereof, an area-based management (ABM) approach seems appropriate as an institutional mechanism around which the COF project could be integrated with other socio-economic initiatives in the area.

While the City has a regional area-based approach, what is recommended here is a much smaller scale, short to medium term ABM sub-structure. This substructure ABM could be made up of two or three development officials, based in Westbury.

Essentially an ABM approach takes a small, homogenous, socially cohesive territory – often characterised by common traditions, a local identity, and a sense of belonging or common needs and expectations – as the target area for policy implementation (ELARD 2016). While ideally suited to the case study area, an ABM approach could be applied along all the corridors in strategic places based on a similar model to that used in eThekwini Municipality. There the municipality has set up five ABM areas, each with its own vision and approach, although all contain elements of the following overarching objectives: • Arrest of decline and promotion of urban regeneration; • Responsive urban management; • Spatial reorganisation; • Establishment of area-wide development platform; • Improved public and residential environments; • Enhanced and expanded infrastructure; • Improved image of the area;

6 Principle 1 of the City’s 2006 GDS is focused on the City’s committed role in eradicating poverty by: enabling the poor to access basic livelihoods (inter-alia by helping them to secure social grants, facilitating skills development and basic employment opportunities, and supporting ‘self-help’ projects, start-up microenterprises and community based co-operatives); ensuring the affordability of municipal services, public transport and social facilities (through progressive tariff structures, creative cross-subsidisation and targeted social packages); accommodating the poor, by working to ensure they can find and retain decent lowest-cost rental housing opportunities (without needing to resort to life in informal settlements and inner city slums); assimilating the poor by ensuring that they are not relegated to the margins of the city but instead can find places in mixed income residential spaces, empowering them politically through meaningful participatory governance, and enabling them to feel part of the city (by using a range of measures – including sports, recreation, arts and culture – to minimise perceived social exclusion); and making allowances for the poor in how the built environment and use of public space is regulated and managed (for example by taking a balanced approach to informal trading, spaza shops and backyard dwellings) (CoJ 2006: 57).

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Figure 34. Structure of recommendations (Klug 2016)

• Improved systems of governance and citizen participation; • Re-orientation of delivery systems; • Enhanced human capacity and the building of social capital; • Citizen pride, satisfaction and safety; • Equitable access to services, facilities and economic opportunities (eThekwini 2016).

Experience has shown that ABM approaches can be expensive, so the municipality has also set up an ABM Programme Office, as part of the institutional setup, to provide support and add value to the efforts of the area teams. It has proven to be more cost effective in respect of providing operational and management support to the five ABM areas; facilitating learning, documentation and research support to the areas; ensuring compliance of the funding agreement with the European Delegation and National Treasury requirements; and providing support for safety and crime issues (Pillay 2015).

The current role of the JDA Development Facilitation unit could be expanded to include creating both horizontal and vertical partnerships with state and non-state organisations, within the framework of an ABM model. One example of a need expressed by the community, which demonstrates the type

of institutional coordination required, is for a Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) to provide people without a matric certificate with accreditation for the training they receive at the WTDC (which will help them find employment opportunities). As part of the ABM, there could be a ‘one-stop shop’ for a range of development advice to community members and organisations on the legal and economic aspects of property development, as well as on debt management.

From the community’s side, there is an urgent need to facilitate the setting up one or two local community development organisations in order to engage with the COF project initiatives and proposed ABM model.

Given the economic vulnerability of local residents, particularly those property owners located directly on the BRT corridor, there is a future threat of gentrification and displacement of residents, which should be avoided at all costs. In this regard, an increasingly popular institutional land-holding model, the Community Land Trust (CLT), could be explored to counter such displacement as well as meet a range of other developmental needs in the area.5 A CLT is a non-profit corporation that develops and stewards affordable housing, community gardens, civic buildings, commercial spaces and other community assets on behalf of a community.

CLTs balance the needs of individuals to access land Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park Informal Settlement

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and maintain security of tenure, with a community’s need to maintain affordability, economic diversity and local access to essential services.

The ABM sub-structure need not be permanent. It could be deployed to the area for a period; once the above community initiatives are re-established and self-sustaining (in terms of finance and human resources), it could be redeployed to another area of the city that is experiencing similar problems to the Westbury case study area.

6.4.2. Social development facilitation This study has identified a range of institutions currently involved in various community initiatives, although they tend to operate separately within their particular sectors – i.e. drug rehabilitation, skills development and crime prevention, etc. More thought is required around how to facilitate the rehabilitation and development of the community.

Through partnership arrangements between the proposed community development organisations and the ABM unit of the City, better coordination could be achieved between existing, as well as future, programmes. This coordination could be around enabling common goals and objectives to be shared by the various stakeholders (including state organisations at local and provincial level, NGOs and CBOs). Many of these objectives could be linked to the outcomes of the COF project, in terms of how best to develop skills and generate employment opportunities through the proposed densification process in the area.

Over and above existing programmes in the area, there are some interesting examples from eThekwini and Cape Town of the type of programmes that could be explored or re-explored in the area: community policing forums; Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading, which was initiated in Cape Town in 2015; food garden projects; skills training projects; and justice and restoration programmes (similar to the one initiated by the NGO Khulisa in Phoenix, which promotes different ways of dealing with disputes, including victim-friendly mediation techniques).

6.4.3. Financial models Given that unemployment and poverty are the key challenges facing the area, it is critical that financial strategies are developed to dovetail the COF project proposals. These should be implemented in close collaboration with the City’s departments (for example, Local Economic Development); its

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municipal-owned entities, such as the Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO) and Johannesburg Property Company (JPC); and even the provincial and national departments (for example, National Treasury). For instance, any plans around developing social housing through JOSCHO, or land purchases through JPC, should be done in liaison with broader community representative bodies to see how they fit with current programmes in other sectors.

housing options.

Economic strategies, particularly around microenterprises and micro-finance, should be explored to meet the needs of the proposed increase in population in the area (through housing densification and the proposed Martindale Integrated Operations Centre Precinct). For this purpose, local entrepreneurial skills training is required, as well as capacity-building around capital accumulation through micro-loan mechanisms. For example, NGOs such as SaveAct could be partnered with to explore local savings group options (such as stokvels) and the financial training of community organisations.

For the promotion of local property development options, mechanisms such as specific loan guarantee schemes should be explored, possibly linked to collective forms of development (for example, linked to CLTs).

6.4.4. Planning mechanisms Finally, through the ABM structure, a wider range of planning mechanisms needs to be explored to facilitate local property development initiatives and partnerships. Local integrated planning and implementation can be facilitated through the preparation of local community-based planning initiatives setting out desired projects and their integrated timelines, in the same manner as the metropolitan scale integrated development plan (IDP).

This would create a community partnership around more detailed, localised projects outlined in the WDP plan. This community partnership would then be able to engage with the Human Settlements departments at both the local and provincial level, as well as with the Spatial Planning and Transformation department around issues of building encroachments and densification. Planning mechanisms of a financial, spatial and housing nature should be approached as local special development areas (already being explored in other parts of the city) to enable loan guarantee areas, land pooling, land value capture (for developments over a certain value for cross‑subsidisation) and inclusionary

5 For more on Community Land Trusts (CLTs) see: http://community-wealth.org/strategies/ panel/clts/index.html

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7

CONCLUSION The essential findings of this research report are that the significant physical planning interventions that have been made in the Westbury, Coronationville and Slovo Park area, associated with the COF project, have not, to date, achieved the desired outcomes for the local communities, for a variety of reasons outlined in the report. However, with more localised integrated and co-ordinated management of the existing social and economic initiatives in the area there is a high probability of the intended benefits being obtained.

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