First steps in the desegregation of South African towns and cities, 1991–6

Abstract

South African towns and cities have begun the process of residential desegregation after the apartheid era. This article analyses the detailed enumeration tract results of the 1996 census to assess the extent to which this process has progressed. The resultant indices of intergroup dissimilarity suggest that the urban areas are still exceptionally highly segregated, indeed 'hypersegregated'. Furthermore, spatial desegregation is both group and place specific. Whites have desegregated more slowly than other groups, and integration between Africans and whites is extremely limited. Although there are some variations between places, the heritage of country-wide enforcement of urban apartheid has eliminated most regional differences. Nevertheless, segregation levels were usually significantly lower in KwaZulu-Natal than the other provinces. Furthermore, the national and provincial capitals do emerge as significant centres of desegregation.