Verster, Empowering the poor: The Bible and the poor in informal settlements ...3.2 The informal settlement city
Informal settlements are a well known sight near cities and towns in the
developing world. Many people flock to the cities to obtain an income.
There are usually push and pull factors. Push factors include situations
were living becomes more and more unacceptable, e.g. due to droughts,
mechanisation on farms, overpopulation of areas where it is not viable to
farm on small scale, lack of prospects of education for children and other
factors making it worthwhile to leave the rural areas. Pull factors include
factors like the availability of work in urban areas, better educational
prospects and medical facilities and financial institutions. People are
prepared to leave behind their ancestral land to live in cities and towns,
often in very poor circumstances (and sometimes illegally) on other
people’s land. At present in many areas there is an increasing number of
legalised informal settlement areas.
The informal settlement city is however vibrant and lively. Cultures mix
and people live on the edge. Poverty is often rampant. The struggle to
survive is also immanent. Simone (2005:9) refers to the fact that cities
are the conjunction of seemingly endless possibilities of remaking. Even
the depleted structures open up to somewhere and the residents con-
tinuously resituate themselves.
The structures are not permanent but the people try to establish the best
possible homes in difficult circumstances. The question is whether it is
possible to generate a community of hope and wellbeing, especially by
the involvement of the church.
The way forward for the peri-urban interface is important according to
McGregor et al. (2006:318) who state that strategies for development of
the peri-urban interface should be community focused and informed,
where practical, by Participatory Action Research (PAR). Strategies at
community level should be affordable and based, where practicable,
upon self-help. The concept of self-improvement and self-involvement is
a positive contribution which also plays an important role in assessing
the influence of the church.
3.3 Informal settlements near Mangaung
Bloemfontein is the capital of the Free State Province in South Africa.
Mangaung is the name given to the local municipality. East of Bloem-
fontein, many informal areas are sprouting up like mushrooms. The
municipality accepts that informal settlements will continue to provide