Book Appointment Now
Mountain Rise Informal Settlement
About Mountain Rise Informal Settlement
he Mountain Rise Informal settlement is located close to affluent Indian communities, many of which are business leaders in the Willowton Industrial area and surrounding
pockets of economic activity. The formal suburb of Mountain Rise has sprawling
mansions with sparkling fountains and is merely a stone’s throw to the Mountain Rise
Informal Settlement. The Mountain Rise community residents are mostly workers in the
industries surrounding them, while the majority of youth is often found roaming around
the settlement on weekdays due to unemployment.
The Issue
The Mountain Rise Informal
settlement is quite a small community of less than 100 households. Service delivery
issues are rife, such as the lack of waste collection which is a daily challenge. Fire is also
a hazard as most households still depend on wood to make their fires for cooking. Wood
is also used as a building material as it is cheaper to source from discarded rubble and
natural vegetation (native or alien). Addressing the waste issue at this site will have
ripple effects in the neighbouring stream which borders both Khan Road and Mountain
Rise informal settlements, since both streams connects to Msunduzi River and
ultimately the uMngeni Catchment feeding into the Indian Ocean
How id YMAD Helping this Community?
YMAD started working with the Mountain Rise community around January 2022 and the
first initiatives included Clean-Up Campaigns as the initial step to raise awareness and
the importance of converting illegal dumpsites and the environment into productive
land. YMAD currently has a team of two senior citizens ladies that are recycling plastic
bottles and containers from surrounding formal households and within the community. We have facilitated a partnership between them and a local waste company who are
now collecting their waste and remunerating them for it. This has sparked the in of an additional 10 youth community members who wish to join the recycling initiative
and we therefore have plans to expand the initiative at th