Interrogating the post-apartheid socio-economic transformation in Mdantsane,Buffalo City

While scholarly concentration has been given to the challenges and opportunities for urban transformation in democratic South Africa, there are still pockets of areas which fall short of intensive examination, particularly in the topic of transforming hidden urban communities. In order to interrogate the socio-economic transformation of the hidden urbanites in a post-apartheid policy regime, this paper draws heavily from empirical evidence of Mdantsane, the second largest township in South Africa. It triangulates data obtained through unstructured in-depth interviews with that gathered from census surveys and other government reports. The study indicates that despite notable policy strides to facilitate the much sought after transformation, Mdantsane’s urban landscape still suffers from development gaps that are largely reflected in socio-economic spatial inequalities. Although these findings generally resonate with scholarly evidence established in other urban areas in South Africa, we argue about the peculiarity of Mdantsane’s case, which is chiefly associated with a complex matrix of policy events and physiographic constraints that would need a revisit if the envisaged development plans are to become a reality.