In April 2026, SERI together with the Slovo Park Community Development Forum (SPCDF) and partners marked the tenth anniversary of a landmark 2016 Melani High Court judgment. A decade ago, the Johannesburg High Court handed down a landmark judgment in Melani & Others v City of Johannesburg. The court found that the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP) is binding on all municipalities and ordered the City of Johannesburg to take steps to develop Slovo Park informal settlement under the UISP. The case, brought by SERI on behalf of Slovo Park's residents, affirmed that residents cannot be moved against their will to distant locations and that meaningful engagement and in situ upgrading are constitutional imperatives.
Ten years later, while the judgment remains a powerful legal tool, the community’s struggle for dignified housing, water, sanitation, and security of tenure is far from over. The SERI, SPCDF, and partners marked this milestone with a month of media advocacy, reflection, and action through a commemorative event and launch of the Slovo Park Digital Archive, as well as an op-ed series published by GroundUp.
On the anniversary of the Melani judgment on 5 April 2026, Lerato Marole, Chairperson of the SPCDF, was interviewed on Power FM about the state of Slovo Park a decade after the judgment. He spoke candidly about the City of Johannesburg’s broken promises, the ongoing lack of basic services, and the community’s determination to hold the state accountable. The interview set the tone for the commemorative activities that followed. SERI and the SPCDF issued a press statement on 7 April 2026 that called for urgent compliance with the Melani judgment, for the City of Johannesburg to fully implement the UISP and deliver the dignified living conditions that Slovo Park residents have been denied for decades.
Commemorative Media briefing and Slovo Park Digital Archive Launch
On 15 April 2026, the SPCDF, SERI, and partners convened a Commemorative Media Briefing that was hosted at the Forge in Braamfontein in Johannesburg. The event brought together Slovo Park residents, community leaders, media representatives, allies from Asivikelane and the Informal Settlement Network (ISN), as well as leaders from over ten informal settlements from across Gauteng, including Thembelihle informal settlement in Lenasia, Lindokuhle informal settlement in Germiston, and Harry Gwala informal settlement.
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The briefing was opened with a prayer by Slovo Park Resident Archbishop Jeffrey Namusi, followed by a panel of speakers who each reflected on different aspects of the Melani case, its significance and what has happened in the decade since. Panellists included:
- Nomzamo Zondo (SERI Executive Director) delivered a personal reflection on the Slovo Park's case in her capacity as the lead attorney at the time, the constitutional imperatives upon which it was based, and the significance of the legal victory for all informal settlements.
- Phakamani Mpanza (Advisor to MMC for Human Settlements, City of Johannesburg, Cllr Mlungisi Mabaso) spoke on the panel on behalf of the MMC. While acknowledging that there was very little progress to show for the past ten years, he affirmed the importance of the Melani judgment for dignifying informal settlement residents, and the MMC’s commitment to drive the implementation of the judgment.
- Marie Huchzermeyer (Professor and Executive Director of the Centre for Urbanism and the Built Environment Studies (CUBES) at the University of the Witwatersrand) reflected on the establishment and significance of the Slovo Park Task Team on which CUBES has provided technical advice and support to the SPCDF, together with 1to1 Agency of Engagement. She provided detailed analysis of the history of engaging the City through the task team, and shared lessons including the importance of political will to be coupled with UISP champions within the City's bureaucracy, the urgent need for the City to develop internal expertise on implementing UISP over their reliance on consultantson the legal context and implications of the Melani judgment;
- Cllr Johannes Mosehla (Ward 119 PR Councillor, Slovo Park resident and one of the applicants in the case) shared his unique perspective on Slovo Park's long and complex history and the community's stuggle for access to land and basic service. His inputs offered a sobering analysis of how goverment officials at all levels have failed Slovo Park and affirmed his commitment to realising the implementation of the judgment implemented.
- Lerato Marole (SPCDF Chairperson), made a powerful call to informal settlement leaders to join forces in using the judgment to demand basic services through informal settlement upgrading. In His reflection he acknowledged the loss of Slovo Park's leaders and residents over the years who died before seeing any progress in Slovo Park's development, and some of whose deaths have been a consequence of the poor living conditions in Slovo Park as well as the the slow pace of implementation.
The panel was followed by a Q&A session in which leaders from other informal settlements raised critical issues, including the criminalisation of residents, the difficulty of accessing the MMC's office, the lack of enforceable timeframes in the UISP, and the need for a dedicated stakeholder forum for informal settlements within the City’s human settlements department. A key highlight of the briefing was the launch of the Slovo Park Digital Archive – a living, community-driven online repository that preserves the history, struggles, and aspirations of Slovo Park. The archive has designed to be a resource for Slovo Park's residents, researchers, journalists, activists, and the public to learn from and contribute to Slovo Park’s ongoing fight for justice.
Coverage of the event can be read in this GroundUp article by Seth Thorne titled, 'City of Johannesburg admits it has little to show after a decade of failure to upgrade Slovo Park'.
GroundUp Op-Ed Series
SERI and partners published a series of op-eds in GroundUp, providing analysis and reflection on different dimensions of Slovo Park’s struggle a decade after the Melani judgment:
- Slovo Park: a decade of winning in court, losing on the ground by Thato Masiangoako (SERI) published on 13 April 2026. The op-ed reflects on the gap between the landmark judgment and the slow pace of implementation, the role of the task team, and the weakening of community participation over time.
- The need to grow food in informal settlements by Lungelo Mncwabe (SERI Women Spaces Project) published on 22 April 2026. The op-ed argues that government must integrate food security and urban agriculture into informal settlement upgrading, with a focus on the gendered impacts of hunger and the innovative food gardens led by women in Slovo Park.
- A decade of wasted consultancies: how Slovo Park exposes South Africa’s informal settlement upgrade failure by Prof Marie Huchzermeyer (Wits University / CUBES) published on 5 May 2026. The op-ed exposes the repeated, wasteful appointment of consultants who misunderstand the UISP, and calls for in-house expertise, genuine community participation, and an end to consultant-driven delays.
The tenth anniversary of the Melani judgment is a reminder that the judgment remains a vital precedent but that its promise remains unfulfilled. The milestone is also a remider that the struggle for Slovo Park is a struggle for all informal settlement residents who continue to be overlooked, criminalised and denied access to basic services and security of tenure. SERI remains committed to supporting Slovo Park community for the realisation of a fully participatory in-situ upgrading, and the constitutional promise of access to adequate housing and dignity.
Access some useful links below:
- Read more about the Melani case here.
- Access the second edition of Slovo Park's Community Practice Note 'Some Gains At Last' here.
- Access the first edition of Slovo Park's Community Practice Note '20 years of broken promises' here.
- SERI and SPCDF Joint Press Statement (7 April 2026) here.
- Visit the Slovo Park Digital Archive here.
Media coverage:
- Newzroom Afrika report and interview with Lerato Marole, 'More than a decade after ruling intended to improve living conditions of Slovo Park residents' (4 May 2026).
- Newzroom Afrika report and interview with Lerato Marole, 'Slovo Park residents' long wait for meaningful change' (3 May 2026).
- Slovo Park still waiting for freedom and services, 10 years later, Jan Bornman, Daily Maverick and Our City News (1 May 2026).
- Ashraf Garda SA FM interview with Lerato Marole, 'Slovo Park: a decade of winning in court, losing on the ground' (16 April 2026).
- Tshegohaco Moagi Power FM interview with Lerato Marole, 'Freedom Month - State of Slovo Park and the City of Johannesburg’s broken promises' (5 April 2026).