LWAZI PARK
HOUSEHOLD ENUMERATION
REPORT
CAPE TOWN, JANUARY 2011
Informal Settlement Network,
Lwazi Park Community Leadership and
Community Organisation Resource Centre
PREFACE
The Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) is a non-governmental organisation
(NGO) with main offices in Cape Town but operating in all provinces that supports
communities prepared and willing to help themselves. CORC provides support to networks of
urban and rural poor communities who mobilize around their own resources and capacities.
CORC’s interventions are designed to enable rural and urban communities to learn from one
another and to create solidarity and unity in order to be able to broker deals with formal
institutions, especially the state.
The Informal Settlement Network (ISN) is an alliance of settlement-level and national-level
organizations of informal settlement dwellers, active in all of the country’s major
metropolitan municipalities. Since 2009, ISN, often in partnership with local authorities, has
been piloting incremental informal settlement upgrades that put organized communities of the
urban poor at the centre of such processes.
In 2009 a partnership was established between the City of Cape Town, CORC and the
leadership of ISN, to embark on a multiple-site pilot project looking at informal settlement
upgrading. In each of the pilot sites, the first step for any development has been identified in
the data gathering about population, the site itself, and its existing meagre infrastructure.
2
Contents
PREFACE .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Methodology .......................................................................................................................................... 6
Questionnaire development ............................................................................................................... 6
The enumeration process ................................................................................................................... 8
Fieldwork............................................................................................................................................. 8
Data management .............................................................................................................................. 8
Key findings ............................................................................................................................................ 9
Household details ............................................................................................................................. 10
Education .......................................................................................................................................... 13
Employment ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Income and expenses........................................................................................................................ 15
Disaster history ................................................................................................................................. 17
Migration history .............................................................................................................................. 19
Health and sanitation........................................................................................................................ 19
Nature of shack ................................................................................................................................. 20
Summary of findings ......................................................................................................................... 20
Appendices – Lwazi park enumeration questionnaire ......................................................................... 21
3
List of tables
Table 1: Summary of the contents of the Lwazi Park Enumeration questionnaire ................................ 7
Table 2: Settlement profile of Lwazi Park ............................................................................................... 9
Table 3: Number of people living in each structure ............................................................................. 10
Table 4: Employment distribution by type ........................................................................................... 13
Table 5: Total labour force by age ........................................................................................................ 14
Table 6: Number of persons receiving a grant...................................................................................... 15
Table 7: Breakdown of monthly expenses ............................................................................................ 16
Table 8: Shopping centres utilised (based on number of mentions) .................................................... 16
Table 9: Disaster history while staying in Lwazi Park ............................................................................ 17
Table 10: Numbers of people affected by disasters ............................................................................. 18
Table 11: Disaster frequency by household.......................................................................................... 18
Table 12: Number of rooms per shack.................................................................................................. 20
List of figures
Figure 1: Population distribution by age category ................................................................................ 11
Figure 2: Household head age distribution........................................................................................... 11
Figure 3: Gender breakdown of household heads ............................................................................... 12
Figure 4: Education enrolment ............................................................................................................. 13
Figure 5: Unemployment as a percentage of the total labour force .................................................... 14
Figure 6: Percentage of households receiving any welfare grant......................................................... 15
Figure 7: Transport used as a percentage of mentions ........................................................................ 17
Figure 8: Type of sanitation used by residents ..................................................................................... 19
4
INTRODUCTION
In Lwazi Park, an informal settlement in Cape Town, the country-wide problems of
inadequate, polluted canals and of inadequate housing has forced a community to relocate. A
section of the Lotus River Canal runs along the N2 Freeway very close to where the informal
settlement of Lwazi Park is located. The Roads and Storm Water Department was planning
to widen the canal where it passes the densely populated informal settlement of Barcelona.
When it became clear that 36 families from the neighbouring settlement of Lwazi Park were
to be relocated, the City hired consultants to manage the project. The City and the consultants
identified an alternative site, not far from the place where the people were living along the
canal. Municipal planners produced a very uniform, conventional, layout plan for the shacks
that were to be repositioned. However, their plan accommodated 26 shacks only – meaning
that if the plan were implemented, 11 families would have nowhere to go.
In early-January the Informal Settlement Network (ISN) started to engage Lwazi Park to
support them in the relocation issue. They helped the community to map and measure their
land and their shacks. They helped them to survey every family and get useful information
like the size of the households and how long they have been living along the canal. Then
they drew in an architect from the Community Organisation Resource Centre, who helped the
people of Lwazi Park design their relocation area – using exactly the same space assigned by
the city but also designing the proposed new settlement according to their everyday needs and
priorities. So, instead of a simple grid layout, they came up with a layout that takes into
account the contour of the land and the existing walkways and pathways that the people
already use. They created small open spaces for women to gather and children to play. They
provided for different plot sizes because different families have different needs. And finally
they suggested that the toilets to be provided by the city be moved into the centre of the
proposed new square so that they can become a gathering point for the people and can be
protected from vandalism. Two weeks after the initial engagement of ISN and CORC, City
officials came to Lwazi Park to evaluate the results of the community's enumeration process.
The major milestone was the acknowledgement that a participatory approach was needed in
deciding on a layout.
This report will provide a brief background to the enumeration process followed for the
Lwazi Park informal settlement, a brief history of the relocation and planning negotiations as
well as summary findings from the data collected. The aim of the report is to provide
community members of Lwazi Park with the tools to help them participate in the proposed
relocation process which was motivated by the pending channel upgrading by the City of
Cape Town. The report also aims at allowing the community to report on the facts of their
current living conditions and be able to engage local government constructively with regards
to what their real and most pressing needs are.
5
METHODOLOGY
Since this was a “mini-enumeration” exercise, only two community members volunteered
themselves to collect all the data with support from two ISN members from outside Lwazi
Park. The entire data collection process took 2 nights. Other community members also took
part in other aspects of the exercise like measuring and mapping of the settlement. The
community leadership was part of the whole exercise, which proved helpful in creating the
“enumeration roadmap”. A great deal of work was done during the preparation of the
enumeration with the aim of helping people understand the main functions and objectives
behind the project.
Questionnaire development
The questionnaire was developed from the previous enumeration exercises conducted in other
settlements around the country in 2010: Sheffield Road and TT Section. This was
amalgamated with the demographic section of the questionnaire used by the City of Cape
Town. The Lwazi Park community was given the opportunity to make improvements on the
questionnaire to ensure that more relevant and comprehensive information about their
specific area would be collected. Below is a summary of the contents of the questionnaire. A
copy of the questionnaire can be found in the appendix.
6
Table 1: Summary of the contents of the Lwazi Park Enumeration questionnaire
DOMAIN OF ENUMERATION
ITEMS INCLUDED IN THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Household details
 Identity number and gender of household head
 His/her age
 Names and National Identity numbers of all
people in the house
 Number of families occupying the structure
 Number of young people in the house
 Number of people attending school
 Number of adults staying in the house
 Number of aged persons in the house






Employment, income and expenses
Number of people employed in the house hold
Type of employment
Grants received
Monthly basic expenses
Transport and costs
Shopping options
 Type of house
 Area of house
 Number of rooms
Nature of house
 Disasters experienced by the household
Disaster & relocation history
 Period lived in the community
 Place of residence before Lwazi Park
 Period lived in Cape Town
Migration history




Health & sanitation
7
Type of toilet available to the household
Number of people using the toilet
Collection of waste from common bins
Access to health services
The enumeration process
The enumeration team consisted of three teams: Mapping team, Numbering team and the
Data Collection team. All the shacks were numbered according to the arrangement that the
first shack from Klipfontein Road would be number one. This unique number was painted on
the front of the shack so that each one could be clearly identified.
Prior to the data collection exercise, the Community Task Team, CORC fieldworker and ISN
members conducted a preparatory workshop. This was to equip the volunteers with the
necessary technical skills needed for conducting the enumeration. The enumerators were
instructed to collect information from people in their structures, which were measured and
numbered by the numbering team. In the SDI enumeration methodology, enumerators are
instructed to collect information only through face-to-face interviews, preferably with
household heads. For this reason, the three teams included at least some experienced
members from ISN. The inclusion of these members in each team, with their experience in
conducting community led enumerations, increased the level of accuracy in the survey. At the
same time the inclusion of locals meant that the survey was not seen as an external intrusion,
but rather as a tool to serve the informal settlement upgrading initiative.
For the survey component of the exercise, enumerators surveyed every structure in Lwazi
Park. After the necessary introductions and explanations, the questions in the questionnaire
were generally completed in 10 – 15 minutes. All answers provided by the respondents
during the interviews are treated as strictly confidential. It was also made clear that they
could refuse to answer certain questions or even the entire interview if they chose to do so.
All effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the data collected. There were however
households which could not be interviewed due to the unavailability of residents during the
enumeration period.
Fieldwork
Interviews were conducted mainly during the night by community volunteers. The
enumeration began on 28 January 2011. The process was very participatory with community
members holding informal discussions where suggestions and concerns about the initially
proposed settlement layout plan were discussed.
Data management
All questionnaires were captured into digital format in the form of an excel spreadsheet. This
was done by volunteers and local community members. The dataset was later cleaned and
tested for internal consistency. Frequency tables were produced for the purposes of
presenting information in tabular and graphical formats.
8
KEY FINDINGS
Key results of the enumeration will be discussed in this section and will be primarily
presented in the form of graphs and tables. The following table summarises the settlement
profile1 established through the enumeration.
Table 2: Settlement profile of Lwazi Park
1
“Slum” Name
Lwazi Park
Age of Settlement
More than 17 years
Status at the time of the survey at the date of
drafting this report
Settlement in the process of relocation as a result
of the channel upgrading project by the city of
Cape Town
Structures
Informal residential units
Population
37 households housing 99 residents
Not enumerated
None
Ownership
Cape Town Municipality
No. of Individual Toilet Blocks
None
No. of Community toilet blocks
8
Ratio of toilets to total number of people
8 toilets for 99 residents
Most urgent needs
Participatory relocation to the new site
Settlement Profile format adapted from Ahmad Nagar Settlement Profiling, India (2009)
9
Household details
Shacks serve as the only structures in the settlement. There were 37 shacks counted in the
settlement of Lwazi Park. For the rest of the findings section, all results discussed will be
based on the total of 37 enumerated shacks (unless otherwise indicated). The 37 enumerated
shacks in Lwazi Park are home to 99 residents. These residents make up 38 different
families.
On average, each shack in the Lwazi Park informal settlement is home to 2.7 persons. When
examining the data more closely, it is found that 27% of shacks in the settlement house 4 or
more residents (see table 3 below).
Table 3: Number of people living in each structure
Number of people
living in structures
Frequency
Percentage
Cumulative
Percent.
1
2
3
4
5
6
9
9
9
6
3
1
24
24
24
16
8
3
24
49
73
89
97
100
Total
37
100
10
Figure 1: Population distribution by age category
35
32
30
23
Percentage
25
20
18
17
15
10
6
3
5
0
0 to 6
7 to 14
15 to 17
18 to 35
36 to 64
65 and older
Age in years
From Figure 1 above, it is observed that the majority of residents in Lwazi Park are under the
age of 36 years old (73%). This indicates a very young population with 41% of residents
under the age of 18 years. Household heads on the other hand reflect a leaning towards 36
years and older (figure 2 below).
Figure 2: Household head age distribution
50
46
43
45
40
Percentage
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
5
65+
Missing data
5
0
18-35
36-64
Age in years
11
It must be noted that the age of household heads was calculated using identity numbers hence
the 5% indicated as missing data were those instances where the household head did not
supply an identity number.
Figure 3: Gender breakdown of household heads
Male
46%
Female
54%
The gender breakdown for household heads sees males account for only 46% of all household
heads compared to 54% for females. This is slightly different to figures from other informal
settlements where male headed households almost always make up at least 50% of the total
households.
12
Education
From figure 4 it is shown that 36% of all residents in Lwazi Park are enrolled in some form
of education. The biggest contributing category in terms of education enrolment is primary
school (25%).
Figure 4: Education enrolment
Figure 4. Education enrollment
Education level
Total
36
Tertiary
1
Secondary
10
Primary
25
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Percentage
Employment
In table 4 below, we can see that 44 residents of Lwazi Park (44% of 99 residents) are
employed in some form or another. Of these 44 employed residents, 36% are in full time
employ and 59% are employed on a part time basis. This is different to other informal
settlements like Barcelona and Europe, where full time employment is the largest
employment type. This suggests that Lwazi Park residents are less likely to have stable
incomes.
Table 4: Employment distribution by type
Total employment breakdown
Frequency
Self employed
Percent
2
5
Part time
26
59
Full time
16
36
Total
44
100
To work out the unemployment rate for the settlement, we need to take into account the
definition used by Statistics South Africa. The unemployment rate is always reflected as the
percentage of the total economically active population who are not employed. The
13
economically active population are those people aged 16 years and older. Due to the
constraints of this enumeration, constructing the total number of economically active persons
is problematic due to the predefined age cohorts used in the questionnaire.
Table 5: Total labour force by age
Labour Force
Frequency
Age 15 to 17 years
6
Age 18 to 35
32
Age 36 to 64
23
Age 65 and older
3
Total labour force
64
Table 5 gives as a good estimate of the economically active population in Lwazi Park
settlement. This amounts to 64 residents. In figure 5 below we see that the unemployment
rate for Lwazi Park is 31%. This is only slightly higher than the official unemployment rate
for South Africa (this figure has been hovering in the mid 20’s for the last few years) but it
must be noted that due to the small size of the community comparison to other informal
settlements becomes problematic.
Figure 5: Unemployment as a percentage of the total labour force
Employed
Unemployed
31%
69%
14
Income and expenses
The response rate for the income question in the Lwazi Park enumeration was very low with
only 2 households giving an indication of any income. This data cannot be used to provide
an accurate assessment of the income for residents. The method employed by CORC is to
examine the expenses of households which can be used as an estimate for the income of that
particular household. Another source of income data which is very important for informal
settlement dwellers is that of social welfare grants.
Table 6: Number of persons receiving a grant
Numbers of
People
Receiving
Grant type
Disability
% out of
total
population
2
2.02
28
28.28
Pension
5
5.05
Refugee
0
0
Other
1
1.01
Total
36
36.36
Total population
99
Child Support
A total of 36% of all residents in Lwazi Park receive some form of social welfare grants
(table 6). The child support grant is the biggest contributing category (28.28%) and indicates
once again that the settlement has many young children. This settlement overall has a higher
percentage of the population receiving welfare grants as compared to other informal
settlements but the small size of Lwazi Park needs to be taken into consideration.
Figure 6: Percentage of households receiving any welfare grant
Yes or
record of
welfare
grant
62
38
No answer
or No
record of
welfare
grant
15
When looking at all the households in Lwazi Park, 62% receive some form of income
through a welfare grant (figure 6). This is linked to the fact that a large percentage of the
population are children who would receive some form of welfare grant.
Table 7: Breakdown of monthly expenses
TOTAL EXPENSES
Percentage
of total
Amount
Food
R 17 220.00
41
Electricity
R
3 110.00
7
Transport
R
5 777.00
14
Rent
R
0
0
School fees
R
8 690.00
21
Clothing
R
6 550.00
16
Water
R
0
0
Other
R
680.00
2
Total
R 42 027.00
100
As can be seen from the table above, food and school fees are the biggest monthly expenses
for the residents of Lwazi Park. Food expenses accounts for 41% of all monthly expenses.
Expenditure on food in other informal settlements such as Europe and Barcelona are also the
biggest line expense but Lwazi Park shows a much higher percentage. Overall we can see
that the community of Lwazi Park contributes to the economy of Cape Town to the tune of
approximately R 42 027 each month. This once again shows that even small informal
settlements play a role in the economic life of the city. Another significant expense for the
residents of Lwazi Park is transportation costs which account for 14% of all expenditure each
month. The average cost for transport per day for households is R16.
Table 8: Shopping centres utilised (based on number of mentions)
Shopping Centres Frequented
Frequency
Gugulethu Shopping Mall
Percent
35
92
Other
3
8
Total
38
100
From table 8 we can see that 92% of mentions were for Gugulethu Shopping Mall.
16
Figure 7: Transport used as a percentage of mentions
27%
33%
Private
Taxi
Bus
7%
Train
33%
Residents in Lwazi Park reported that taxis served as their main source of transport. The next
most frequently used mode of transport is the train. Average travel time for residents in
Lwazi Park to work is approximately 54 minutes. This again suggests that residents work far
from where they are living and also explains why transport costs account for 16% of all
spending.
Disaster history
Some of the major problems facing informal settlement dwellers in South Africa are related
to weather disasters in the form of heavy rain and flooding as well as manmade disasters in
the form of runaway shack fires. Due to the informal nature of the Lwazi Park settlement,
proper road, drainage and safety mechanisms regarding fire hazards are not in place. This
has meant that the residents are exposed to fire and flooding dangers while living in the area.
Table 9: Disaster history while staying in Lwazi Park
Number of
households
affected
Disaster type
Fire only
Percentage
3
100.3
Flooding only
25
86.2
Evictions only
1
3.4
29
100
Total
Missing data: 8 households
Eighty-six percent of all households in Lwazi Park have experienced a flooding disaster.
Approximately 79 residents of Lwazi Park have been affected by flooding alone. Fire
17
disasters appear to be less frequent with only 10 residents having experienced such a disaster,
but this still represents 10% of the households being exposed to the loss incurred and dangers
of shack fires.
Table 10: Numbers of people affected by disasters
Number of
people affected
Disaster type
Percentage
Fire only
10
10
Flooding only
68
69
Evictions only
1
1
Total
79
80
Total population
99
100
When asked about what type of flooding occurs, the highest mentions count was for flooding
from underground water. Twenty households reported that when flooding occurs, their
shacks remain flooded for more than one day.
Table 4: Disaster frequency by household
Disaster Type
Flooding
Number of households
affected
Ave no. of
events per
affected
household
Frequency of events
25
63
2.52
Fire
3
5
1.67
Evictions
1
1
1
Table 11 shows that households that experience flooding have on average experienced 2 such
events whereas fire has a frequency of about 1.6 events per household that has experienced a
fire disaster.
18
Migration history
The migration section of the questionnaire had a very low response rate and statistics cannot
be produced for this data at this time. Further analysis of the individual level data is required.
Health and sanitation
The residents of Lwazi Park informal settlement have indicated that there are no health
services in the area.
With regards to access to sanitation, like most other informal settlements the situation in
Lwazi Park is dire. No residents reported using water flush toilets and the overwhelming
majority use chamber pots as their toilet (78%). The remaining 22% uses pit latrines (19%)
or the bush (3%). It is very clear that sanitation needs to be upgraded in this area as there are
very low levels of service delivery currently.
Figure 8: Type of sanitation used by residents
90
78
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
19
10
3
0
Pit Latrine
Pee pot (chamber pot)
19
Bush
Nature of shack
As mentioned at the start of the findings section, shacks are the only structures in the Lwazi
Park settlement and serve all the needs of this community. There are 37 shacks serving as
residential units and these shacks vary in size and range from 1-room to 4-room structures.
Shack measurements were used to help inform the design of the relocation area.
Table 5: Number of rooms per shack
Number of rooms
Freq.
Percent
Cum.
1
13
35.14
35.14
2
17
45.95
81.08
3
5
13.51
94.59
4
2
5.41
100
37
100
Total
Summary of findings
The Lwazi Park informal settlement is an excellent example of how good communication and
relationships built up between CORC, ISN, the City of Cape Town and the informal
settlement communities can lead to a cooperative approach to solving the problem of
informal settlement upgrading. Lwazi Park is a community with many children and focusing
on their needs suggests creating a safe environment within the settlement for mothers and
children especially. Unemployment is not as severe as in other settlements but is still high
and the majority of residents of Lwazi Park who are employed have only part time
employment which is unstable and does not guarantee security for their families in terms of
income.
Lwazi Park also saw the first attempt made at capturing individual level information for its
residents. This was as a result of a redesign of the questionnaire suggested by the City of
Cape Town. However this part of the questionnaire appears to have been not fully completed
and may indicate specific training is needed for volunteers to complete this section more
thoroughly. A future analysis of the information collected will be made while for the
purposes of this report individual level data has been excluded.
20
APPENDIX – LWAZI PARK ENUMERATION QUESTIONNAIRE
COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION RESOURCE CENTRE (CORC)
GUGULETHU, LWAZI PARK ENUMERATION
This enumeration survey collects information on housing conditions, expenditures (and income if possible), employment and
sanitation in your community. Please co-operate with the enumerator to fill in this questionnaire.
This form asks for the following:
 Basic information about the people who are living in your house

 Specific information about this house and its occupancy
 Specific information about sanitation services and health conditions.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Shack/House Number
Date _____/_____/______
21
NAME OF STRUCTURE OWNER:
CONTACT DETAILS:
FAMILY 1. (OCCUPANTS OF THE STRUCTURE)
SURNAME
FIRST NAME
FAMILY
RELATIONSHIP
AGE
GENDER
RSA NATIONAL ID / OTHER
DOCUMENT (STATE
NATIONALITY)
HEAD OF
FAMILY
Family 2
22
OCCUPATION
PREVIOUS
RESIDENCE,
TOWN,
SUBURB, ETC
PRD IN
STRUC
TURE
How many people attend school?
Crèche
Primary school
Secondary/High School
Tertiary
2. Employment, Income & Expense
2.1 How many people are employed in the house?
2.2 What type of employment are they involved in?
1
2
How many
Self employed
3
How many
Part time/Casual
4+
How many
Full Time
If Self employed ( Type) :___________________________________________
If unemployed list skills (If any):___________________________________________
2.3 Do you receive any kind of a welfare grant?
2.4 What kind of grant do you receive? Disability
Yes
No
Child support
Pension
Refugee
Other
2.5 How many people have any form of income in your house?
1
2
23
3
4+
2.6 How much are the main expenses per month?
1. Food
3. Transport
2.7 What type of transport do you use when going to work?
R
2. Electricity
R
4. Rent/Maintenance
5. School fees
R
6. Clothing
7. Water
R
8. Other items
Private
Taxi
Bus
2.8 How far is the place of employment (or where the household head gets the income)?
(Hours, Minutes of TRAVEL or WALK)
2.9 How much do you pay per day in transport?
2.9.1 Where do you do your shopping?
3. Nature of house
R
R
R
R
Train
____ Hrs ____ min
R
1. Gugulethu Shoprite Mall
2. Shoprite Philippi
3. Nyanga Junction Mall
4. Other:
3.1 Type of house:
Independent Shack
Formal Structure
24
Backyard dwelling
Mud House
3.2 Use of structure:
Residential only
Church
Spaza
Other
3.3 What is the size of your house?
.
MT
3.4 How many rooms does your house have?
X
.
Pre –school
MT [e.g. 3.50 mt x 2.95 mt]
1
2
3.6 Do you have a title deed of the land?
Yes
3.7
State
Private
Yes
No
Who owns the land?
3
4+
No
4. Eligibility for Housing Subsidy
4.1 Were you ever approved for a housing subsidy?
4.2 Would you like to state your income level for the purpose of understanding how many households in the community can apply for subsidies?
R
5. Disaster & Relocation History
5.1 Disaster History
(a) Have you ever experienced the following disasters when staying at Lwazi Park settlement?
(i) Fire Disaster Yes
No
25
how many times?
(ii) Flooding
(iii) Evictions
Yes
Yes
No
how many times?
No
how many times?
6. Sanitation & Health
6.1 Which toilet do you use?
(i) Pit Toilet
How many people use this toilet?
(ii) Water System (Flushed)
6.2.2 Are there any health facilities in the area
7. Basic necessities
About _______people
(iii) Bush
Yes
1 Do you have an electricity Yes
meter in your shelter?
ENUMERATOR: ________________________________
NAME OF RESPONDENT: _________________________
SIGNATURE OF RESPONDENT: ____________________
26
__
__
__
__
__
__
pe
__
op
__
le
pe
op
le
No
No
__
__
__
__
pe
op
le