Sustainable Settlements Archive
Sustainable Settlements News
[MEDIA STATEMENT]: Afesis-corplan welcomes new COGTA minister, but warns against cosmetic changes in cabinet
Afesis-corplan welcomes the appointment of the new Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Minister, Ms. Thembi Nkadimeng. Having previously served as the deputy minister of COGTA, president of SALGA and the executive mayor of Polokwane [...]
16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM: “A Gift to Women” – Mpho Ya Basadi
Kagisano, a programme implemented by Afesis-corplan with various partner organisations across the country, aims to organise activities geared towards preventing collective violence in communities and promoting social cohesion. One of the communities where the Kagisano [...]
Reflecting on the “Unity in our Heritage” event
By Mkhuseli MadibaThe "Unity in our Heritage" event was held at the Isivivana Centre, in Khayelitsha on the 30th of September by the Kagisano Khayelitsha Steering Committee in partnership with the Department of Cultural Affairs [...]
#OurVoteMatters: The ‘Why’ of Voting
As part of its agency building and strengthening of constitutionalism and democracy work, Afesis-corplan developed this pocket guide to respond specifically to the questions "why must we vote?" and “what then after we vote?". These [...]
Learning Brief #14: From re-blocking to pre-blocking
There is growing interest within government and the country around the concept of re-blocking. Re-blocking is the process whereby communities who have occupied land work with government and others to shift shacks and plots around [...]
Ronald Eglin: Sisulu’s new plan for informal settlements and formal housing a welcome break with the past
Read the OPINION piece (link below) by Ronald Eglin, Specialist: Sustainable Settlements at Afesis-corplan. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-12-08-sisulus-new-plan-for-informal-settlements-and-formal-housing-a-welcome-break-with-the-past/
Civil Society Response to the Auditor-General’s 2018/19 Report
More than 35 civil society organisations across South Africa have joined the call for a change and improvement in the way our municipalities are run as highlighted by the Auditor-General report on municipal audit [...]
Afesis-corplan comments on BCMM SDF
Afesis-corplan submitted comments on the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality’s (BCMM) draft Spatial Development Framework (SDF) which was gazetted on 14 September 2020. Find a copy of Afesis-corplan’s submission here. You can find a copy of [...]
Norms and standards for taps and toilets in informal settlements
Do you want to know how many new COMMUNAL TAPS and TOILETS you can ask for in your informal settlement or village? The South African Bill of Rights says that everyone has the right to [...]
Nontando Ngamlana: Local government, similarly to SOEs, are like badly-behaved stepchildren
Click on the link below to read an OPINION piece by Nontando Ngamlana, the Executive Director at Afesis-corplan. https://www.news24.com/news24/columnists/guestcolumn/opinion-local-government-similarly-to-soes-are-like-badly-behaved-stepchildren-20200912
Sifuna Amanzi (We Need Water)
Sifuna Amanzi (We Need Water) is a social justice water campaign aimed at increasing awareness of the ongoing water shortages as a result of drought and poor water infrastructure in many impoverished and resource-deprived [...]
Annual Report 2019
Afesis-corplan is proud to present its Annual Report for 2019. Or view the 2019 Annual Report on the website ISSUU.
Qhamani Neza Tshazi: Approach to redressing spatial inequity flawed
Click on the link below to read an OPINION piece by Qhamani Tshazi, a Programme Officer for Sustainable Settlements at Afesis-corplan. https://mg.co.za/opinion/2020-08-19-why-a-blanket-approach-to-redressing-spatial-inequity-is-flawed/
#ASIVIKELANE progress report – Informal settlement voices matter
For the past four months since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, Afesis-corplan has been working with 87 households sharing water and ablution facilities in 35 informal settlements communities across the Buffalo City Metro [...]
Ronald Eglin: Unauthorised land occupation in our cities – Why demolishing is not the answer
THE following are edited extracts of an article by Ronald Eglin published in the Daily Dispatch newspaper on 20 February 2018 shortly after members of the public flocked to an open piece of land near [...]
Zimasa Mpemnyama: Reporting on local government elections – A call for “listening journalism”
Click on the link below to read an insightful OPINION piece by Zimasa Mpemnyama, an intern at Afesis-corplan. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2020-07-22-reporting-on-local-government-elections-a-call-for-listening-journalism/#gsc.tab=0
Disaster preparedness of municipalities in the face of Coronavirus
South Africa is declared a national state of disaster. New cases of the coronavirus are being reported daily throughout the world and South Africa is no exception. The number of confirmed positive cases of people [...]
Afesis-corplan submits comment on national Spatial Development Framework (NSDF)
Afesis-corplan, in its submission to the draft national Spatial Development Framework (NSDF) of South Africa (see copy of submission here), calls for the NSDF to specifically recognize that informal settlements are likely to remain a [...]
Transformer Volume 20 Number 2 Article: Linking incremental settlement development and job creation
Transformer Article: Linking incremental settlement development and job creation Ronald Eglin A shift from a housing approach that focuses on the provision of an RDP house, to one that focuses on incremental settlement development can [...]
Expropriation of Land without Compensation – Constitutional Amendments
The public had until the end of January 2020 to comment on the “Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill” that makes it explicit that “where land and any improvements thereon are expropriated for the purposes of land reform, the [...]
Land Expropriation Without Compensation and Land Speculation
The public has until end of January 2020 to comment on the “Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill" that makes it explicit that “where land and any improvements thereon are expropriated for the purposes of land reform, [...]
Citizen-based Monitoring of Frontline Service Delivery Revised Toolkit for Freedom House South Africa
Afesis-corplan are proud to have revised the toolkit for Freedom House South Africa, titled: Citizen-based Monitoring of Frontline Service Delivery Toolkit. This toolkit was originally developed in 2017 with an aim of offering organised community [...]
Radio Interview on Municipal Budgeting
[Audio] Afesis-corplan local governance programme officer Lindokuhle Vellem spoke to Alfred Nzo FM on Sunday October 20, 2019 on issues relating to municipal budget processes. https://youtu.be/ZeSOZ6Q0WQg
Illegal electricity connections in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, can we blame communities? by Qhamani Neza Tshazi
Municipal planning processes continue to limit informal settlement dwellers from accessing electricity legally, writes Programme Officer, Qhamani Tshazi. To view the article click here. #UpgradeInformalSettlementsNow
Annual Report 2018
Afesis-corplan is proud to present it's Annual Report for 2018. Click here to view the PDF.
To vote or not to vote
Don't vote By Ebrahim Fakir and Ivor Sarakinsky The primary question facing South African voters in 2019 is not who to vote for, but whether to vote at all. [...]
Renewed Commitment to Upgrading of Informal Settlements
Ronald Eglin Government is renewing its commitment to the upgrading of informal settlements. In his budget vote speech on 20 February 2019, the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni stated that “(f)unding totalling R14.7 billion [...]
Only 20 percent of Eastern Cape’s “First Time Voters” registered to vote
By Zwanga Mukhuthu For the 2019 national and provincial elections, the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) had by this week, registered more than 3.3-million voters in the Eastern Cape (IEC-EC, 2019). [...]
Annual Report 2017
Afesis-corplan is proud to present our Annual Report for 2017. Find out about all the exciting projects we are working on and the progress, successes, lowlights and lessons we are learning as an organisation. Annual [...]
The narrative that continues to associate state capture with Zuma is a lazy one
By Nontando Ngamlana There has been great public interest in the phenomenon dubbed ‘state capture’ since the revelation of the Gupta influence on ministerial and other senior institutional leadership appointments. Rightly so because the collusion [...]
Glenmore Sports Field Refurbishment
[IN CASE YOU MISSED IT]: Here’s our Executive Director, Nontando Ngamlana's widely publicised media statement on the refurbishment of the Glenmore Sports Field by the Ngqushwa Local Municipality. Click to open. Refurbishment of Glenmore Sports [...]
State of Local Governance 2018 publication launch
The theme of the 2018 State of Local Governance (SoLG) publication, Development Local Government: Dream Deferred? centres around three milestones - the 20 year anniversary of the White Paper on Local Government, the 15-year anniversary [...]
Accounting for Basic Services: Policy Briefs
In order to improve accountability and to ensure that communities’ democratic rights go beyond a simple vote towards active political participation and engagement, efforts need to be made to capacitate and enable citizens to do [...]
Glenmore residents march to the Ngqushwa local municipality
Afesis-corplan was in Peddie on June 27 where residents of Glenmore marched to the Ngqushwa local municipality to demand that municipal officials respond to a petition they handed over in April. The petition relates to [...]
Afesis-corplan welcomes delegates to the 2018 BCMM BRICS Summit
Afesis-corplan are exhibiting for the duration of the 2018 Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality BRICS summit at the International Convention Centre from today, 28 June until Saturday, 30 June 2018.
BCM Must Support Civic Education To Strengthen Democracy
The role and participation of citizens in municipal processes and local government planning are critical for civic engagement, influencing policy, decision-making and holding government accountable. This was a message delivered by Afesis-corplan's Executive Director, Nontando [...]
Daily Dispatch Opinion piece: No fix for wards in current format
In the Daily Dispatch 25 April 2018 edition, our Executive Director, Nontando Ngamlana responded to the Daily Dispatch April 13 article titled “Ward system not working - poor education hampers service delivery in BCM”. Read [...]
Afesis-corplan makes submission on Expropriation without compensation
Afesis-corplan, in its submission to the Constitutional Review Committee, submits that the constitution does not need to be revised at this stage to (1) expropriate land without compensation, and (2) create an appropriate tenure regime. [...]
Daily Dispatch article: Ward Councillors trampled on our Democracy
Our Executive Director, Nontando Ngamlana responded to the Daily Dispatch June 4 front page article titled “Failed to serve”. Read her opinion piece here
Accounting for Basic Services Leadership Exchange Meeting
SOME of the country's top civil society organizations are meeting in Johannesburg this week to share in the experiences of six communities that were part of the Accounting for Basic Services Programme. With an aim [...]
BCMM Council Open Day 2018
On the 16th May 2018, Afesis-corplan programme staff Masixole Kente, Lindokuhle Vellem and Sikhander Coopoo attended the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality’s 2018 Council Open Day. The purpose of the Council Open Day was for BCMM [...]
Expropriation – call for comments
Land expropriation is a hot topic at the moment as parliament calls on the public to make submissions on the issue of expropriation without compensation by 15 June 2018.The article Expropriation: Key to more Equitable Land [...]
Afesis-corplan News Bulletin
Afesis-corplan has introduced a news bulletin that contains news of the day-to-day activities of the organisation. News Bulletin #1: Call for the establishment of an urban land commission News Bulletin #2: Ngqushwa community to march against [...]
Deepening Participatory Local Governance
The murkiness of today’s politics demands that citizens establish organs through which they will exercise power. Ward committees were conceptualized as organs for people’s power, but it has been proven beyond doubt that this mechanism [...]
Call for the establishment of an urban land commission
By Afesis-corplan The idea of establishing an urban land commission to provide an appropriate institutional response to land redistribution in cities solicited a heated debate during the Urban Land Dialogue hosted by the South African [...]
Glenmore residents start petition to get their sports field rectified
By Afesis-corplan The Glenmore sports facility remains inaccessible to members of the community wishing to use it despite Ngqushwa local municipality allegedly having spent R3-million to refurbish it. In response to a request for support [...]
Cooperatives briefed on R600m mega farming project
By Afesis-corplan THE Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency (ECRDA) will spend R600-million on a farming project targeting 12 villages in Tshabo, outside King William’s Town. Afesis-corplan is drafting a social contract for the project through [...]
Urban Land Dialogue in Port Elizabeth
Afesis-corplan was part of the Urban Land Dialogue in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro yesterday which was hosted by South African Cities Network (SACN). Ronald Eglin was interviewed by the media and was quoted in [...]
What our Executive Director is up to…
Our Executive Director, Nontando is part of a delegation of nine Ford-funded NGO leaders from west and southern Africa who are hosted by the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) as part of an ARNOVA/AROCSA NGO [...]
Learning Brief #13: Good plans – bad implementation
In development work one often hears the phrase, “we have good plans but bad implementation”. Is the ‘good plans – bad implementation’ statement true? Where is the problem? Is it in our capacity to implement [...]
Daily Dispatch article: Give priority to ‘managed land settlement’
In the Daily Dispatch today Afesis-corplan specialist for sustainable settlements Ronald Eglin writes about what government needs to do to avoid land grabs. Read the article Give priority to 'managed land settlement'
Learning Brief #12: Equitable Access to Land
Land redistribution is a hot topic in South Africa. Some are saying that the constitution needs to change so as to speed up land reform and land redistribution while others claim that it is not [...]
Managed Land Settlement Training
Ronald Eglin gave a training presentation to students at the Wits School of Governance course on Human Settlement Policy and Management on 5 December 2017 on “An Introduction to Managed Land Settlement: from depth to width”. [...]
Afesis-corplan calls for legislative amendments in support of public participation
The Report of the High Level Panel on the Assessment of Key Legislation (HLPKL) and the Acceleration of Fundamental Change, published on 22 November 2017, recommends that: “Parliament should consider identifying and reviewing all legislation [...]
A new framework law for land reform
The much anticipated Report of the High level Panel on the Assessment of Key Legislation and the Acceleration of Fundamental Change was published on 22 November 2017. The report draws attention to a number of serious [...]
Comments on the Communal Land Tenure Bill
The emerging Land Governance Transformation Network ( LGTN), of which Afesis-corplan is a member, has made a submission on the Communal Land Tenure Bill (CLTB) to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. To see [...]
Eastern Cape Unemployment Crisis
There are 216 000 more people unemployed in the Eastern Cape Now (in the July-September 2017 period) compared to the same period in 2016. These frightening statistics emerged from the StatsSA Quarterly Labour Force Survey Quarter [...]
RECRUITING: Programme Officer
Afesis-corplan is looking to fill the position of Programme Officer to work specifically in knowledge management. To view the specifications for this position click here
RECRUITING: Finance and Administration Manager Position
Afesis-corplan is looking to fill the position of Finance and Administration Manager. To view the specifications for this position click here
The Social Audit Network (SAN)
by Masixole Kente The Social Audit Network (SAN) has recently launched a Social Audit Video and new logo. The video showcases different social audits conducted in various locations by member organisations of the network around South [...]
The Scenery Park Phase 3 Housing Story
by Masixole Kente The construction of 947 houses for the Scenery Park Phase 3 beneficiaries in East London finally started in June 2017. These households have been waiting for their approved houses for more than [...]
Mandela Day in Glenmore
by Lindokuhle Vellem On the 18th of July, which is the international commemorative day for Nelson Mandela's Birthday, the Afesis-corplan team travelled to Glenmore community in the Ngqushwa Municipality of the Eastern Cape. It was a [...]
Edging towards Site and Services
by Ronald Eglin Numerous speakers and participants at the National Department of Human Settlements summit in Gauteng from 21-22 September 2017, attended by Ronald Eglin, indicated a growing appetite, both within communities and within government, [...]
Nuclear energy – do we need it?
by Ronald Eglin “The nuclear energy debate is hotting up in South Africa” participants were told at a nuclear energy conference in East London on 13 September 2017. The conference was co-organised by Afesis-corplan and Earthlife [...]
Mega /catalytic projects
The national department of Human Settlements needs to be very cautious in how it implements its ‘mega/ catalytic’ housing project programme. Professor Philip Harrison from the University of Witwatersrand concluded, at a human settlement conference [...]
Planning4informality
“One in five urban South Africans live in undignified conditions.” On 17 August 2017 Isandla Institute launched a planning for informality app that can be used by the public to find out how their metropolitan municipality [...]
Learning Brief #11: Creating quality environments – Managed Land Settlement
Neighbourhoods that are developed using the Managed Land Settlement (MLS) approach are better than RDP neighbourhoods. This assertion is based on the argument that MLS environments are more adaptive to their local context and to [...]
Learning Brief #10: Managed Land Settlement – Increasing densities
The South African Government is sending strong signals that we are about to see a significant policy shift when it comes to how government plans to address its constitutional mandate (section 26) to progressively, within [...]
Learning Brief #8: A New Land Records System
It is fairly well understood how an incremental settlement approach to addressing South Africa's housing and settlement needs works, but there is less understanding however for how an incremental settlement approach could work in the [...]
Learning Brief #9: Rethinking Land and Housing Allocation
In this Learning Brief, Afesis-corplan proposes that government should shift the majority of its housing budget from building RDP houses (for a relatively few people every year) to providing (basic) serviced sites with access to (at [...]
Citizen-based Monitoring of Frontline Service Delivery Toolkit for Freedom House South Africa
Afesis-corplan are very proud to have developed a toolkit for Freedom House South Africa, titled: Citizen-based Monitoring of Frontline Service Delivery Toolkit. This toolkit was developed with an aim of offering organised community groups with [...]
How can local government councillors interact with and represent their constituents better?
On 5 July 2017 Sibulele Poswayo and Ronald Eglin met with Gabriel Nahmias a researcher involved in the South African Councillor Panel Study. The research project aims to better understand the ways in which local [...]
Strategic Plan Handbook 2017
Afesis-corplan, having worked on local governance and housing development issues for more than 20 years is one of the organizations that offers a wealth of knowledge and expertise that could play a meaningful role in [...]
Responding to Eviction and Displacement
About 35 participants from local and international NGO’s met under the theme “forced evictions and urban displacement” in Soweto between 17-20 July 2017 to learn more about local experiences in resisting evictions and promoting the [...]
JUNE 2017 NEWSLETTER: Afesis in Action June 2017
To catch up on what has been happening at Afesis-corplan, click here for our newsletter, Afesis in Action June 2017!
Learning Brief #7: Land acquisition and development for human settlement
As a country we need to prioritise the acquisition and development of land for settlement purposes if we are to make any impact on the demand for housing. Between 1994 and 2014 the South African [...]
Learning Brief #6: Motivation for a housing development support programme
Afesis-corplan has been promoting the concept of managed land settlement (MLS) for a number of years. MLS is where government allows people to settle on (semi) serviced land with basic tenure security, and households are [...]
Farm Dweller Tenure Security and Housing
By Ronald Eglin June 2017 A lot still needs to be done to find solutions for securing land tenure and housing for farm dwellers around South Africa. This emerged from a learning and sharing event [...]
Housing Co-operatives
A co-operative is where a group of people (homeless, consumers, unemployed) come together to address a common need (houses, cheap food, jobs) through a jointly owned and democratically controlled organisation (housing co-op, consumer co-op, worker [...]
Land Reform: What’s the plan? RESPONSE TO THE BUDGET SPEECH TABLED BY MINISTER GUGILE NKWINTI
Afesis-corplan Minister Nkwinti’s 2017 Department of Rural Development and Land Reform Budget vote speech is a huge anticlimax. At a time when the land question is re-emerging as a key issue of focus and debate within [...]
Ground-breaking constitutional court judgement and Managed Land Settlement: Connecting the dots
Afesis-corplan June 2017 “Evictions that lead to homelessness are unlawful, even if they are agreed to by all of the residents who stand to be evicted”. These are the findings of a Constitutional Court ruling [...]
Learning Briefs and Lessons Learned Index
Learning Briefs Chronological list of learning briefs Back to Basics and the Integrated Development Plan: Placing the IDP at the centre of COGTA’s Back to Basics programme (Local Governance) Spatial Transformation and the Spatial [...]
#COMMUNITYFIRST: Scenery Park community put their community first
#COMMUNITYFIRST was the brainchild of the Scenery Park Phase 3 beneficiaries as a symbol of their demand to participate and be included in the development of their own houses. The beneficiaries who had been waiting [...]
Parliaments High level Panel on Key Legislation – Land Committee
Afesis-corplan continues to engage with other organisation towards ensuring that recommendations relating to amendments on the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act (Act 31 of 1996) also recognises the informal tenure rights of people [...]
Provincial legislature human settlements Chairperson meeting
Afesis-corplan continues to engage government on the Managed Land Settlement concept that it developed (and tested) in the last few years. Key in its latest efforts is a meeting held with the chairperson on the [...]
Accounting for Basic Services (ABS): Progress and Update
The Month of May marks a period where most local municipalities finalise their budgets for the forth coming financial year. Through the EU funded Accounting for Basic Services (ABS) project, Afesis-corplan supported communities in Ngqushwa [...]
Afesis-corplan Annual Report 2016
We are proud to present our Annual Report for 2016. Find out about all the exciting projects we are working on and the progress, successes, lowlights and lessons we are learning as an organisation. Annual [...]
Integrated Development Planning
The Integrated Development Plan (IDP) is a 5 year plan that shows the municipality’s development objectives, key strategies and projects that will be implemented to achieve these objectives. It also details which projects will be [...]
Turning housing delivery on its head
Are we seeing a policy shift emerging from the national Department of Human Settlements? In minister Sisulu’s departmental budget vote speech of 18 May 2017 she states: We are now concentrating on serviced sites. The [...]
Managed Land Settlement
For more information on Managed Land Settlement please visit the Afesis-corplan incremental settlement website initiative. And for more information on upgrading of informal settlements collated by Afesis-corplan click here. The following 4 minute video provides a [...]
Learning Brief #5: Basic Organising and Active Citizenship
A good active citizen is an informed and organised citizen. Drawing from its work, Afesis-corplan concludes that if a community or group of citizens is not organised, it is far harder for that community to [...]
Land Access Manual
In 2008 Afesis-corplan with the support of Urban LandMark produced the the Urban Land Access Series. The series outlines the process to be followed to acquire land for low income housing. The target group for [...]
Learning Brief #4 The Missing Middle: A Smallholding Land Subsidy Programme
Specialist in Sustainable Settlements, Ronald Eglin has put together another thought-provoking Learning Brief that suggests that one of the factors limiting the ability of the country to make good on its constitutional obligations relating to land [...]
3rd Presidential Local Government Summit 6 -7 April 2017
In an effort to transform municipal spaces for radical social and economic development, Afesis-corplan is represented by our Executive Director, Nontando Ngamlana at the 3rd Presidential Local Government Summit which is being held at Midrand's Gallagher [...]
A Guide to Local Government Budget Advocacy in South Africa
New developments on the Accounting For Basic Services (ABS) scene: the team is proud to announce the completion and publication of the Guide to Local Government Budget Advocacy. The guide is designed to empower Civil [...]
Grounding the National Development Plan
On 23 – 24 March 2017, Sibulele Poswayo and Ronald Eglin attended a two day conference to look at partnerships for implementing the National Development Plan (NDP), organised by Fort Hare Solutions, the National Planning [...]
Call to prioritise land acquisition and development in BCMM IDP
Ronald Eglin attended a Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) IDP consultative forum meeting on 30 March 2017. In this meeting Afesis-corplan called on the BCMM to redirect funding towards land acquisition and development so as [...]
Toward Good Local Governance…the role of the active citizenry – Author: Sibulele Poswayo, Programmes Manager
On Monday, 21 March 1960, police opened fire, without order, on a crowd that had gathered at the Sharpeville station to protest pass laws. On that day, 69 unarmed people were killed, including women and [...]
In Memory
Afesis-corplan would like to extend its' condolences to the families and friends of the following former staff members who have passed on in the past few years: Newell Faku Chris Jiba Jaap Geldof Malusi [...]
MARCH 2017 NEWSLETTER: Afesis in Action March 2017
To catch up on what has been happening at Afesis-corplan, click here for our newsletter, Afesis in Action March 2017!
Eastern Cape CoGTA SPLUM Policy Submission
To find out more about Spatial Planning and Land Use Management (SPLUM) generally, click here On 21 July 2016 sixteen civil society organisations in the Eastern Cape submitted a petition to the Eastern Cape Provincial [...]
Afesis in Action March 2017: Working with communities towards the realisation of dignified housing
Afesis-corplan promotes active citizenry and effective participation in monitoring service delivery. The Scenery Park community continues to fight for dignified access to housing in their community. The DVD 'A Purposeful Pursuit' portrays the beginning of a [...]
Afesis in Action March 2017: How activists can become more tech-savvy
The world is changing. Whether we like it or not, such facts are inevitable. For the activist community, this poses a particular challenge. In order to continue their work and do so effectively, activists need [...]
Afesis in Action March 2017: What Afesis-corplan taught me about activism
Since I was very young, I’ve always wanted to help people. I’ve known from the beginning that, no matter what work I end up doing, it had to be something that left the world a [...]
Afesis in Action March 2017: Participatory Budgeting
Participatory Budgeting (PB) is the process by which citizens deliberate and negotiate over the distribution of public resources. PB/municipal budgeting programs are implemented at the will of governments, citizens, NGOs, and civil society organizations to [...]
Afesis in Action March 2017: Relooking at Rural Development
Michael Aliber from Fort Hare University and David Neves from the University of the Western Cape spoke at a conference organised by the Eastern Cape Socio Economic Consultative Council (on 27 January 2017) which Ronald [...]
Afesis in Action March 2017: The unresolved land question
More than 20 years into the post apartheid south Africa, the land question remains unresolved. The majority of South African citizens still do not have their tenure adequately secured, and land redistribution targets are not [...]
An Introduction to Afesis-corplan…
Afesis-corplan is a development NGO located in East London South Africa whose work aims at deepening local democracy, the attainment of good governance and spatial justice. Afesis was established as a Trust by a group [...]
Working with communities towards the realisation of dignified housing
Afesis-corplan promotes active citizenry and effective participation in monitoring service delivery. The Scenery Park community continues to fight for dignified access to housing in their community. The above DVD, 'A Purposeful Pursuit' portrays the beginning [...]
I smile in my heart, not on my face
A resident of Slovo Park informal settlement in Mdantsane, a suburb of East London, who prefers to remain anonymous. The Municipality is planning to upgrade this informal settlement. When asked why she was not smiling [...]
How can an active citizen contribute to the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) process?
Since 9 August 2016 Local Elections, Municipal Councils all over South Africa have been inaugurated. Drafting and endorsing the IDP is one of the first responsibilities of an incoming Municipal Council. Afesis-corplan promotes active citizenry [...]
Transformer Vol 17 No 2 2011
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Transformer Vol 19 No 1 2013
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Transformer Vol 18 No 2 2012
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Mvezo Welcome Centre
Afesis-corplan is excited to be the implementing agents for the Welcome Centre In Mvezo on behalf of the National Lotteries Commission. The purpose of the Welcome Centre is to be an initial point of contact [...]
Transformer Vol 19 No 2 2013
Download Journal Edition
Afesis SPLUMA booklet
SPLUMA booklet
Accounting for Basic Services (ABS): Participatory Budgeting
Participatory Budgeting (PB) is the process by which citizens deliberate and negotiate over the distribution of public resources. PB/municipal budgeting programs are implemented at the will of governments, citizens, NGOs, and civil society organizations to [...]
Integrated Development Planning Information
Afesis-corplan has produced numerous resource materials over the years on Integrated Development Planning. DVD: The IDP process DVD: Thandi's IDP story Radio: Thandi's IDP story in [...]
Learning Briefs & Lessons Learnt documents
Afesis-corplan has produced a number of Learning Briefs and Lessons Learnt documents in the last few years. To view these please click on the following links: Modalities for Participation - Learning Brief Back to Basics and [...]
Scenery Park Phase 3 Housing Issue
View the video "Scenery Park: a purposeful pursuit"
LandFirst!
Access to land for settlement purposes is a strategic focus area with the capacity to act as a catalyst for further community development. Afesis-corplan, together with a number of civil society organisations in South [...]
Accessing Bulk Land
The following series of documents, commissioned by Afesis-corplan, provide information on accessing bulk land on which incremental settlement - or Managed Land Settlement - can take place. Get public land Improve quality of land related [...]
Land Rights Inquiry Round table
On 27 September 2016 Afesis-corplan facilitated a round table discussion on Land Rights Enquiries. A copy of the round table discussion report can be found here: Land Rights Enquiry Round table report - 27 September [...]
Buffalo City Upgrading Informal Settlement Strategy
The Upgrading of Informal Settlements Policy and Strategy for Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) was approved by the BCMM council in 2015. For more information on this policy contact the Buffalo City Municipality Planning [...]
SPLUMA information
The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) 16 of 2013 Introduction and Background to SPLUMA Read the SPLUMA information booklet produced by Afesis-corplan to get a brief overview of what SPLUMA is [...]
BCMM IDP submission
The following broad recommendations where made in Afesis-corplan's submission to the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality's (BCMM) call - from September 2016 - for stakeholders to submit their development needs and priorities so as to inform [...]
The 4th R – Restructuring
Restructuring should be added as a fourth ’R’ to governments land reform programme, that presently includes land Restitution, land Redistribution and land tenure Reform. This was a suggestion by Ronald Eglin from Afesis-corplan at an [...]
Parliaments High Level Panel on Key Legislation (Afesis-corplan submission)
Afesis-corplan has made three submissions to Committee 2 on land reform of Parliaments High Level Panel on Key Legislation. Submission 1 and 2 on Communal Land Administration and Managed Land Settlement was submitted on [...]
Unauthorised Land Occupation
In 2016 Afesis-corplan conducted Research on Managing and Curbing Unauthorised Land Occupation for the Housing Development Agency. See below for copies of this research. Managing and Curbing Unauthorised Land Occupation - Executive summary Report on [...]
Rethinking Communal Land Administration
In 2016 the Housing Development Agency published a research report on Rethinking communal land administration: Unlocking human settlement development in communal land areas. Main report: Rethinking communal land administration: Unlocking human settlement development in communal [...]
BCMM agriculture video chapters
Follow the links below to see chapters of the "Buffalo City Agricultural Video" on Afesis-corplan's YouTube channel: Introduction Chapter 1: Farmarama (agricultural inputs) Chapter 2: High Heaven Farm (mixed family farm - poultry, dairy, [...]
Buffalo City Agricultural Strategy (Draft)
In 2012 the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) developed a draft Integrated Agricultural and Rural Development Strategy (IARDS). draft Integrated Agricultural and Rural Development Strategy. Annexure A: Maps Agricultural potential plan, and Land audit and [...]
Parkridge and Bamford Social Audit 2016
Parkridge and Bamford communities both after suffering an injustice by government not rectifying their dilapidated houses of more than 130 beneficiaries, and those blocked out of the housing system conducted a Social Audit as a [...]
Land Access Series
The Urban Land Access Series is produced by Afesis-corplan with the support of Urban LandMark. The target group is the leadership of organised groups of homeless in need of land for housing development. (June 2008) [...]