District development and closer settlement economy in Gazankulu

Abstract

Development planning in the South African homelands has been part of the policy of separate development. This policy implied that the homeland inhabitants should make a living there or only leave these areas to be migrant labourers. Agricultural and industrial projects have been developed since the sixties to provide labour opportunities for this population, but these have had little impact on the large need for employment. This study shows how little the local economy of a settlement in Gazankulu is linked to the development projects which are directed at the aggregate, homeland or district level. Their history of underdevelopment has not equipped the local population to escape the constraints of a poor rural existence. Some suggestions are made to move towards a more democratic relationship in development planning and distribution of resources.

Notes

Senior lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg.

Financial assistance was received from the Human Sciences Research Council for the research on which this article is based. However, the opinions expressed in this article and the conclusions made are those of the author. I am also grateful to Yvonne Bodmer, At Fischer, Louis Grundlingh, Boet Kotze and Johan Snyman, all of RAU, for comments on drafts of this paper. The paper was read at the Conference of the Association for Anthropology in Southern Africa in Grahamstown in September 1988. and is presented here in a slightly altered form.