Rethinking the informal settlements upgrading programmes in the Free State Province, South Africa: a transformative and multi-faceted model

This thesis intended to reveal the factors that contributed to the formulation of the informal settlements upgrading programmes in the Free State, South Africa, from an institutional perspective; subsequently to conceptualise a transformative and multi faceted model for the development and management of human settlements. The mixed methods exploratory research design has been applied in this study. This research design has allowed for the implementation of research methods including the qualitative inductive content analysis method, the case study method, and the semi structured survey questionnaire method. The data collection methods used comprised both primary and secondary data. Primary data involved online surveys and field observations. Secondary data comprised of an inductive analysis of written sources. The main findings of the study were as follows. First, the policy design and implementation processes have been misaligned. Second, there has been inadequate stakeholder engagements. Third, the government has not prioritised the employment of specialists in the field of housing and human settlements. Fourth, corruption has caused the state to fail to provide adequate housing for all. Fifth, municipalities are unable to identify and define existing informal settlements. Lastly, illegal immigration is causing a rapid increase in the number of informal settlements. This thesis proffered key recommendations based on the conclusions drawn from these findings. First, there must be an implementation of an integrated model for the preparation of upgrading policy. Second, communication technology education for officials of the state must be enhanced. Third, the government must prioritise the employment of experts in upgrading work. Fourth, the upgrading policy must reflect the paradigm shift from housing to human settlements. Fifth, municipalities need to be systematically transformed and improved for their functions on upgrading. Finally, illegal immigration must be firmly monitored while legal immigration is discouraged. To this end, this thesis has presented a strong viewpoint that limits the influx of immigrants into unproclaimed urban land that leads to the growth of informal settlements. The study has also strongly advocated for the legal spatial placement of South African citizens and legal immigrants on strategically and socio-economically viable land, where it is suitably available and owned by the state. Housing in the thesis has been viewed as one of the essential instruments that must inevitably emerge as a prospect towards xiv effectively unlocking improved living conditions in informal settlements; rather than housing being perceived as human settlements.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment and Information Technology, School of the Built Environment, 202