From East London to Buffalo City Metropole: Developmental Challenges of a South African Metro

Abstract

Buffalo City, which incorporates East London, faces some of the most significant development challenges of any urban centre in South Africa. In addition to lying in one of the poorest regions in the country, it was one of the most profoundly disrupted centres during apartheid - creating a legacy that has been difficult to disentangle. Colonial-era segregation and the apartheid system resulted, inter alia, in racially-based group areas and the creation of a new ‘Homeland’ city, Mdantsane, to which thousands of blacks were forcibly relocated. Against this backdrop and within varied theoretical perspectives, this chapter focuses on a number of critical geographical and environmental issues that emerged in the area in the post-apartheid period. These include municipal restructuring and the establishment of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM); the failure of the local municipality in particular to address environmental justice issues related to solid waste management, the proper maintenance of beaches, and the protection of marine resources; the socio-economic transformation in Mdantsane; residential desegregation and socio-spatial restructuring; engagements amongst the poor in urban agriculture; human rights and human trafficking in the municipality; and spatial injustice and citizens’ conflicts stemming from rampant corruption and the collapse of good governance within the BCMM.