Alexandra, informally abbreviated to Alex, is a township in the Gauteng province of South Africa, forming part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. It is situated on the banks of the Jukskei River, next to the wealthy suburb of Sandton.
Alexandra Township, Johannesburg
Early History and Establishment
Alexandra was established in 1912 on land originally owned by Mr. H.B. Papenfus, who named it after his wife, Alexandra. Initially intended as a white residential township, its distance from Johannesburg's center led to its proclamation as a "native township." By 1916, the population had grown to 30,000 people.
The Alexandra Health Committee was established to manage the township. However, it lacked the authority to collect local taxes, and the Johannesburg City Council declined responsibility, resulting in inadequate resources and mismanagement.
Struggles and Uprisings
The riots that started in Soweto in June 1976 quickly spread to other areas such as Alexandra, where 19 people were killed. In 1980 a "Master Plan" for Alexandra was introduced, whose aim was to transform Alexandra into a "Garden City" with a completely new layout. However, only a small part of this plan was actually ever implemented; the execution of the "Master Plan" was permanently stopped by the violent "Alex Six Days" uprising in February 1986.
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The uprising resulted from an attack by the security forces on a funeral in the township. 40 people were killed. The Alexandra Township Committee, led by trade unionist Moses Mayekiso, were arrested and beaten. By May the council started collapsing and the councillors resigned which saw the emergence of street committees and peoples' courts.
After the imposition of the nationwide state of emergency in June, the Defence Force moved in to keep the peace. In its place, the government introduced the "Urban Renewal Plan" as part of its strategy during the state of emergency. This, combined with the considerable number of additional people moving into Alexandra during this time, led to a new area called the "East Bank" being built. Because of the insufficient capacity and difficult maintenance of the newly built infrastructure, the situation quickly deteriorated and thus the "Urban Renewal Plan" was shelved in 1990.
Communal Conflicts and Urban Renewal
During the communal and political conflicts that took place in the 1991-1992 period, many people were killed, injured or displaced. Approximately 3,000 houses have been built for relocation purposes to date. In May 2008 a series of xenophobic attacks that took place throughout South Africa started in Alexandra Township.
Infrastructure and Overpopulation Challenges
The original stands of size of 500-600 sq.m are characterized by sizeable houses of reasonable stock but usually with 3 - 6 additional separate rooms built in the original gardens, each usually housing an additional family who rent from the main householder. The additional rental units, which provide a significant income to the main householder, are termed “backyard shacks” although many are of brick or block construction of reasonable quality.
There are an estimated 20,000 shacks of which approximately 7,000 are located in “backyards”. The significant, unplanned population has overloaded the infrastructure such that water pressures are low and sewers frequently block and overflow.
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Over the past nine years thousands of shacks have been built over and adjacent to the three tributaries. These areas are extremely dense with only tortuous, narrow access, few communal water points and banks of chemical toilets on the peripheries of the settlements. Some have electricity supply which appears to have been connected illegally. One-room dwellings almost completely cover the tributary areas.
Addressing Infrastructure Needs
As a first step to overcome the general overloading of the sewerage system a concept currently being considered, and investigated by consultants engaged by the “sewerage section” of the Technical Services Department of GMJC, is to divide Alex into three sewerage zones and to construct new interceptor sewers for each zone which will connect to a new outfall sewer carrying sewage off of the site to the bulk sewerage system.
The interceptor sewers would be designed such that they could in total take up to approximately 750,000 (to be confirmed by consultants studies). This possible “over-sizing” will be to ensure adequate capacity (the marginal cost of reasonable over-sizing of a pipeline is small compared with future possible future abandonment and relaying).
To reduce the possibility of future illegal tapings of any new pressure mains, consideration should be given to laying them at greater depths and/or other means of protection.
In planning and implementing infrastructure upgrading works covering a number of sub-sectors in heavily populated dense areas international experience has shown that:
- planning and carrying out the works together better ensures compatibility of proposals;
- enables works to be carried out more quickly;
- avoids continued disruption to the beneficiary communities due to service improvements being carried out at different times, and;
- is less costly.
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To better ensure adequate co-ordination, consideration should be given to the proposed new “Strategic Planning Unit” of the GMJC, or perhaps a similar unit at each of the new regional manager levels, being responsible for co-ordinating integrated infrastructure/service improvements.
Recognizing the importance of the communities and involving them at key stages of project planning and implementation of upgrading initiatives further reduces the possibility of continued disruption in communities during an upgrading project.
Many of those shacks (+-3000 families) constructed along the banks of the Juskei river are in danger in times of flood (e.g. early 2000). Those to be relocated should be resettled on the east bank, NOT to remote locations which would likely lead to their return.
Strategies for Urban Upgrading
Alexandra in many ways is a prototype for strategies, approaches and actions that could be applied in other parts of Greater Metropolitan Johannesburg. The use of “special development zones” (SDZs) designated as areas in which to introduce alternative, more appropriate planning, design and regulatory norms.
These zones would allow for testing and demonstrating effective and least-cost ways of adopting to the needs and preferences of residents, increasing the efficiency of land use, and for producing innovative and lower cost housing types/options. SDZs can serve to compare and monitor alternative development and maintenance costs and should lead to better informed decisions on city-wide land use, zoning, and development guidelines.
Given the huge demand for new low cost housing, relocation plans, and the scale of in situ upgrading needed in the GJMA plus the need to plan for the eventual elimination of large subsidies, cost reduction in all new actions are called for.
By planning for such schemes for families that may choose this option, densities will be increased and infrastructure can be properly planned.
Having city-wide strategies and guidelines for handling relocation needs can help plan and carry out site specific actions when needed.
Alexandra Today
Alexandra remains one of the poorest urban areas in South Africa. Despite the challenges, it is a vibrant community with a rich history and a strong sense of identity. On August 2006 an American business student conducted a photography project with 190 of the youth of Alexandra.
The township continues to evolve, with ongoing efforts to improve infrastructure, housing, and living conditions for its residents.
What happened to funds for the 2001 Alexandra Renewal Project?
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