The Informal Settlement Policy, approved by the City Council on September 30, requires residents to be enumerated and households allocated identifying numbers linked to where they live. The City says this should also help prevent people occupying or controlling multiple shacks in different settlements.

The policy represents a shift towards managing informal settlements as established parts of the urban landscape while they await incremental upgrading, rather than treating formal housing as the only response.

It comes as South Africa’s biggest cities grapple with persistent and, in some areas, expanding informal settlements driven by urbanisation, household formation, shortages of affordable housing and limited well-located land.

Johannesburg’s 2025/26 IDP estimates its housing backlog at more than 431,000 households and refers to 312 informal settlements. A separate City Human Settlements document for 2024/25 recorded 317 informal settlements, of which 181 were officially recognised.

Under the new policy, an informal settlement will formally be regarded as recognised or acknowledged once it has been profiled or enumerated and the necessary information about it recorded.

MMC for Human Settlements Mlungisi Mabaso said the policy was intended to end what residents had experienced as a fragmented approach to development.

“This is a huge milestone for all communities living in informal settlements, who have complained about serious service delivery challenges and a fragmented approach to the development of their areas,” Mabaso said.

“The policy ushers in a new era for informal settlements and will enable better coordination in addressing the development of these areas.”

The policy calls for basic services to be progressively improved, informal settlements to be integrated with surrounding townships and residents to participate in decisions affecting their communities. It expressly adopts an incremental approach to upgrading.

The City will also develop layout plans identifying community facilities, environmentally sensitive areas, business activities, access routes and space for future services. Social compacts will be concluded with communities setting out the responsibilities and expectations of residents and the municipality.

Cape Town focuses on incremental upgrading

Johannesburg’s approach reflects a wider shift already visible in other metros, where authorities increasingly provide services and improve settlements incrementally rather than waiting for residents to receive completed formal houses.

Cape Town’s informal-settlement programme prioritises basic services and what it describes as “functional tenure”, alongside safer public spaces, pedestrian routes, emergency access and space for community facilities.

The City of Cape Town says its minimum service targets in informal settlements include one water tap for every 25 families within 200 metres, at least one toilet for every five families and weekly refuse collection. It acknowledges that high densities, waterlogged land and property disputes sometimes make those standards difficult to achieve.

Cape Town has also put substantial money behind the strategy. In August it said more than R1.2 billion of its Human Settlements Directorate’s allocations over the next three financial years would go towards informal-settlement upgrading, while about R1 billion would support the expansion of serviced sites.

The City has explicitly described its programmes as responding to “growing informality”.

Tshwane adopts its own management policy

The City of Tshwane announced earlier this year that it had adopted an Informal Settlements Management Policy in February 2026. Tshwane’s implementation approach includes recognising settlements, registering households, shack marking, reblocking where necessary, managing relocations and providing rudimentary water, sanitation, waste services and access routes.

Tshwane had already identified 210 informal settlements in a 2023 assessment, with 187 assessed under the national informal-settlement upgrading framework.

Its latest municipal reporting illustrates the service-delivery challenge. At the end of June 2025, Tshwane reported that 168 informal settlements were receiving water services and 109 had sanitation services.

The City’s 2026/27 budget includes R90.4 million for chemical toilets and R19.9 million specifically for informal-settlement management.

More than 300,000 households in eThekwini settlements

The scale is even greater in eThekwini.

The municipality’s 2025/26 Spatial Development Framework records more than 592 urban informal settlements containing about 304,000 households, representing roughly a quarter of the metro’s population.

It says existing settlements continue to become denser and expand, with urban migration and the natural growth and subdivision of households adding to demand. Many settlements are also situated on steep, unstable or environmentally constrained land that is expensive and difficult to develop.

eThekwini’s response similarly includes incremental services such as communal water points, ablution facilities, refuse collection, emergency access, roads and footpaths and, where possible, prepaid electricity.

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The City of Johannesburg has stepped up its revenue collection drive, saying on Monday that it will carry out more aggressive and frequent service disconnections against government departments and entities that collectively owe about R1.4 billion in unpaid municipal accounts.

On Friday, the city carried out a large-scale disconnection operation in the Johannesburg CBD in partnership with the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD), Group Finance Revenue officials, City Power, and Johannesburg Water, targeting buildings owned by various government departments and entities.

During the operation, the city disconnected water services and removed a water meter at a multi-storey building on Simmonds Street, owned by the Gauteng provincial government’s Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs department.

The property had accumulated debt of more than R677,000.

The disconnection followed a brief stand-off between private security personnel and the city’s disconnection team, which was supported by JMPD.

A few blocks away on Commissioner

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Police said on Monday they had arrested five South African women at OR Tambo International Airport after finding drugs worth more than R5 million hidden on their bodies, as they prepared to travel to China via Dubai.

Lieutenant Colonel Amanda van Wyk said the suspects were arrested on Saturday in an operation conducted with the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA).

“A preliminary report suggests that the suspects were en route to China via Dubai,” she said.

“A search led to the discovery of drugs concealed inside their sneakers, underwear, and private parts.”

The five are expected to appear before the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, on charges related to drug trafficking. Van Wyk said investigations were continuing.

The arrests are the latest in an anti-smuggling drive at South Africa’s busiest airport, which police have repeatedly said is a gateway for international trafficking routes.

Less than three

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Police at OR Tambo International Airport seized drugs with an estimated street value of R2.8 million in two separate busts at cargo warehouses this week.

In the first seizure, crystal meth worth R2.2 million was found at a warehouse on Wednesday, 4 March, SAPS said in a statement on Sunday.

“The meth was destined for the Philippines from South Africa,” SAPS said.

“The second drug bust was made at another cargo warehouse where eight large boxes containing dagga worth R672 000 was discovered on Thursday, 05 March 2026,” SAPS said.

According to the statement, the dagga was shipped from Morocco and was destined for South Africa.

Efforts were continuing to identify those behind the trafficking operation, according to the statement.

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The Democratic Alliance (DA) Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille has outlined five key priorities she says the DA will implement to turn around the City of Johannesburg if elected to govern after the upcoming local government elections.

Delivering a keynote address at the launch of the party’s pledges at Johannesburg City Hall on Saturday, Zille said the DA aims to restore basic services, improve infrastructure and attract at least 200,000 new jobs to the city.

She said the party’s governance model, which it says has been successful in DA-run metros such as the City of Cape Town, could help revive Johannesburg’s economy and rebuild public confidence.

The DA has governed Johannesburg in brief stints through coalitions since the 2016 local government elections through mayors Herman Mashaba and Dr Mpho Phalatse.

Zille said the DA’s first priority would be restoring reliable water and electricity supply for residents and

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Johannesburg’s civil society is drawing a line in the sand, with communities across the metro describing the escalating water crisis as a recurring reminder of deep municipal decay that can no longer be ignored.

A coalition of civic organisations, environmental groups, and residents, led by the Joburg Water Forum, is expected to march on the Johannesburg City Council on 1 November, demanding immediate action to address persistent water outages, failing infrastructure, and mismanagement of funds.

“This crisis is threatening lives, livelihoods, and dignity. Hospitals, schools, and homes across the city are going dry. Water is not a privilege; it is a constitutional right. As water activists, we cannot remain silent any longer,” said Dr Ferrial Adam, WaterCAN executive director and spokesperson for the forum.

Johannesburg is now at what activists describe as a critical crossroads, with years of neglect, underfunding, corruption and political instability having weakened the

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Municipal by-elections on Wednesday produced a mixed bag of results, highlighting the African National Congress’s (ANC) continued rural dominance and the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) growing momentum in key battlegrounds ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections.

The by-elections were contested in three wards across three provinces: Ward 10 in Tshwane (Mamelodi East, Gauteng), Ward 26 in Emalahleni (Kriel, Mpumalanga), and Ward 5 in Elundini (rural Eastern Cape).

A total of 13 candidates from eight parties were on the ballot.

The most significant development came in Ward 26, Emalahleni (Kriel, Mpumalanga), where the DA snatched the seat from the ANC in a closely fought contest.

The DA won with 35.21%, edging out the ANC on 33.95%. The MK Party claimed 17.21%, while the EFF registered 13.64%.

This marks a dramatic reversal of fortunes for the ANC, which won 47% in the ward during the 2021 local elections.

The

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By Johnathan Paoli

The National Taxi Alliance (NTA) in Gauteng is reeling following the assassination of its provincial chairperson, Thamsanqa “Thami” Moyo, who was gunned down in a suspected hit on the Soweto Highway on Thursday morning. Police are still searching for the killers, who are suspected to be paid hitmen.

NTA spokesperson Theo Malele confirmed Moyo’s killing in a sombre statement.

“We can confirm that there has been an assassination, but the motive behind this is unknown. It is still under investigation. All we can say for now is that our provincial chairperson was shot and killed,” Malele said.

According to Gauteng police, Moyo, 58, was driving alone in his Toyota Hilux around 9.30 am when he was intercepted near Diepkloof.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo said preliminary reports indicated that the attack was carried out by suspects in two vehicles — a minibus taxi and a Toyota.

“They

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A total of 860 beds at Soweto’s Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (CHNH) do not have a full set of linen, according to Gauteng health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko.

This was revealed in answers to Democratic Alliance Gauteng health spokesperson Jack Bloom.

“… this increases the infection risk, is undignified and uncomfortable for patients. It delays bed turnaround times, and it increases the burden on nursing and cleaning stuff,” Bloom said in a statement on Thursday.

“Each hospital bed should have a minimum of five sets per linen category to allow for rotational use (on bed, in laundry, in storage, in transit and in contingency stock).”

The MEC said in her reply that linen must include flat sheets, fitted sheets, blankets, pillowcases, counterpanes/bedcovers and patient gowns/pyjamas.

Ideally there should be 14,400 stocks of each linen category for the 2888 beds at the hospital.

Currently, there are

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Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero has established a disciplinary board to investigate financial misconduct and unauthorised and wasteful expenditure in the metro.

“The disciplinary board has already concluded preliminary investigations on six matters totalling R535 million and will report the outcomes to the council at its next ordinary meeting… These matters pertain to alleged acts of financial misconduct and historical unresolved UIFWE (Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure) issues that will lead to consequence management,” he said.

This follows a scathing letter sent by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana two weeks ago to the municipality.

The minister instructed Morero to respond with a comprehensive plan on how he planned to crack down on financial misconduct and enforce consequence management.

This includes a full account of the issues behind the R23.6 billion in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure as reported in the city’s 2023/24 financial statements.

The R23.6 billion

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