WITH about 119 informal settlements in the City of Ekurhuleni, the metro is set to switch to a higher gear to respond to the challenges facing the City.
The executive mayor, Clr Mondli Gungubele, will today and Friday lead a human settlement summit in which affected informal settlement dwellers will be informed of the City’s overall vision to respond to informal settlement challenges.
The challenge, in most cases, relates to the fact that the informal settlements are located on unsuitable and undevelopable land. They are also often overcrowded and inaccessible, making it difficult for certain services like emergency services to be rendered effectively.
With the backing of National Ministry of Human Settlement, the two-day summit, taking place at the Lakes Hotel and Conference Centre in Benoni, is expected to break new grounds in terms of exploring an integrated approach to human settlements delivery.
“The summit will reveal the current state of the City and its developmental vision in the short, medium and long term,” said Ekurhuleni spokesman, Themba Gadebe.
“It will also articulate the position and priority placed on human settlements in the City’s overall operations, including the high level state of the City’s institutional capacity to manage the development of sustainable human settlements.”
