Tourism as a local development strategy in South Africa

The promotion of tourism has been identified as a key strategy that can lead to economic upliftment, community development and poverty relief in the developing world. In the last few years, tourism has also emerged as a significant development option in post–apartheid South Africa. In the context of some current debates on tourism in poor countries, the paper examines how economic, social and environmental resources are being utilized to promote tourism as a local economic development strategy in South Africa, and more specifically it focuses on current local government endeavours in this regard and two communities that have suffered the loss of their economic resource base. Tourism–based development initiatives, one in KwaZulu–Natal and one in the Western Cape, are evaluated in the context of generating economic growth, alleviating poverty and addressing the apartheid legacy of discrimination and inequality. The significance of the dynamics of development processes involved in these initiatives has much wider relevance for local economic development, both within South Africa and elsewhere.     

南非负责任旅游的兴起及其意义

南非负责任旅游对南非的社会经济发展、政治民主建设起着非常重要的作用,特别是推动了南非构建公平社会的进程。本文概括了南非负责任旅游的兴起背景,分析了南非政府实施负责任旅游后初见成效的原因,剖析南非负责任旅游在缓解种族歧视、减少贫困、公平分配利益等方面对建设公平社会的意义。     

Spaces of change: tribal authorities in the former KaNgwane homeland, South Africa

South Africa's democratic transition has had a significant impact upon localized governance systems in mediating development opportunities within the former apartheid homelands. This paper uses a case study from the former KaNgwane homeland to evaluate the role of the Matsamo Tribal Authority in shaping livelihoods and access to environmental resources. It is argued that although the colonial and apartheid empowerment of the tribal authorities continues to have symbolic and material meaning for rural populations, newly created democratic structures are challenging traditional governance systems in the post-apartheid era. The intersection between these contrasting, and historically situated, systems suggests a dynamic renegotiation is occurring that will continue to impact rural households within the former places of apartheid.     

Developing KaNgwane: geographies of segregation and integration in the new South Africa

This paper examines social, political and economic processes within the former KaNgwane bantustan to understand the changing relationships between society and space in the post-apartheid era. Research on rural development and reconstruction in South Africa attest to the spatial legacy of apartheid while suggesting that dynamic transformations are occurring within the former bantustans. A central concern of this paper is the ways the apartheid government constructed and presented KaNgwane as a development project in order to justify racial segregation and control. While the bantustans have been effectively erased from the popular imagination, these spaces continue to be framed developmentally in ways that provide limited attention to local context and change. In order to consider the shifts in environment and development discourses within these territories, a case study is employed to evaluate livelihood production systems, environmental change, and governance institutions. It is argued that these patterns reveal the simultaneously static and dynamic nature of the bantustans while demonstrating that their reincorporation will remain an ongoing process in the post-apartheid era.     

Livelihoods and the transformative potential of cities: Challenges of inclusive development in Rustenburg,North West Province,South Africa

Urban geographers increasingly incorporate the potential of so‐called informal livelihood activities to provide resources that can be creatively managed in the transformation of urban space, particularly to the benefit of less well off and marginalized residents. This paper reports a case study in Rustenburg, North West Province, South Africa, where city managers began to promote inclusive development in the early 1990s, just prior to the formal dismantling of the apartheid system. The findings reveal that Rustenburg's urban transformation process, over a decade later, continued to reproduce repressive practices that limit the informal livelihood activities of the urban majority. Apparently efforts of well‐meaning city managers to implement a sustainable and inclusive development process are often rendered futile at the point of actually defining the constituents of urban socioeconomic transformation.     

Between a rock and a hard place: contested livelihoods in Qwaqwa National Park, South Africa

This paper examines rural livelihoods and the prospects for participatory conservation through a case study of Qwaqwa National Park (QNP) in South Africa. The park was established in 1992 in the context of South Africa's transition to democracy, growing ecotourism in the country and global movements towards conservation involving and benefiting local people. The paper argues that the protracted conflict between park residents and management led to new patterns of livelihood activities and household formation, and resulted in material and social differentiation amongst park households. The goals of park management, with a commitment to nature conservation and ecotourism, were at odds with the livelihood practices of park residents. Conflicts arose over stocking levels, overgrazing, wood-cutting and deforestation and over the use of other natural resources, including water and medicinal plants. The park was the site of a Rand Water project that employed many residents. Residents found themselves between a rock and a hard place as they resisted attempts by the management to reduce stocking levels and yet relied on management to gain access to sources of paid employment.     

The Knysna Basin, South Africa: geomorphology, landscape sensitivity and sustainability

The Knysna Basin, a southern Cape catchment, drains into the Knysna estuary. The landscape characteristics are the product of a long geomorphic evolution resulting in high sensitivity to change. Consideration of the geomorphology is followed by examples of impacts on the estuary and adjacent areas. The need for sustainability in the context of development is argued. The paper is a southern African contribution to the landscape sensitivity issue.     

The shifting sand of geography in South Africa

South African geography, like other subjects, has to undergo the arduous process of curriculum change in order to meet the demands of the new education system and to contribute to a broader agenda of national reconstruction. Changes within geography can shed light on the impact and implications of the new national curriculum on teaching subjects. The paper suggests that the introduction of environmental education into Curriculum 2005 offers geography educators the opportunity and the challenge to advance geographic knowledge.     

The concentration of urban crime in space by race: evidence from South Africa

Crime inequality in neighborhoods by race is blamed on social inequalities borne out of segregation and economic discrimination. South Africa is a country synonymous with racial-spatial segregation and discrimination as a result of legislatively enforced policies of the former apartheid government. This study examines whether urban crime inequalities by race exist in the city of Tshwane, South Africa and identifies the empirical causes of these crime inequalities. Violent and sexual crime was found to concentrate in Black African neighborhoods, while property crime was concentrated in neighborhoods classified as “Mixed”. The causes of crime in neighborhoods were found to vary across racial groups with results suggesting non-uniformity in the extent to which the various constructs impact crime based on race. The results challenge the notion that segregation and economic discrimination uniformly impacts affected communities. Explanations for the findings are provided in the context of an increasingly eclectic post-apartheid South African city.     

Resilient geographies: land, boundaries and the consolidation of the former bantustans in post-1994 South Africa

This paper focuses on the spatial impact of land reform and the redrawing of internal boundaries on South Africa's former bantustans. It argues that, in contrast to the democratic government's intention to use land reform and boundary demarcation to effectively change the spatial legacy of apartheid, these processes tend to cement the geography of the former bantustans. Though earlier research correctly projected that post-apartheid policies could result in the enlargement of the areas of the former bantustans, the ways in which this could happen were still unclear. This paper draws on experiences of land reform and boundary demarcation to demonstrate how and why the areas of the former bantustans have been enlarged over the 12 years of democracy in South Africa.     

Thermochronometry and palaeomagnetism of the Archaean Nelshoogte Pluton, South Africa

²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb single-grain zircon, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar single-grain hornblende and biotite, and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar bulk-sample muscovite and biotite ages from the Nelshoogte trondhjemite pluton located in eastern Transvaal, South Africa, show that this granitoid had a protracted thermal history spanning 3213±4  Ma to about 3000  Ma. Whole-rock ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages from cross-cutting dolerite dykes indicate that these were intruded at about 1900  Ma. There is no evidence of this or other, later events significantly affecting the argon systematics of the minerals from the pluton dated by the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar method.
  The pluton has a well-defined palaeomagnetic pole which is dated at 3179±18 (2 σ ) Ma by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of hornblende. This pole (18°N, 310°E, A ₉₅=9°) yields a palaeolatitude of 0°, significantly different from other Archaean poles from the Kaapvaal Craton. The palaeolatitude difference implies that there was significant apparent polar wander during the Archaean. A second, overprinting magnetization seen in the pluton is also seen in the lower-Proterozoic dolerite dykes, and is consistent with other lower-Proterozoic (2150–1950  Ma) poles for southern Africa.     

The Effects of Informal Settlement on Suburban Property Values in Cape Town,South Africa

During the late 1980s some informal settlements were established within or near affluent Cape Town suburbs. Despite objections by suburban residents that these settlements would lead to a rapid escalation in crime and a dramatic fall in the value of properties, the authorities allowed the settlements to remain. Using data on property transfers, which are then mapped using GIS, the paper examines the effects that the informal settlement of Marconi Beam had on house prices and housing turnover within the adjacent suburb of Milnerton. The results show that most of the objections regarding Marconi Beam's effect on property values were groundless as the settlement had only a negligible effect on property values in the adjacent suburb.     

The Effects of Informal Settlement on Suburban Property Values in Cape Town,South Africa

During the late 1980s some informal settlements were established within or near affluent Cape Town suburbs. Despite objections by suburban residents that these settlements would lead to a rapid escalation in crime and a dramatic fall in the value of properties, the authorities allowed the settlements to remain. Using data on property transfers, which are then mapped using GIS, the paper examines the effects that the informal settlement of Marconi Beam had on house prices and housing turnover within the adjacent suburb of Milnerton. The results show that most of the objections regarding Marconi Beam's effect on property values were groundless as the settlement had only a negligible effect on property values in the adjacent suburb.     

Cooperation at different scales: challenges for local and international water resource governance in South Africa

Theory on environmental governance and water governance emphasises decentralised, devolved forms of interaction between stakeholders. As previously excluded actors are empowered to take part in governance, new forms of cooperation are created. This paper examines how the cooperative principle has influenced stakeholder interaction at the local and international scales of water governance in South Africa. Water policies and initiatives have been set up to promote multi-level governance that emphasises cooperation between various stakeholders. The emphasis on cooperation and inclusiveness is particularly pertinent to the South African context because of its apartheid past. The paper asks whether there have been new forms of cooperation between a wider array of actors, as the theory proposes. By using the case studies of the Sabie catchment and the Lesotho Highlands Water Project to examine local and international level governance, the paper finds challenges related to power disparity and interdependence of actors, and risk perceptions of inclusive decision-making. It is found that at both the local and international level, the state, which is a 'traditional' actor, still plays an influential role in decision-making. 'New' actors such as businesses, civil society, and regional institutions are more visible but have limited decision-making power. Non-linear, time-consuming forms of cooperation occur in water governance.     

Apartheid spatial engineering and land use change in Mankweng, South Africa: 1963–2001

Land use change studies permeate the geographic literature. While these studies have helped researchers understand the dynamics and importance of such changes, they have less often taken a deeper historical approach in combination with their traditional strengths of geographic information analysis. In this study, we explore historical land use changes in one of South Africa's former bantustans, Lebowa, from 1963 to 2001. We argue that changes in land use arise from both current socioeconomic dynamics but also from historical precedent established by the apartheid regime. Our methods couple historical aerial photography to recent household surveys to elucidate the national, regional and local influences over land use change. We conducted extensive field research in the study site between 2003 and 2006. Our findings show a high degree of urbanization, a loss of grassland and agricultural land and a dramatic pattern of increasing spatial concentration near growth points. We outline three recommendations for policymakers planning post-apartheid rural spaces and conclude with future research needs.     

'To define the indefinable': population classification and the census in South Africa

The population of many countries, including South Africa, has been classified into discrete groups from colonial times until the present day, for purposes of census enumeration. A reading of the census results requires an understanding of the subtleties and shifts of the classification system, which were frequently related to a definition of legal and political rights, including place of residence. The national census has tended to reinforce the groups it was initially meant only to observe.     

南非交通基础设施建设的潜力与方向评估

交通基础设施作为经济发展的“先行官”,对国民经济发展具有巨大推动作用。参与南非重大基础设施建设,对加强中国与南非战略合作、推动中国企业走入南非投资兴业具有重要意义。2010年,南非《全国运输总体规划(2005-2050)》（即 NATMAP 2050）正式出台,对南非铁路、公路、航空、港口、管道等基础设施进行了详实的安排,总投资额高达7500亿兰特。本文通过深入解读该规划,识别出南非铁路、港口等交通基础设施领域的投资重点和重大项目。在此基础上,结合南非城镇体系分布、矿产资源开发、国际贸易发展等方面的现状特征分析,系统评价了南非高铁客运通道、大宗货运通道、港口体系的投资潜力和方向,筛选出投资潜力较大的关键项目,以期为我国更好地参与南非经济发展进程提供决策支持,同时也为我国企业到南非投资创业提供参考。     

The Potential for Mixed Methods: Results from the Field in Urban South Africa

With the “cultural turn” in geography, scholars have become more focused on the politics of representation, politics of fieldwork, and politics of the research setting. In human geography, this epistemological shift has been accompanied by a methodological move toward intensive methods at the expense of extensive methods. In this article, I suggest that mixed methods that utilize the strengths of both intensive and extensive methods can offset the weaknesses of each method. Moreover, results from the field suggest that the combination of intensive and extensive methods could produce unique insights only possible from a mixed method approach.     

Land degradation and climate change in South Africa

This paper considers the potential impact of future climate change on the nature and extent of land degradation in South Africa. The basis of the assessment is the comprehensive review published by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEA&T) as a contribution to the South African effort in respect of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. The DEA&T report is founded on information collated from 34 workshops, one in each of the agricultural regions of South Africa, involving some 453 participants consisting mainly of agricultural extension officers and soil conservation technicians. This analysis reveals that land degradation is underpinned by poverty and its structural roots in colonial and apartheid political planning. Nevertheless, future climate change represents a key challenge to the developing economies of countries like South Africa. Regionally downscaled models predicting the nature and degree of rainfall changes in the future are used to assess the possible impact of future change on the South African land degradation situation. It is concluded that the most severely degraded areas of the country, including large areas of the former 'homeland' states, are likely to become even more susceptible under predicted climate change scenarios.