The impact of residential desegregation on social integration: Evidence from a South African neighbourhood

This paper analyses the potential for social integration in post-apartheid urban South Africa by examining the lives of those already living in desegregated spaces. The case study is a low-cost state-assisted housing project situated in the wealthy southern suburbs of Cape Town. In this social housing project, named Westlake village, coloured and Black African (alongside a handful of white and Indian) residents were awarded state housing in 1999 as replacement for their previous homes (informal and formal), which were demolished to make way for a mixed land-use development, of which their new homes form a small component. Westlake’s desegregation is found to extend beyond mere residential abode, affecting resident’s everyday lives to the extent that apartheid’s history and geography are superseded by other factors (such as proximity and affordability) in decision-making. Furthermore, integration at the everyday level of informal neighbourly mixing is prevalent. Although more formal cross-race friendships are rare, discussion reveals this as a consequence of Westlake’s specific socio-historic identity rather than racial divisions per se. Empirical evidence is used to propose a continuum of social integration experience. This continuum addresses the form of integration, for example greeting in the street, visiting homes, inter-marriage; and also the spaces of integration, for example physical space (shared neighbourhood), economic space (common employment-type), social space (cross-race friendship), political space (common involvement in civic organisations) and cultural space (shared sense of belonging).     

Rethinking the ‘domus’ in domestic violence: homelessness, space and domestic violence in South Africa

An examination of domestic violence and where it takes place provides significant insight into debates about the meaning of home. It is argued here that discussions of domestic violence could make more use of feminist geographers’ and development theorists’ analyses of the home. Examining the experiences of homeless and insecurely housed women in Durban, the paper aims to explore ideas of ‘home’ implicit in much research on domestic violence and argues that these ideas require further examination. The paper focuses on three assumptions about the home (in experiences of domestic violence); namely, the home as a formal material space, the home as private, and the domicile as home. In conclusion the paper argues for a more nuanced understanding of home.     

Crossing the racial divide: a spatial-ecological perspective of offenders in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa

Post-apartheid South Africa has been plagued by an increase in crime and a concomitant increase in the number of incarcerated offenders. Researchers have postulated many proximate causes for the insidious increase in crime, including the vast socio-economic inequalities existing in the country, a remnant of apartheid-era policies and post-apartheid migrations. This article focuses on the neglected field of the environmental criminology of offenders. Following a spatial-ecological approach the relationship between various socio-economic variables and offender rates in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa is modelled. The GIS-based methodological procedure includes a crime offender index, correlational analysis and principal components analysis and produced five factors: social status and income, family characteristics, unskilled earner, residential mobility and ageing population. These five factors, accounted for almost 75% of the variance in the offender index. The findings of our research reject race as a determinant of crime, and rather highlight existing and emerging socio-economic inequalities in the globally connected post-industrial city in regions of political instability and economic uncertainty and its relationship with crime and crime prevention.     

Visual methodologies through a feminist lens: South African soap operas and the post-apartheid nation

Using a discussion of South African soap operas, I will place the idea of visuality in a discourse analysis that incorporates a feminist epistemological lens, or an epistemology that integrates reflexivity and an acknowledgment of the dialogic nature of visual media. Through this discussion, I will examine the possibilities that dialogism provides for unpacking and exploring the politics of imperfect translation between the visual and the textual. These methodological interventions, I argue, will help enrich discussions of the visual’s role in the contested realm of geographic imaginations and move beyond the distanced position of the masculine gaze.

South African eucalypts: Health,trees, and atmospheres in the colonial contact zone

In this article I suggest that a reading of previous studies, which cast the early transfers of eucalyptus to South Africa along economic and aesthetic rationales can be enhanced by medical history. Through a case from King William’s Town in the 1870s, I show that the appeal of the eucalyptus hinged on the olfactory aspect of the trees, which were conceived as an important public health factor. I then proceed to outline how a clearer understanding of the role of olfaction in ecological studies can uncover new aspects of social dynamics and human relations to the natural environment. I argue that taking the atmosphere seriously as the medium through which we interact with the world, opens for an understanding of olfaction as an important and largely unexplored ethos that guided the dramatic reshaping of the colonial landscapes during much of the nineteenth century.     

Hybridity emergent: Geo-history, learning, and land restitution in South Africa

Market-Led Agrarian Reform (MLAR), which is advocated by the World Bank and is being implemented in various contexts around the world, is a more neo-liberal approach to land reform than that we have seen implemented in the past. MLAR principles have underpinned South Africa’s land reform programme, being based on the ‘willing-seller, willing-buyer’ principle, which guarantees market-related prices to sellers. Evidence presented in this paper, however, raises serious questions about the extent to which the South African government has held on to MLAR principles. Specifically, the paper argues that South Africa’s peculiar geo-historical context has in some instances led the government to fuse market-led approaches with more authoritarian interventions that dictate to land reform beneficiaries how the land will be used. A case in point is the government’s approach to the restitution of land rights to communities dispossessed from the Levubu area of Limpopo province. As the paper illustrates, the government has imposed on the intended beneficiaries a so-called ‘strategic partnership’ between them and agribusinesses. Although the government touts the approach as a way to protect the commercial viability of the land and to transfer skills from white farmers to the beneficiaries, the terms of the Levubu solution may turn out to be less than favourable for the beneficiaries.     

Geochemistry of South African On- and Off-craton, Group I and Group II Kimberlites: Petrogenesis and Source Region Evolution

Bulk-rock geochemical compositions of hypabyssal kimberlites,emplaced through the Archaean Kaapvaal craton and ProterozoicNamaqua–Natal belt, are used to estimate close-to-primarymagma compositions of Group I kimberlites (Mg-number = 0·82–0·87;22–28 wt % MgO; 21–30 wt % SiO₂; 10–17 wt% CaO; 0·2–1·7 wt % K₂O) and Group II kimberlites(Mg-number = 0·86–0·89; 23–29 wt %MgO; 28–36 wt % SiO₂; 8–13 wt % CaO; 1·6–4·6wt % K₂O). Group I kimberlites are distinguished from GroupII by their lower Ba/Nb (<12), Th/Nb (<1·1) andLa/Nb (<1·1) but higher Ce/Pb (>22) ratios. Thedistinct rare earth element patterns of the two types of kimberlitesindicate a more highly metasomatized source for Group II kimberlites,with more residual clinopyroxene and less residual garnet. Thesimilarity of Sr and Nd isotope ratios and diagnostic traceelement ratios (Ce/Pb, Nb/U, La/Nb, Ba/Nb, Th/Nb) of Group Ikimberlites to ocean island basalts (OIB), but more refractoryMg-numbers and Ni contents, are consistent with derivation ofGroup I kimberlites from subcontinental lithospheric mantle(SCLM) that has been enriched by OIB-like melts or fluids. Sourceenrichment ages and plate reconstructions support a direct associationof these melts or fluids with Mesozoic upwelling beneath southernAfrica of a mantle plume(s), at present located beneath thesouthern South Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, the geochemicalcharacteristics of both on- and off-craton Group II kimberlitesshow strong similarity to calc-alkaline magmas, particularlyin their Nb and Ta depletion and Pb enrichment. It is suggestedthat Group II kimberlites are derived from both Archaean andProterozoic lithospheric mantle source regions metasomatizedby melts or fluids associated with ancient subduction events,unrelated to mantle plume upwelling. The upwelling of mantleplumes beneath southern Africa during the Mesozoic, at the timeof Gondwana break-up, may have acted as a heat source for partialmelting of the SCLM and the generation of both Group I and GroupII kimberlite magmas. KEY WORDS: kimberlite; geochemistry; petrogenesis; mantle plumes; South Africa     

Conservation and community in the new South Africa: A case study of the Mahushe Shongwe Game Reserve

The idealization of natural landscapes and peoples during colonialism, coupled with the popularity of sustainable development in the postcolonial era, has contributed to the expansion of conservation planning throughout the African continent. Concerns surrounding the promotion of national and international conservation agendas at the expense of local livelihood needs have generated interest in community conservation projects that attempt to include local participation and knowledge in natural resource management. The early excitement associated with community conservation has waned in light of recent assessments that it has been unsuccessful in meeting its ecological and social goals. This parallels other research that suggests communities are understood in generic or homogenous ways that influence how these initiatives are understood. Using a case study of the Mahushe Shongwe Game Reserve, this paper evaluates how rural households access environmental and economic resources to produce livelihoods, and how these access patterns impact their views of the project. It is argued that there are significant livelihood variations within the community that shape the ways households engage with, and benefit from, conservation planning. Rather than strictly viewing Mahushe Shongwe as a constraint to environmental resource access or site for limited employment, community members identify a number of benefits from its existence including education and development opportunities. Additionally, transformations in governance systems in the region impact community views of the project since younger residents are less likely to engage with the Matsamo Tribal Authority, which participates in managing the reserve. The consequence is that conservation has various impacts and meanings within a specific community that remain tied to the livelihood and governance systems being renegotiated in the post-apartheid era.     

Articulating an Indian diaspora in South Africa: The Consulate General of India,diaspora associations and practices of collaboration

Engagements between sending states and their diasporas have come under increasing critical scrutiny. Whilst political geographers have driven critical analysis of national level policies, debates have largely overlooked the broader range of actors, transactions and practices involved in implementing national policies in a geohistorically diverse array of diasporic contexts and settings. Over the last decade, the Indian government has invested significant resources in overseas diplomatic missions, consulates and high commissions to administer its diaspora outreach strategies. This paper examines the role of the Consulate General of India (CGI) in Durban, South Africa, focusing in particular on the networks of agents, associations, groups and political actors involved in collaborating with the CGI Durban in diaspora outreach practices. This paper draws on two periods of fieldwork in Durban between 2004 and 2005 and was supplemented by ongoing visual and textual analysis of news articles, promotional material, reports and websites. Using the concept of articulation, the paper highlights the discursive and performative practices involved in bringing together the agendas of the GOI with those of South African Indian diaspora associations through the outreach practices of the CGI in Durban. It argues that articulatory practices are essential to resolving some of the subjective and embodied dilemmas and contestations of belonging inherent in South African Indians’ participation in diaspora outreach initiatives. Investigating how articulation contributes to drawing diverse and even competing agendas together makes room for further understanding the ways in which diaspora outreach practices can travel across a wide network, and the diverse agencies that can become catalysed in the process.     

Place and the implications of ‘the local’ for sustainability: an investigation of the Ugu District Municipality in South Africa

Sustainable development is accepted worldwide as a programme for the improvement of human-environment relations. It has been argued that the local level is the optimum level at which to implement sustainability. However, variability of local characteristics problematises this process as engagements with the principles and practices of sustainable development in unique places are likely to result in varying interpretations of the internationally accepted discourses of sustainable development. In order to assess local level interpretations of sustainability [Sharp, L., 1999. Local policy for the global environment: in search of a new perspective. Environmental Politics 8 (4), 137-159] calls for a more contextual analysis of the relationship between sustainability and the local level.This paper evaluates the interpretations of sustainability that were evident in a capacity building workshop in the Ugu District Municipality on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa through consideration of the context in which they emerged. The notion of place as a construction of social and spatial interrelations, the social relations of power within places and the environmental discourses through which debates over sustainability often occur have been used in this study to consider how unequal power relations and the process of political and social transition taking place within the Ugu District Municipality drive the social construction of sustainability agendas. Consequently, the case study draws attention to the need to consider the ways in which local contexts set the terms for interpretations of sustainability as these conceptualizations can direct actions for sustainability and may interrelate to assist or hinder the implementation of local level sustainability plans.     

Seismic Hazard and Risk Assessment for Tulbagh,South Africa: Part II – Assessment of Seismic Risk

This is the second part of our study on the assessment of seismic hazard and seismic risk for Tulbagh, the settlement, located about 90 km N-E from Cape Town, where the strongest and most damaging earthquake known in the existing earthquake history of South Africa took place. This part of our study, which can be read independently from Part I, concentrates on the probabilistic seismic risk analysis (PSRA) forTulbagh. The work begins with an introduction and a historical perspective on the estimation of seismic damage to buildings. The methodology for the estimation of expected damage from a probabilistic point of view is then presented. The work closes with an application of the described methodology to a site in the vicinity of Tulbagh.     

‘Bringing government to the people’: women, local governance and community participation in South Africa

This paper considers the ongoing political transformations in South Africa in the context of debates about good governance and participatory democracy. It first appraises the current transformations of local government in South Africa, focusing specifically on relationships between gender equality and citizenship on the one hand, and local government policy, legislation, and community participation on the other, and then explores meanings of participation and how they inform approaches towards local socio-economic development. The findings of primary research conducted with civil society organisations and black women in communities in the Cape Town metropolitan area are explored through three interrelated themes. First, the model of structured participation that is central to South Africa’s democratic transformation is assessed from the perspective of black women. Second, cultures of alienation, both within local governance structures and amongst black women and the extent to which recent restructuring is combating or contributing to these are explored. Third, how participation policies are dealing with conflict within and between target groups are analysed, whether stakeholder group politics obliterate important differences in interests and whether alternative structures might be more effective in terms of women’s participation and empowerment. Finally, the findings are interpreted in relation to theoretical concepts of good governance and participatory democracy, and the potential and problems of realising South Africa’s transformation process toward developmental local government are assessed.     

Sand,hearths, lithics and a bit of bioturbation: Site formation processes at Umhlatuzana rockshelter,South Africa

Umhlatuzana rockshelter is known for its continuous record of Middle and Later Stone Age lithic assemblages. This study presents multiproxy geoarchaeological data (micromorphology, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy) to reconstruct the depositional and post-depositional history of the site. Although the Stone Age deposits macroscopically appear homogeneous, micromorphological analysis reveals the existence of primary, unaltered depositional microlayering throughout the sequence. Sediments related to combustion activities on-site are observed in both the Holocene and Pleistocene deposits. Post-depositional geochemical alterations result in the formation of several phosphatic minerals that significantly affect the site's preservation conditions. One of those is vashegyite, a rare magnesium phosphate mineral related to acidic and moist sedimentary environments. Bioturbation features are prominent at the microscale, but sediment mixing does not seem to affect the vertical distribution of the artifacts. The observation of horizontal microlayering in both the Pleistocene and Holocene illuminates the dominant mechanism of sedimentation throughout the site's 70,000-year occupational history. It moreover shows that the lithics can be analysed as coherent assemblages.     

南非维特沃特斯兰德盆地绍斯迪普金矿床地质特征、成矿模式和找矿模型

对南非兰德砾岩型金矿床的研究成果进行总结,概括了绍斯迪普金矿床的区域地质背景、岩石地层划分,较为系统地分析了矿床的地质特征和矿床成因。 得出如下结论：①金的主要来源可能与太古宙含金花岗绿岩带有密切关系;②金矿体主要受太古宙文特斯多普砾岩地层和中兰德群中的Turffontein亚群埃尔斯伯格组砾岩地层控制;③金矿床可能经历了早期沉积成岩成矿阶段—后期改造富集多个（Klipriviersberg火山活动作用时期和与2050Ma布什维尔德杂岩体有关的变质作用高峰时期）阶段,为复合成因的层控改造型矿床。研究结果对该类矿床的深入研究和走出去的中国企业有重要的参考价值。     

南非维特沃特斯兰德盆地绍斯迪普金矿床地质特征、成矿模式和找矿模型

对南非兰德砾岩型金矿床的研究成果进行总结,概括了绍斯迪普金矿床的区域地质背景、岩石地层划分,较为系统地分析了矿床的地质特征和矿床成因。得出如下结论:1金的主要来源可能与太古宙含金花岗绿岩带有密切关系;2金矿体主要受太古宙文特斯多普砾岩地层和中兰德群中的Turffontein亚群埃尔斯伯格组砾岩地层控制;3金矿床可能经历了早期沉积成岩成矿阶段—后期改造富集多个(Klipriviersberg火山活动作用时期和与2050Ma布什维尔德杂岩体有关的变质作用高峰时期)阶段,为复合成因的层控改造型矿床。研究结果对该类矿床的深入研究和走出去的中国企业有重要的参考价值。     

The New Consort Gold Mine,Barberton greenstone belt,South Africa: orogenic gold mineralization in a condensed metamorphic profile

The New Consort Gold Mine in the Palaeo- to Mesoarchaean Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa is one of the oldest recognized orogenic gold deposits on Earth. The gold mineralization is hosted by discrete mylonitic units that occur at, or close to, the contact between the mafic and ultramafic volcanic rocks of the c. 3,280 Ma Onverwacht Group and the mainly metasedimentary rocks of the overlying c. 3,260–3,230 Ma Fig Tree Group. This contact, locally referred to as the Consort Bar, formed during ductile D₁ imbrication of the metavolcanosedimentary sequence and predates the main stage of the gold mineralization. The imbricate stack is situated in the immediate hanging wall of the basal granitoid–greenstone contact along the northern margin of the greenstone belt. It is characterized by a condensed metamorphic profile in which the metamorphic grade increases from upper greenschist facies conditions (510–530°C, 4 kbar) in rocks of the Fig Tree Group to upper amphibolite facies grades (600–700°C, 6–8 kbar) in the basal Onverwacht Group. Detailed structural and petrological investigations indicate that the Consort Bar represents a major structural break, which is largely responsible for the telescoping of metamorphic isograds within the structural sequence. Two stages of mineralization can be distinguished. Loellingite, pyrrhotite, and a calc–silicate alteration assemblage characterize an early high-T mineralization event, which is restricted to upper amphibolite facies rocks of the Onverwacht Group. This early mineralization may correlate with the local D₁ deformation. The second and main stage of gold mineralization was associated with renewed ductile shearing during D₂. The D₂ deformation resulted in the reactivation of earlier structures, and the formation of a NNW trending, steeply dipping shear zone system, the Shires Shear Zone, which separates two regional SE plunging D₁ synclines. The mineralized shear zones are intruded by abundant syn-kinematic pegmatite dykes that have previously been dated at c. 3040 Ma. Petrological and geothermobarometric data on ore and alteration assemblages indicate that the main stage of gold mineralization, which affected a crustal profile of ca. 1.5 km, was characterized by increasing temperatures (c. 520 to 600°C) with increasing structural depth. Sulfide assemblages in the ore bodies change progressively with metamorphic grade, ranging from arsenopyrite + pyrite + pyrrhotite in the structurally highest to arsenopyrite + pyrrhotite + chalcopyrite + loellingite in the structurally deepest part of the mine. The main stage of gold mineralization was broadly syn-peak metamorphic with respect to the Fig Tree Group, but postdates the peak of metamorphism in upper amphibolite facies rocks of the structurally underlying Onverwacht Group. This indicates that the mineralization coincided with the juxtaposition of the two units. As the footwall rocks were already on their retrograde path, metamorphic devolatilisation reactions within the greenstone sequence can be ruled out as the source of the mineralizing fluids.     

Iodine and bromine contents in the Palaeoproterozoic Hotazel iron formation, Transvaal Supergroup, South Africa: A reconnaissance study

A reconnaissance bulk geochemical study was carried out on ten samples from the Palaeoproterozoic Hotazel iron formation, South Africa, with emphasis on iodine and bromine abundances. Very low-absolute contents recorded for both halogens, i.e. 0.08–0.26 μg/g for I and 0.35–1.23 μg/g for Br, indicate that they should largely have been lost during burial diagenesis. Bulk I/Br ratios (0.08–0.50), however, show marginal variation across the selected sample set and broadly resemble those that typify recent marine sediments containing organic matter. The possibility emerges that both elements are organic matter-sourced and may thus provide a potential proxy for the role of biological processes during deposition and diagenesis of Precambrian iron formations.     

Poverty, vulnerability and the impact of flooding in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

The article evaluates household vulnerability after the 2000 flood in two poor communities of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study analyses the forms of vulnerability which disasters such as floods present. Using data gathered from a survey of households, the study presents the impacts, coping and adapting strategies of households after the 2000 flood. The article argues that beyond the concern over socio-economic circumstances as the major determinant of household vulnerability, the management of the disaster can serve to perpetuate vulnerability.     

Dislocating modernity: Identity, space and representations of street trade in Durban, South Africa

South Africa’s cities have experienced dramatic changes over the past decade. Cities are now home to a multiracial population, and have been transformed by new forms of economic and social interaction. For some, these changes have become a significant source of fear and anxiety. In this paper, we examine reactions to urban spatial change in the city of Durban, as expressed in local newspapers and interviews with suburban residents. We describe how the discourses of urban change in Durban have centred on the increased presence of street traders within the city’s public spaces, and the various ways in which the activity of street trade has disrupted long-established modernist norms governing the occupation and use of the urban space. Specifically, we offer a detailed reading of three prominent narratives within the discussion of street traders in Durban--chaos, congestion and pollution. We argue that street traders have come to embody a wide range of more deeply seated cultural anxieties, which have been brought to the fore in the context of South Africa’s transition. These anxieties arise from the ways in which modern understandings of order, agency and subjectivity have been called into question by material changes in the city, and have implications for the nature of citizenship and civic engagement in post-apartheid South Africa.     

南非Postmasburg地区锰矿床地质特征及成因分析

以南非Postmasburg地区Bishop、Paling两个矿区为研究载体,将研究区的地层划分为6个岩性单元,自下而上分别为白云岩单元、铁锰矿体单元、铁质细砂岩/铁质砾岩单元、泥质粉砂岩单元、石英岩/Gamagara页岩单元和Paling页岩单元。识别出了沉积受变质型、堆积型和锰质软泥或锰土型三类矿床,并讨论了其成因模型。根据地层序列特征,将研究区的发育与演化过程划分为4个阶段。分析表明:锰质软泥或锰土是富锰白云岩遭受溶蚀后的残余物。沉积序列各单元为渐变关系,而与白云岩单元之间为不整合接触关系。三种矿床类型都与白云岩的岩溶系统有关,锰质软泥或锰土中的锰来源于富锰白云岩,另外两种则可能来源于安山岩。两次岩溶系统之后分别形成了沉积受变质型矿床和堆积型矿床。成矿后期矿体受到Marthaspoort石英岩的保护而保存下来。