Rural settlement and retail trade business in the Eastern Cape

Abstract

Rural retail trade shops in the Transkei/Ciskei areas of the Eastern Cape are inherently tied to settlement form and distribution. Spatial distortions in settlement associated with resettlement policies in the past are increasingly being enhanced by unplanned settlement growth. The undeveloped state of the rural economy makes it difficult for most settlements to sustain their inhabitants. Rural shops are trapped in an economy and settlement system not conducive to formal retail trade. The result is that settlement today imposes constraints on the growth of these shops.