Please do not quote without the authors permission

Conclusion

As we have seen, some quite remarkable changes have taken place within South African cities over the last few years. Old apartheid legal divisions have vanished, new uni-city administrations which seek to integrate previously advantaged and disadvantaged areas are in place, and there is a very real national and local commitment to address issues of both poverty alleviation and economic growth. The introduction of socially-progressive development policies and moves to devolve authority are to be welcomed, and do give greater decision-making and control to local leaders. However, when such devolution is not accompanied by adequate resources and staff to fulfil the new mandate, concerns need to be raised, particularly with respect to meeting the needs of the disadvantaged majority. According to Marks and Bezzoli (2001, p. 27) what we are witnessing is the transformation of South African cities into archetypal post-modern cities - cities released from the ‘grip of state control are now at the mercy of that most nebulous of conceits - the free market’.

With regard to the role of developmental local government in future urban policy, as Rogerson suggests, ‘...The key area for (future) policy consideration relates to the activities of the survivalist informal economy, including a range of home-based enterprises, and of micro-enterprise activities...Direct support can include measures to improve the built environment for such activities, including the facilitation of small business hives...or making available premises for use as local business information, support or advice centres’ (Rogerson, 2000, p406). Established practice, however, suggests that whilst the political commitment might well be there to address such needs, private sector interests and the de facto development reality is often different. Severe financial and capacity constraints and the very focused interests of the private sector, in that the facilities they seek to promote are not in townships, clearly skews current development and may well further entrench the already stark spatial and social disparities.
At a broader level, achieving social justice in South African cities remains a distant idyll, one which policy at the national and local levels seeks to attain, but one which has proved elusive to current development practise and emphases. What is needed, as Beall et al (2000a, p.394) has shown, is that , ‘pro-poor municipal policy and action need to be devised and executed in a manner that is sensitive to optimizing and supporting the livelihood strategies of the poor’. In order to achieve both social justice and pro-poor development, wealth creation interventions must match and parallel endeavours to address inequality (Beall et al, 2000b, 2000c).
To realise their local development potential the cities will require, ‘...a co-ordinated and dedicated intervention from all stakeholders’ (Sitas, 1999, p46). Regrettably, there is only limited evidence of strong community-public-private partnerships in place, and until these appear, the needs of the majority are unlikely to be satisfactorily articulated and addressed in a meaningful and empowering fashion. The apartheid legacy is massive and enduring and the restructuring of urban areas and urban development priorities will realistically take decades and even generations. On a more positive note, it is important to not lose sight of the fact that even though progress has been slow in coming, it nonetheless represents a very significant advance over past realities. As the Minister of Provincial and Local Government notes, ‘…For the past decade, local government in South Africa has been engaged in a lengthy and complicated process of restructuring. We have certainly come a long way from the days of racially segregated local authorities, where the bulk of the revenue collected was only spent in one part of the city’ (Mufamadi, 2001,p2). Whilst the devolution of development responsibilities to local authorities is in one sense admirable, there is likely to be little progress on the ground until there is more local and national financial support, together with a concerted capacity building initiative among those who are charged to discharge these responsibilities. The key challenge for government is ‘…how to manage the urban process in such a way as to harness the potential of such projects to generate income for the broader public good while still allowing private development to profit’ (Marks and Bezzoli, 2001, p.44).

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Acknowledgement

Details to be advised.

List of Figures and Tables

Figure 1: South Africa’s Provinces, Metropoles and Cities.

Table 1: South Africa’s key ‘uni-cities’ and provincial capitals, ranked according to population size.
Notes

Exchange Rate in August 2002, South African Rand 1 = approx. US $ 10.50 or approx. £ 16.50.

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Personal Communications

Foster, Raymond, (7/9/2001), Town Planner, East London

Gretton, David, (18/5/2001), Director of Development, South Peninsular Municipality.

Mandis, George, (14/6/2001), LED Official, Port Elizabeth.

Megalenyane,Pinky, (6/12/ 2001), Manager of Local Economic Development, Kimberley City Council

Naidoo, Jonathan, (12/6/2001), Head of Economic and Business Service, Durban Chamber of Business.

Nel, Verna, (12/7/2001), Senior Town Planner, Pretoria.

Robbins, Glen, (13/6/2001), Economic and Investment Advisor, Department of Economic Development, Durban

Singh, John, (2/2/01), LED Official, Johannesburg.

Siswana, Zolile, (5/12/2000), LED Official, Cape Town.

Sutcliffe, M., (13/6/2001), Chairman, Demarcation Board, Durban.

Table 1 South Africa’s Key Metropoles, Cities and Capitals

(ranked according to population size)

CITY NAME (Municipal Name in ( ) if different from city name )	POPULATION	KEY DETAILS
1) Durban (eThekweni)	2 751 193	Metropolitan Council
2) Johannesburg	2 639 110	Metropolitan Council Provincial Capital
3) Cape Town	2 563 612	Metropolitan Council National Capital (Legislative) Provincial Capital
4) East Rand (Ekhurhuleni)	2 026 807	Metropolitan Council
5) Pretoria (Tshwane)	1 682 701	Metropolitan Council National Capital (Administrative)
6) Port Elizabeth (Nelson Mandela)	969 771	Metropolitan Council
7) East London (Buffalo City)	682 287	Local Municipality Provincial Capital ( through incorporating Bisho)
8) Bloemfontein (Mangaung)	603 704	Local Municipality National Capital (Judicial) Provincial Capital
9) Pietermaritzburg (Msunduzi)	521 805	Local Municipality Provincial Capital
10) Welkom (Matjhabeng)	476 927	Local Municipality
11) Nelspruit (Mbombela)	425 663	Local Municipality Provincial Capital
12) Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg)	424 976	Local Municipality Provincial Capital
13) Klerksdorp	335 237	Local Municipality
14) Newcastle	287 260	Local Municipality
15) Mafikeng	242 193	Local Municipality Provincial Capital
16) Kimberley	204 263	Local Municipality Provincial Capital

Source: SA Explorer, 2001.