Contested terrains: Cities and hinterlands in post-apartheid boundary delimitations |
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Authors: | Frédéric Giraut Brij Maharaj |
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Institution: | (1) Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, France;(2) University of Natal (Centre for Civil Society) |
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Abstract: | In South Africa attempts are being made to address the socio-spatial distortions of the apartheid era through a more equitable
distribution of resources, and the re-drawing of municipal geographical boundaries. However, boundaries are not neutral geographic
lines. Boundary changes are often associated with a redistribution of political power and resources. The aim of this paper
is to analyse the effects of the contemporary territorial and administrative restructuring on urban dynamics in South Africa.
More specifically, the focus is on how the process of territorial restructuring impacted on metropolitan areas as well as
on secondary cities and their hinterlands. Examining and elucidating the manner in which various social, economic and political
forces have manifested themselves in the process of boundary delimitation in a major metropolitan centre as well as adjacent
rural areas is a central theme of this paper. There were considerable contestations over the delimitation of new local government
boundaries. Affluent metro authorities like that in Durban were opposed to the spatial extension of their boundaries because
of the costs of the providing services and infrastructure in the deprived margins. Similarly, there was concern that incorporation
of rural areas will result in increased municipal service charges being imposed on these communities. Tensions were heightened
between urban and rural regions because traditional leaders believed that their territorial jurisdiction and authority were
being undermined. In other parts of the country, the merger of traditionally white and black fragments of secondary cities
often resulted in many black locations continuing to be marginalized. There appears to be neither the political will nor the
economic capacity to upgrade these zones of marginalized urban communities. While the Municipal Demarcation Board was largely
successful in eliminating the political geography of apartheid at a macro- scale, this paper suggests that the greater challenge
for government and policy makers is to reduce the socio-spatial and economic inequalities which appears to be still very high
and perhaps increasing.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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