Author(s)

G. M. Steenkamp & J. J. Steÿn

Abstract

During 1994 and 1999, the Bloemfontein Municipality amalgamated with five other municipalities to form the Mangaung Municipality. The Mangaung Municipality now has a population of ± 740 000 and covers an area of 6 363 km². Some areas are totally urban, while in others, people are living in informal settlements. The unemployment rate is 35%, but in some areas, it has risen to as high as 48%. Poor people in the city cannot afford to buy burnt bricks from the major suppliers of bricks. Informal brickyards were established all over the given areas where clay and/or water were available. These brickyards are now producing good home-made burnt bricks and are creating jobs in a sea of unemployment. The problem however is that from a planning and sustainability viewpoint, all is not well. Although the location of the brickyards brings about a saving in costs for the transportation of bricks from the formal brickyards, of which the nearest is 300 km away, the coal-burning activities of the informal brickyards are creating air pollution. Furthermore, no prior environmental impact studies were carried out for the location of the brickyards. Most of them have simply been established haphazardly, in any available spot. This paper will show how these problems could be handled within the context of sustainable planning. The environmental issues will need to be evaluated from a socio-economic perspective. A proposed policy to guide future development will have to be part of the integrated development plan; and this paper will show how this could be effectuated in practice. Keywords: poverty, brickyards, earth bricks, sustainable planning, housing, unemployment, rammed earth.

Keywords

poverty, brickyards, earth bricks, sustainable planning, housing, unemployment, rammed earth.