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A new vision for Tshwane

Introduction

His Lordship the Mayor of Tshwane, Father Smagaliso Mkhatshwa; Councillors here present;
Ladies and Gentlemen:

This symposium has a useful purpose. The fact that it is at all taking place, the composition of the participants and the topic, all serve to confirm that ours are exciting times. The constellation of factors brings into sharp relief the reality that South Africa, our country, is experiencing an epochal watershed.

The symposium posits as its end the orchestration of a vision and the devising of modalities by which to restructure the City of Tshwane. The existence of the city - a repository of opulence and prosperity - and the stark contrast between the city and the poverty-stricken areas in its periphery, mean that we have to grapple with the same dualities of modernity which exercised the minds of classical thinkers. Just as change was their staple diet, it must be the stock-in-trade of contemporary sociological thought.

The process of urban restructuring and city integration lies at the heart of improving the lives of millions of South Africans. The focus on partnership between all spheres of government, the private sector, parastatals, academic institutions, NGOs and civil society is the correct approach in seeking to give new life to a city and its people. I have no doubt in my mind that processes like these, done in partnerships such as the one in evidence today, will add to our collective capacity to create better life-sustaining opportunities for all our people.

The impact of the Apartheid City on economic and human development

One of the abiding and most visible consequences of past policies is the dual nature of our cities and towns: the formal and the informal, the employed and the unemployed, the insiders and the marginalised, the wealthy and the poor, juxtaposed and yet often worlds apart.

For many decades, the previous government together with the former City Council of Pretoria attempted to plan and administer Pretoria as a model apartheid city. The first phase of this process came with the forced removals of Bantule, Marabastad, Lady Selbourne, Eastwood, Highlands and Newlands and the creation of segregated townships on the urban periphery such as Atteridgeville, Mamelodi, Eersterus and Laudium.

This had the effect of displacing those who could least afford it furthest away from places of work and economic opportunity. It also destroyed the economic livelihood of many families.

The second phase, at the height of `grand apartheid', came with the establishment of townships such as Winterveld, Mabopane, Soshanguve, Hammanskraal and Ekangala. The aim was to create a whites-only city with decentralised industrial areas such as Rosslyn and Babelegi served by black labour located in `homelands'.

The attention to detailed ethnic social engineering at the time was startling. For example, not many today know that the name `Soshanguve' was carefully manufactured out of the names of the `population groups' that were meant to live there in specially segregated areas: Sotho, Shangaan, Nguni and Venda.

The spatial consequences of displaced urbanisation can be seen in the way Tshwane functional metropolitan region is shaped today:

* An urban core, surrounded by an inner periphery, where 40% of the population lives, and which produces 91% of the economic output;
* An outer periphery in the north-west and north-east, home to 60% of the population;
* High volumes of long-distance commuting, requiring huge transport subsidies, between the outer periphery and the urban core every day.

The economic consequences of the apartheid city are severe. With the rise of the phenomenon of globalisation in recent decades, cities are increasingly the focal points of international finance and labour markets. Capital and labour are attracted to cities that are well managed and that perform well. The economic viability of cities is critical for national economic performance, and for the ability of a country to compete globally.

Unless a new pattern of integrated development emerges, the City of Tshwane, directly and indirectly, will continue to carry the high costs of financing low-density development on the periphery and transporting large numbers of commuters. Structural economic inefficiency will continue, making international competitiveness more difficult to achieve.

Serious consideration therefore needs to be given to a spatial development strategy for Tshwane that promotes densification and integration, and which counters urban sprawl. This needs to apply to land, housing, transportation and economic development strategies.

The human and social consequences of the apartheid city have been devastating. Spatial dislocation in the City of Tshwane means higher daily life costs for the poor, particularly in terms of time and travel distances to work, the purchase of goods and recreation.

In terms of any indicator - education, employment, per capita income, service levels, housing backlogs - the people in the inner and outer periphery of Tshwane are severely disadvantaged. This means that an anti-poverty strategy that is not based on giving poor people better access to the economy of the central urban core is unlikely to be very successful.

A Vision for the City of Tshwane

The new political boundary of the City of Tshwane, for the first time in fifty years, reflects the both the formal and the functional metropolitan region. This is significant, because it marks the first opportunity for equitable development for all the people of the region.

A single area of political governance and administration means that the slogan that characterised the mass struggles in the 1980s: `One City, One Tax Base', can now be realised. The constitutional, legal, administrative and budgetary pre-requisites for an inclusive and people-centred city development strategy for Tshwane are in place.

However, there is a need for a single, common vision to unite all the people of Tshwane, and for this vision to be translated into a programme of action. The symposium on the restructuring and rebirth of the City of Tshwane, with its emphasis on bringing a range of different stakeholders together, can make a positive contribution to this process.

The Cities Support and Learning Network

All metropolitan areas and large cities in South Africa face similar challenges. This is why Government is promoting the establishment of a Cities Support and Learning Network.

The aim of the Network is threefold:

* To assess, disseminate and apply the experience of large city government in a South African context;
* To analyse strategic challenges facing South Africa cities, particularly in the context of globalisation; and,
* To create a partnership between different spheres of government to support the governance of cities in South Africa.

To achieve these goals, the Network will provide a number of services specifically targeting the needs of city development, for example:

* Sharing of information between our cities, and between cities and other spheres of government, in order to broaden knowledge and promote joint learning;
* Promoting better inter-sectoral and intergovernmental coordination and integration;
* Focusing on city performance by benchmarking according to international standards;
* Mobilising support for good governance and urban management in the cities;
* International networking with other city networks;
* Joint research programmes; and,
* Leadership development.

Some of the programmes under discussion in the Network include:

* A metropolitan economic development and job creation strategy;
* Benchmarking city development performance;
* A city programme for effective responses to HIV/AIDS;
* Metropolitan transportation planning, financing and management;
* Information sharing around the provision of free basic services, urban renewal strategies, and the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development.

I would like to recommend therefore that the information that is generated and the insights you develop during the course of your symposium are recorded and shared with other cities via the Network, and that you take advantage of lessons from other cities as you develop your own strategies.

Conclusion

The City of Tshwane has a number of strengths, including a strong asset base, consisting of well-located publicly owned land, good road and rail infrastructure, a highly developed technology and research sector, and a high level of public facilities. There is no reason why, based on a common vision of an integrated and inclusive city, your economic, human and social development challenges cannot be met.

Let me by way of conclusion congratulate the City of Tshwane, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the University of Pretoria for co-sponsoring this initiative. It holds out the welcome promise of serving us and those yet to come. Your can always count on national government for support.

I thank you,

Issued by Ministry of Provincial and Local Government

22 November 2001