1.3 Transport

when they arrive, most people have no work or a place to live. They therefore move to the outskirts of the city where they erect informal structures. This was the beginning of gigantic town areas such as Khayalitsha, Crossroads, Guguletu, Soweto, etc.;

because these people have no money or jobs, they live in squalor. There are no proper sanitary amenities, nor do they have access to clean water or washing amenities. Above all, they are hungry, and a hungry person will do anything for food, even steal, if need be;

this leads to the escalation of crime. Unemployed persons stay at home during the day while others go out to work. Those who work are robbed in day-time, while at night they are confronted by gangs who rob them of their money;

as the informal towns are mostly unplanned, the people are exposed to natural elements, such as storms and gales etc., and their homes are often flooded after heavy rainfall;

to keep warm, they have to make a fire, and to cook, they use gas or primus stoves that work with paraffin and are highly inflammable. Often we hear and read about big fires in the informal settlements, ….. hundreds of huts going up in flames – people often die, while many lose all their possessions;

those who have jobs must catch a morning train, bus or taxi (a new industry that has originated as a result of the shortage of transport) and as the workplace might often be very far from where they live, they have to leave their homes very early in the morning, arriving back home late at night. This means that their own children, who stay by themselves all day, are neglected.

many youngsters and children beg on the streets of the city centre. Children do not attend school, but live on the streets, sleeping on verandas in front of shops, while others try to build informal shacks of plastic and bagging on any available open spaces. They are often found on the traffic islands along the main roads and on the freeways and under the bridges;

motor vehicles also contribute to air pollution in the city and a large part of the brown blanket of air that we often see above the city, comes from exhaust fumes of motor vehicles;

those who are financially well-off, can afford houses, live in one of the suburbs, and drive to work in their private cars.

One’s financial position therefore determines what type of transport one uses, which again influences where one lives and works.

Those who can afford it, mainly use their private cars and/or rely on lift clubs to get to and from work. This means that they are able to buy a house wherever they wish.

The poor and the needy have no choices. If they do not live within walking distance from their work, they have to live close to a bus stop or station in order to get to work in the morning, otherwise they have to walk. It is surprising to see how many people walk long distances to work every day, because they cannot afford any form of transport.

Activity:

To obtain information by means of surveys

[lo 1.7]

This section on modes of transport can be done by means of local surveys, executed by the learners themselves, e.g.

1. Make a survey of how learners in your class get to school. Draw an evaluation grid and write the different kinds of transport at the top, e.g. bus, train, private car, walk, etc.

2. Make a second survey and establish the approximate distances that learners live from school and compare it with the means of transport that they use.

Let individual learners each draw their own evaluation grid and do a survey at their parents’ homes on the following aspects: where they work, how they get to work – different kinds of transport, lift-clubs, etc.

Conduct a survey amongst the workers at school to establish where they work and how they get to work. Ask questions such as: At what time in the morning do you leave home? At what time do you arrive back home? How do the children get to school? etc. Compare the different sets of information with one another – what do you find?

3. Make a list of problems that people living in big towns and in cities experience in relation to traffic, e.g. traffic jams; time lost due to getting stuck in slow traffic; poor means of transport in lower socio-economic areas; dangers on trains running to the suburbs, etc. (Do on separate fullscap paper and add to module.)

Identify the THREE biggest or most serious problems. Divide the class into THREE groups, each group taking one problem through the stages of problem solving. Suggest possible solutions and give some kind of presentation in class..

Hold a class/panel discussion on the impact of means of transport in the lives of people of different socio-economic groups.

Assessment

Learning Outcomes (LOs)

LO 1

Geographical Enquiry

The learner will be able to use enquiry skills to investigate geographical and environmental concepts and processes.

Assessment Standards

(ASs)

This is seen when the learner:

1.2 interprets information from maps and atlases and from graphic and statististical

1.5 identifies and records information in the specific field [working with sources];

1.7 in various ways reports knowledge obtained during the study by formulating an argument based on information found; uses maps, diagrams and graphics; uses, where possible, computers in the presentation [putting the answer across].

LO 2

GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE AND

UNDERSTANDING

The learner will be able to demonstrate

geographical and environmental

knowledge and understanding.

This is clear when the learner:

2.1 identifies and compares various kinds of settlement patterns [people and places];

1. identifies factors that influence the formation of settlement patterns (natural, economic, social/ political) [people and resources];

2.3 identifies crucial factors leading to changes in settlement patterns in South Africa, Africa and elsewhere [people and environment].

Memorandum

ACTIVITY :

Class project.