Joe Slovo Township emerged as an informal settlement in the late 1990’s and only recently became more formalised by the Municipality with the first housing being built in 2003.  It continues to grow as people are relocating from other parts of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan. About 61% of the people in Joe Slovo are unemployed and the majority have low levels of education, making it more difficult to get permanent employment. Water and sanitation is still a huge challenge. Poverty and related social issues such as substance abuse and domestic violence associated with low socioeconomic communities are very much prevalent in Joe Slovo. Health estimates indicate high rates of HIV infection in this community (estimated to be higher than the official data of Antenatal client first test positive rate 19.6% in Eastern Cape).  High rates of infection of Tuberculosis (TB) and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) also remain a challenge for this community.