In 2021, Isandla Institute sourced a legal opinion from a Senior Counsel, focusing on the obligations and powers of municipalities to provide basic services for backyard dwellers on private land. This showed that there was no legal obstacle to providing these services. Based on this, Isandla Institute commissioned a paper from an experienced journalist, which was informed by interviews with stakeholders, on the impact of backyard housing on water and sanitation infrastructure, to further inform debate. While local government has a clear constitutional responsibility to supply all backyard residents with basic services, the question of the how burns. This report’s conclusion is that the servicing of backyard units is about changing mindsets, institutional processes, and moving towards more evidence-based strategic infrastructure planning to address the increased densification and urbanization that are at the heart of the infrastructural shortfalls in low-income areas.

We have updated the Planning 4 Informality webtool. It tracks the progress of metros in response to informal settlements & backyard housing, based on annual reviews of municipal documents. See it here: https://bit.ly/3HTmwod & read our latest blogpost here: https://bit.ly/3HCnkxy

The South African National Development Plan (NDP) promotes the creation of spaces that are liveable, equitable, sustainable, resilient and efficient, and that support economic opportunities and social cohesion. Area-based violence prevention interventions (ABVPI) offer both a set of protocols and methodologies (i.e. a codified practice) and an approach to spatial development that takes safety and resilience as the intended outcomes and so aligns with this vision. Taking this process forward, questions are raised about how partnerships can be developed, frameworks adapted and resources allocated in order to enable ABVPI. The brief includes the topics of integrating ABVPI into informal settlement upgrading; funding ABVPI using public funds, specifically conditional grants; and reflections on the importance of partnership in ABVPI.

This Practice Brief draws on the presentations and discussion at the webinar 'Building Safer Neighbourhoods Together', held on 05 August 2021. The webinar, which brought together representatives from national, provincial and local government and civil society organisations, was convened by Isandla Institute as an implementation partner of the Safer Places: Resilient Institutions and Neighbourhoods Together (SPRINT) project.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent extended lockdown has been more than the health and wellbeing of those in living South Africa; with many in positions of increased vulnerability such as through the loss of income and livelihoods. The dual impact of deepening risk factors which contribute to violence and crime and the reduction or removal of protective factors means that more people in South Africa might be experiencing and/or perpetuating violence and crime. Despite this, the pandemic has also reinvigorated a sense of solidarity and empathy, which is evident in the stronger emphasis on communities, clearer focus on key issues like gender-based violence (GBV) and the efforts to capacitate those leading engagements and change. The effects of COVID-19 and the lockdown are unknown and likely long lasting. In the unprecedented context of COVID-19 and as we look forward, area-based violence prevention interventions offer a unique resource for violence prevention and building safer cities.

This Practice Brief draws on the presentations and discussion at the webinar 'Area-Based Violence Prevention in a time of COVID-19', held on 24 March 2021. The webinar, which brought together representatives from national, provincial and local government and civil society organisations, was convened by Isandla Institute as an implementation partner of the Safer Places: Resilient Institutions and Neighbourhoods Together (SPRINT) project.

This advocacy piece is produced by Isandla Institute under the Safer Places: Resilient Institutions and Neighbourhoods Together (SPRINT) Project. It is aimed at providing key information and recommendations to local government and civil society organisations to shift their approach toward VPIs and for provincial and national government, who guide municipalities and contract service providers, to provide an enabling environment for this shift to take place.

The advocacy output ‘Activation: Creating inclusive, sustainable safe places’  highlights that public spaces in South Africa have the potential to be both sites of increased exposure to violence and crime as well as catalysts for social cohesion. Activation of public spaces enables and encourages the creation and utilisation of quality, vibrant, safe and sustainable spaces. Key recommendations include that activated public spaces need to be accessible, inclusive and equitable for all and that  municipalities should enable and lead multi-stakeholder engagement in public space activation.

This advocacy piece was produced by Isandla Institute under the Safer Places: Resilient Institutions and Neighbourhoods Together (SPRINT) Project. It is aimed at providing key information and recommendations to local government and organisations working with local government (CSOs, private sector etc) to shift their approach toward ABVPI and for provincial and national government, who guide municipalities and contract service providers, to provide an enabling
environment for this shift to take place.

The advocacy piece 'Funding Area-Based Violence Prevention Interventions: An Examination of the Conditional Grant System' examines the opportunities for funding area-based violence prevention intervention (ABVPI) work with public funds, specifically conditional grants. The document lays out key principles, activities and role-players in ABVPI and highlights the roles and responsibilities of local government in safety and violence prevention. The document argues that ABVPI is strongly aligned to the existing responsibilities of local government and as such, public funding can and should be leveraged to pursue ABVPI.

This advocacy piece was produced by Isandla Institute under the Safer Places: Resilient Institutions and Neighbourhoods Together (SPRINT) Project. It is aimed at providing key information and recommendations to local government to shift their approach toward VPIs and for provincial and national government, who guide municipalities and contract service providers, to provide an enabling environment for this shift to take place.

'Embedding Area-Based Violence Prevention Initiatives (ABVPI) in Informal Settlement Upgrading in South Africa' highlights the imperative to embed ABVPI in urban planning and development, specifically informal settlement upgrading (ISU). The document highlights the need for a strategic and programmatic approach to building on the alignment between ABVPI and ISU. Recommendations include that municipalities embrace different approaches to engaging with residents and upgrading settlements and that there is more emphasis on livelihoods, urban safety and wellbeing outcomes in projects that utilise ISU funding.