The impact of urban renewal on the health status of the community of Evaton

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Urban renewal is fairly new in South Arica compared to North America where the concept wasintroduced around 1949. Some urban areas in South Africa lacked basic subsistence needs whileothers had deteriorated into slums. That prompted the present government to act against suchliving conditions and make environments conducive to its motto of 'better life for all.One such area was Evaton within Emfuleni Local Municipality in Gauteng. The semi-ruralcentennial settlement is one of the few that enjoys freehold land tenure in South Africa.Unfortunately, that contributed to its underdevelopment as the politics of land release before1996 prevented any development by the regime. The situation led Evaton developing into a slumwithout basic needs such as proper infrastructure, proper sanitation, refuse removal system,adequate water supply and social amenities. The situation manifested itself in poor communityhealth status.The health status of the community was also influenced by the prevailing socio-economicconditions such as unemployment and poverty. Communities depended on home farming andanimal husbandry to support their households.Unemployment and poverty resulted in crimes of stock-theft, house robberies and muggings.Gangsterism became the lifestyle of hooligans which made life difficult for vulnerablecommunity members.Moreover, environmental health conditions were appalling. Water was drawn from improperlycovered wells. Pit latrines and ash dumps were used for sanitation thus causing fly-breeding androdent habourage. Animals roamed about while backyards were overpopulated with shacksinstead of decent housing. Fossil fuel fires used inside mud houses with poor ventilation causedcarbon monoxide poisoning. Particulate matter from dusty streets polluted the air. Diseasesspread easily due to dust, overcrowding, and poor ventilation and sanitation. Families couldhardly afford proper medical care which was scarce, remote and expensive.The intended urban renewal project aimed to improve the living conditions in Evaton. Improvedhousing was provided where possible, sewerage reticulation system was widened, electricity wasinstalled and some service roads were tarred.More clinics were built to provide better and free health services to the community. Modernshopping malls were built. Municipal health and other essential services were partly delivered.The prospects of improved health status were beaming.Unfortunately, the project was hampered by obstacles such as politics of resistance to landrelease by landlords, which retarded housing progress. Funding was problematic and allegedlymisused. Housing, roads and sanitation remained poor. Air quality remained poor as fossil fuelcontinued to be used due to high electricity costs. Animals were still kept and unemployment rateremained high.Research findings revealed that suspicions regarding clandestine land release deals were abound.Residents blamed leaders for offering jobs to friends and associates. Provision of affordablehousing was rather too slow and made tedious by squabbles over management issues. Localeconomic development crucial to job creation and poverty alleviation needed strengthening toencourage self-reliance.It would be recommended that the situation in Evaton be afforded urgent intervention bygovernment, with the support of strong community participation, which is crucial for smoothimplementation of processes meant to improve living conditions in Evaton. Regeneration, withits envisaged prospects, needed the co-operation of all stakeholders. All suspicions regardingprojects and processes had to be overcome. It would be important to employ persons withappropriate expertise, preferably from the local community; to strengthen project managementfor positive outcomes that would impact on the health status of the community was important.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University