Financial constraints hamper African cities’ ability to absorb the tens of thousands which flock in monthly, seeking greener pastures, Tshwane Mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa said on Tuesday.

“The appetite to come into these magnetic centres will continue at the rate at which we are unable to meet the needs that are associated with people moving into that space. But we are making efforts, we have introduced policy on providing serviced stands,” Ramokgopa told reporters at the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum (ACCSF) and Sustainability Week 2016 hosted in Pretoria.

Ramokgopa said the provision of the serviced stands was at the epicentre of the rampant community protests, as the Tshwane municipality struggles to catch up with the demand. The mayor emphasised that he did not believe the municipality had failed to provide land for human settlement.

“I don’t know if failure is the best description but it’s more about about the fiscus not being able to accommodate the rate of urbanisation. I guess this is not unique to our country. It’s also the case in many major urban centres across the continent and hence this (ACCSF) forum,” said Ramokgopa.

“We are of the opinion that there should be learning and unlearning from each other to see what others have done, which can be replicated here. That is what mayors will be sharing with us.”

The Tshwane municipality is hosting the second instalment of the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum (ACCSF) from Tuesday until Thursday. At least 24 delegations, mainly led by mayors from African cities including Bamako in Mali, Bujumbura in Burundi, Libreville in Gabon, Rabat in Morocco, Lusaka in Zambia and Harare in Zimbabwe, are in Pretoria for the summit.

Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau said with 10 000 people migrating into the “city of gold” monthly, African leaders need to find solutions to the unprecedented movement.

“In Johannesburg we have already begun living with the reality of the challenges of urbanisation as many other cities on the African continent are grappling with the challenges urbanisation presents. This requires that our governments, and we as practitioners, focus on policies that prioritise solutions to rapid urbanisation. This could enable nations to harness cities as drivers of development,” said Tau.

He said South African cities were still grappling with reversing the apartheid spatial legacies of segregation and poor planning designed to separate races.

“Our cities and towns in most instances exhibit chaotic physical expansion with land policies that are not responsive to the needs of our people. One of the biggest challenges in local government is the slow pace of urban development and finding resonance with national policies. A high number of African countries do not have national urban policies that would provide a holistic approach to rapid urbanisation,” said Tau.

Deputy Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Andries Nel cautioned the African mayors to avoid talks shows without practical results.

“Without action, theory is empty. Without action, theory is blind. This conference takes place at an opportune time for this discussion, internationally, continentally and nationally. The African Union’s Agenda 2063 recognises that cities and other settlements are hubs of cultural and economic activities, with modernised infrastructure and the people have access to affordable and decent housing, including housing finance,” said Nel.

“We must say what we mean, and we must mean what we say. Most importantly, we must do what we say we will do. Last year, the ACCSF met in Tshwane in June. At the conclusion of your deliberations, you declared that you would advance sustainability within the African continent, through groundbreaking initiatives. Has the ground been broken by these initiatives?”

The 2017 edition of ACCSF will be held in Pretoria, making it the third successive year that the city hosts the event.