Development Planning In South Africa Research Articles

Contending for the designs and features of integrated development planning in South Africa? An empirical analysis of the Limpopo Province

Background: The Sphere of Local Government in South Africa serves a pertinent role of realising the provision of basic municipal services. In this case, the legislative interventions consider it mandatory for every municipality to develop integrated development plans (IDPs) to facilitate their developmental agendas. These municipalities are required to undertake approval process of IDPs to eventually generate measurable municipal agenda as the basis for basic municipal service delivery.Aim: This empirical study sought to analyse contentious issues regarding the structural design and operational features of the IDP process.Setting: Some municipalities in the Limpopo Province were selected for case study purpose where data were collected. This was in two district municipalities.Methods: Semi-structured interviews with adept municipal officials and councillors as well as surveys with some members of the community were conducted to gather relevant data so that informed analysis could be generated.Results: The findings highlight that the fundamental challenges of designs and features manifest on both the development and the implementation parts of the IDP process.Conclusion: It is therefore proposed, on the one hand, that there is a need to strengthen municipal capacity building for officials to facilitate an effective IDP process. On the other hand, municipal councils are considered necessary to have the capacity to undertake their oversight role over the municipal executive and functions in driving the IDP process agenda. In this way, a remedial consideration suitable for various categories of municipalities should be introduced.Contribution: No contentious issues regarding the structural design and operational features of the integrated development planning process was discovered and also demonstrates that there is no one-size-fits-all regarding municipal planning and implementation.

Mainstreaming Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction: Towards a Sustainable and Just Transition in Local Development Planning in Rural South Africa

Ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR) is gaining momentum globally and is also considered to enhance climate change adaptation and sustainable transition to a low-carbon economy in South Africa. However, there is little evidence regarding how the approach is applied at the local level. It also remains unclear to what extent the approach is integrated into local development planning and what opportunities exist for further integration in rural areas. Therefore, our study examined opportunities for mainstreaming Eco-DRR into local development planning in South Africa. Fourteen integrated development plans from ‘mostly rural’ local municipalities in Limpopo Province were systematically assessed to understand the process of mainstreaming Eco-DRR into their current development plans under the following aspects: localized climate trends, hydroclimatic risks considered, risk and vulnerability assessments, disaster risk reduction (DRR) actions, early-warning systems, financing mechanisms, integration of traditional and technical knowledge, stakeholder engagement, and alignment with district, provincial, and national priorities. Although all plans address DRR, none explicitly addresses Eco-DRR, despite a few similar actions. DRR actions are not aligned to any hydroclimatic risks, and most plans lack localized climate trends and/or vulnerability assessments to indicate the severity of hazards and/or identify populations and areas at risk. Several measures in the plans address disaster preparedness, but none includes early-warning systems. Public participation features prominently in all plans, but the process is marred by challenges and lacks genuineness, e.g., prioritized actions are not reflective of community needs. Based on the findings, we discuss measures to enhance the mainstreaming of ecosystem-based approaches into DRR. We conclude that a huge opportunity exists to institutionalize and mainstream Eco-DRR into local development planning in South Africa’s rural areas. If carefully seized, such an opportunity can also help attract external finance to complement the currently constrained budgets related to addressing hydroclimatic risks.

Socio-cultural and socio-economic features of second homes in Rosendal, South Africa

Abstract Second homes have seen increased research interest over the last decade. On the whole, these investigations have mainly been understood in the spatial context of the developed North. Second homes have only recently been seen as a role player in the changing economic spatialities of small town geographies in South Africa. This growing scholarship on second homes has, however, been less concerned with the social impacts of the phenomenon. The investigation is set against the argument that second homes have social impacts on the immediate and surrounding areas in which they are situated. This investigation also demonstrates that second homes are phenomena with which not only the elite engage but a range of different socio-economic cohorts, including the poor. The social impacts of second homes in this investigation are shown to vary along race and class lines. Against the backdrop that second homes are relevant to very large parts of South African society, the social impacts associated with second homes need to be taken into account in future development planning in South Africa.

Reframing place-based economic development in South Africa: the example of local economic development

Abstract Local Economic Development (LED) planning is a place-based approach to development planning and increasingly significant across much of the global South. One of the key challenges facing LED planning is the necessity to adjust planning in relation to the dynamic nature of both international and national framework conditions. The purpose of this article is to show this challenge by examining the dynamic nature of the national policy environment impacting upon LED planning in South Africa, a country which has a relatively long history of LED planning. Five dimensions of the changing landscape of national economic development planning in South Africa are identified. These relate to (a) LED within the context of new national economic and development plans; (b) initiatives for reindustrialising the South African economy, the associated importance of localisation and promotion of the green economy; (c) changing programmes around small business development; (d) shifts in rural development interventions; and (e) the fluid spatial context within which LED planning as a form of placebased economic development is embedded.

Mining enterprise, regulatory frameworks and local economic development in South Africa

Mining is a critical sector for national and local development in South Africa. This article analyses the nature of the changing regulatory and legislative environment affecting mining enterprises in South Africa and of issues relating to partnerships for local economic development. The discussion highlights the significant role of government regulation of mining activity and its leverage of partnerships. The most distinctive aspect of the South African record relates to the requirement for Social and Labour Plans. Opportunities exist for these plans to be a basis for a smooth transition to a post-mining economy in those local communities which are mining-dependent. Nevertheless, critical challenges remain in linking the commitments made by mining companies in their Social and Labour plans to municipal integrated development planning, one of the anchors for local development planning in South Africa. Further research is required on the shifting impress of mining on local communities in South Africa, government frameworks and of the challenges of partnerships for mining-led local economic development. Key words: Mining enterprise, partnerships, local economic development, South Africa.

Post-Apartheid National Spatial Development Planning in South Africa – A Brief History

Since coming to power in 1994 successive ANC-governments have engaged in a series of attempts at national spatial development planning in South Africa. These engagements have received scant treatment in the planning literature. In this paper a broad overview of these initiatives is provided, with an emphasis on the different instruments; the context in which they were developed; the institutions that were proposed and/or created in support of the instruments; and the extent to which the instruments were implemented and what their levels of success were. The paper concludes with a call for comparative research, including South Africa, in this arena.

Local economic development in South Africa: Strategic challenges

Since the democratic transition, local economic development has been a growing feature of development planning in South Africa. The major objective of national government promotion of local economic development (LED) in South Africa is to forge robust and sustainable local economies. This paper analyses 15 years' experience of LED planning, and identifies strategic challenges that face LED planning in South Africa.

A Donor Agency Scramble for South Africa

The international development community invests bulk of its financial aid to South Africa in establishing procedural conditions through which development actions may be realized. Accordingly, ‘democracy assistance’ is designed to target governmental structures and civil society organizations (CSOs). International donor governments and aid agencies also assign an operational role to civil society so that it may assist in the process of change. However, an overt emphasis on the procedural aspects of democracy, governance, and development ignores the context and object of planning. Consequently, development planning in South Africa is perceived in narrow procedural terms alone, and not in terms of more holistic and equitable development responses.

Methods of achieving integration in development planning: Early experiences from South African municipalities

The paper evaluates the effectiveness of five methods used by municipalities to enhance integration in the context of integrated development planning in South Africa: conceptualisation of the planning and development process within a Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) process; complex issue identification and causal analysis as a basis for formulating strategies and projects; spatial frameworks to guide investment and development; linking of planning to implementation through strategic budgeting and prioritisation; and coordination of the activities of service providers, who provide the main sources of funding and implementation. The paper argues that these approaches should be seen as mutually supporting, and highlights the importance of a strong strategic development framework in achieving integrated development. While several of these methods can be used to enhance integration within a municipality, vertical integration with national and provincial departments remains problematic. Although service provider forums represent a method to achieve better vertical integration, they require stronger support at provincial and national levels.

The role of geographical information systems in development planning in South Africa

Development planning in South Africa is moving towards a people-centred, democratic approach with a strong emphasis on community involvement, which had previously been lacking. This paradigmatic shift to an integrated and considerate approach lends itself to the inclusion of spatially orientated geographical information systems (GIS) technology. The paper outlines a number of South African planning processes and shows how GIS could be incorporated to the betterment of these processes. Cognisance is taken of a number of concerns surrounding the utilisation of what is traditionally perceived to be a top-down, authoritative, technocratic technology. A number of solutions are proposed, including the development of a participatory GIS and the co-construction of decision-making processes through community communication. A key issue to consider is the need for the planning process to develop a ‘conscience’ and become ‘considerate’, in order to facilitate the development and implementation of a successful process...

Development planning in South Africa: legacies and current trends in public health

This article discusses current trends in development planning in South Africa. It is argued that it is important to review the institutional framework in particular legal and constitutional factors to understand the problems being faced and the progress made. Public health is analysed as a case study but there is also a focus on local government. The other feature of the argument is that poverty is widespread especially in rural communities and planning has to develop the capacity to respond to this challenge. Despite all sorts of initiatives and some rhetoric there remains a great deal to do. An alternative approach is offered in which there is a more radical shift away from past paradigms which are not appropriate to a development planning geared to poverty alleviation. There are a number of dimensions to consider including technical effectiveness participation (including private sector involvement and community action) and institutional capacity building. Some implications for training and research are also identified. (authors)

Development planning in South Africa

Celebrated as a beacon of democracy and reconciliation, many people in South Africa continue to live in severe poverty, particularly in the Eastern Cape Province. Backed by the United Nations Development Programme, the Eastern Cape's provincial government consequently launched an historically ambitious program—the Provincial Growth and Development Plan—aimed at tackling the province's poverty, unemployment and inequality over a ten-year period in a radical policy overhaul. Drawing on the author’s first-hand engagement with the planning process, Development Planning in South Africa is an empirically rich study that utilizes a strategic-relational approach to explore the ways in which this unprecedented challenge was negotiated and eventually undermined by the South African state. The first work of its kind, the book provides an indispensable micro-level study with profound implications for how state power is understood to be organized and expressed in state policy. Relevant beyond South Africa to policy implementation in both developing and developed states globally, the book is essential reading for students and scholars of government studies, political economy, development, policy studies, and social movements.

Development planning in South Africa’s Black States: A critical Assessment with Special Reference to Transkei

Development planning in South Africa’s Black States: A critical Assessment with Special Reference to Transkei