Intsika Yethu LM HSP 08_12.pdf - Provincial Spatial Development ...

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during the summer rainfall season. This results in housing damage, particularly
with roofing being blown off and structures being blown down. There are also
widespread veld fires which threaten settlements during the drier winter seasons.
4.3 Spatial Context
Spatial Analysis – Tsomo and Cofimvaba Towns
Informal Trading
The lack of regulations of informal trading activities is evident in both towns. Informal
trading operates under unhygienic conditions e.g. one finds a food stall located next to a
hairdresser, whilst some unhygienic practices like use of open land instead of toilets
occur next to these food stalls. These informal activities also have littering implications
which are unacceptable and need to be addressed.
Informal traders need to be provided with properly covered hawker stalls. A system
whereby they operate with licences is in place but will have to be enforced. There is also
a need to identify sites where these informal traders should relocate. However, they will
have to be strategically located so as not to be sensitive to their business interests and
preferences as hawkers.
Lack of Updated Zoning Schemes
No proper records are kept in the record keeping of sites and therefore there is a lack of
information of property owners, their uses and what they were/are zoned for. These
results in some activities happening in areas zoned for other specific uses e.g.
businesses operating in residential sites. The main factor contributing to this occurrence
is the lack of institutional capacity to deal with zoning and development control and
management. There is a need for the municipality to be equipped with proper
institutional capacity and proper technology i.e. GIS systems.
Littering
There is marked littering along the main roads and around community ranks. This could
be attributed to the lack of awareness of how littering degrades the environment. There
is also little or no visibility of rubbish bins in the towns. A proper site for waste disposal
needs to be identified. Co-ordinated efforts should be made to implement cleaning
campaigns to curb the unacceptable littering in the towns. This situation must be
managed using municipal policies and by-laws.
Taxi Ranks Congesting Main Roads
Taxis are more visible on the main roads. There are plans in place to relocate taxi ranks
to designated areas. By-laws should be established and enforced to ensure that taxis
operate within these areas and do not cause congestion by making the main roads their
loading zones. Hawkers should also be relocated to these designated taxi ranks as this
is a strategic business territory for them.
4.3.1 Urbanisation
Communities in the rural areas have little or no access to adequate services such as
electricity, water, clinics, or schools. The lack of job opportunities is also another area of
concern that further aggravates poverty in Intsika Yethu. Rural communities are then
forced to move to the urban areas in search of better standards of living. This results in