There are 204 recognised informal settlements in Cape Town. In fact there are 437 individual pockets. Sometimes the pocket is a large block of hundreds of homes. In other cases the pockets are small clusters of only a few homes scattered on land in between formal houses. Some are individual homes on plots surrounded by food gardens. Use the satellite view to explore how each pocket is unique. You can find more information below by clicking on the pocket.
Each household is one individual home that has been built. There is a wide variation in the number of households in a pocket. Some, like Chris Hani Park have as little as 3 households. Some, like Enkanini, have nearly 8000 households! Altogether there are 146,626 households living in informal settlements. The average pocket has around 340 households but this is skewed by a few large informal settlements - the majority of pockets have less than 800 households.
The age of an informal settlement tells you how long it has been since it was first established. It does not show how a particular pocket has grown over time or whether the same people have been living there. Many people believe informal settlements are a new phenomenon, but most pockets are very old. Only 17 pockets (4%) are less than 5 years old. In fact around 286 pockets (65%) were established 15 or more years ago (before the year 2000) and 103 (24%) were established before our democracy. The oldest informal settlements are clustered around northern Khayelitsha, Crossroads and Nyanga but are still not recognised and still have temporary toilets.
The City of Cape Town provides a range of toilet types to residents living in informal settlements. Around 13,577 full flush toilets have been installed. These are a free standing toilets built into prefabricated cement shelters and connected to a sewer system. This means that around a third (33%) of all toilets are permanent infrastructure. The rest are temporary toilets that are provided and cleaned by private companies. The City provides many different types. We show the data for chemical, container and porta potti, which are the most common and combine the rest into an ‘other’ category. 5,027 (12%) are chemical toilets - a toilet with a chemical container that can be removed or cleaned via suction. These are often called ‘mshengu’ toilets. 5,077 (12.5%) are container toilets - a cement shelter with a container that has to be removed. The vast majority, around 15,928 (39%), are Porta Pottis. These are portable toilets with a small container that can be disconnected and must be collected and cleaned. This is the number of toilets that have been purchased - it is unclear how many actually exist or where they are currently. Most pockets across the city only have access to temporary toilets.
How many informal settlements are really on unsuitable land? The City of Cape Town has categorised informal settlements in terms of size, age and development priority. There are 48 (12%) informal settlements in Category A. These have been approved for full upgrade or are suitable for future upgrades where 'pre-planning' can commence. Why are these not being prioritised immediately for upgrading; infrastructure and sanitation? There are 22 (5%) informal settlements in Category B1. These are on City land with adverse physical conditions that require programmes and budgets for upgrading. The vast majority, around 252 (58%), of informal settlements are in Category B2. These are informal settlements on Provincial or National government land that require programmes and budgets for transfer to the City, de-densification, and upgrading. There are challenges here but it is still possible to upgrade and install infrastructure despite the challenges. Why is it taking so long? There are 115 (26%) informal settlements in Category C. These are informal settlements that are located on land which either needs to be purchased or there are constraints that require total relocation. Dealing with these challenges will not be easy. It requires decisive action, not indifference and denials. Please note that no constraint information exists at the pocket level - this is only provided for all the pockets within a recognised the settlement. As each pocket is unique, it is likely that significantly more informal settlements could be recognised and upgraded if the City determined the specific constraints for each pocket.
The Density of a pocket is measured in dwelling per hectare or DHa. We have calculated this by dividing the number of households by the size of the land. The density of a pocket is an important consideration because it determines how easily basic services can be installed. Density ranges between 3 DHa at Kroonendal in Houtbay to about 463 DHa at Langa Sportsfield. To put this into perspective, the target density for formal affordable housing of between 1 and 4 stories is between 80 and 300 DHa.
There are 204 recognised informal settlements in Cape Town. In fact there are 437 individual pockets. Sometimes the pocket is a large block of hundreds of homes. In other cases the pockets are small clusters of only a few homes scattered on land in between formal houses. Some are individual homes on plots surrounded by food gardens. Use the satellite view to explore how each pocket is unique. You can find more information below by clicking on the pocket.