Brij Maharaj

The erosion of residential segregation in South Africa: The ‘greying’ of Albert Park in Durban

Abstract In South Africa the state plays a major role in influencing the socio-spatial structuring of society. The Group Areas Act, which emphasised racial residential segregation, was one of the key instruments used to enforce the ideology of apartheid. However, since the mid-1980s many blacks began to move into white designated group areas, which blurred race-space divisions and led to the formation of ‘grey areas’. Against the background of the socio-political changes which have taken place in South Africa over the past decade, this paper examines the internal dynamics in one such grey area, Albert Park in Durban. This paper traces the arrival of blacks in Albert Park, and identifies the problems which they have experienced in the area. The nature of black protest and resistance to evictions in Albert Park is evaluated. The white reaction to the process of residential integration in Albert Park is also analysed. Finally, the response of the Durban City Council is considered. This paper concludes that blacks were moving into Albert Park because of a shortage of accommodation and a desire to escape from the strife-torn townships. However, they experienced numerous problems such as curfews, evictions without notice, and regular harassment from the police. Conservative Durban city councillors expressed concern that the desegregation process in Albert Park will threaten white working-class interests, while liberal councillors called for the whole of Durban to be declared ‘open’. White fears that the influx of blacks into Albert Park would lead to an increase in crime and a decline in property values were unfounded. The abolition of the Group Areas Act in 1991 merely gave ‘de jure recognition to a de facto situation’.

APARTHEID, URBAN SEGREGATION, AND THE LOCAL STATE: DURBAN AND THE GROUP AREAS ACT IN SOUTH AFRICA

There has been some speculation about the origins of the Group Areas Act (GAA), one of the key instruments used to enforce the ideology of apartheid. This paper examines the origins, development, and implementation of the Group Areas Act in Durban. The key argument of this paper is that the anti-Indian agitation of the Durban City Council and its White electorate played an important role in the development of the legislation. Whites in Durban were at the forefront of calls for the compulsory segregation of Indians because this group presented a serious threat in terms of competition for social and economic space. The local state in Durban worked closely with the central state and played a key role in the formulation and implementation of the Group Areas Act. In all of the race zoning proposals for the City of Durban, the views of the White electorate were considered by the local state, but those of the disenfranchised Indians were disregarded. The local state in Durban was, however, forced to review its r...

The ‘alien invasion’ in South Africa: Illegal immigrants in Durban

Although South Africas emerging non-racial democracy has been internationally acclaimed, global integration has also brought its problems. One of these is the greater number of illegal immigrants entering the country. This article examines the problem of illegal immigration by focusing on an intensive case study in the locality of Durban. It attempts to identify reasons for illegal immigrants coming to South Africa, ascertain their country of origin, investigate the consequences of their stay in the Republic, identify problems associated with immigrants, and assess policy options to reduce the influx of aliens. The study reveals that the majority of illegal immigrants come to South Africa in search of better economic opportunities. However, they are accused of taking away the jobs of locals, lowering wages and spreading diseases. Although official government policy towards illegals is embodied in the Aliens Control Act (1991), there is a need to understand the problem within its regional and historical context.

THE LOCAL STATE AND RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION

ABSTRACT Conventionally, residential segregation in South Africa is associated with the ascent to power of the National Party, and the Group Areas Act (1950). This paper argues that the local state in Durban had played an important role in influencing the segregation policies of the central state, and laid the foundation for the Group Areas Act of 1950. The focus is on Durban in the 1930s and 1940s, and attempts by the local state to segregate Indians by reducing their access to land and housing. Indians in Durban presented a threat to white economic dominance. The whites responded in racist fashion and demanded for compulsory residential segregation. They were actively supported by the local state in Durban. The central state, however, preferred voluntary segregation in order to avoid international condemnation. The local state in Durban deliberately sabotaged attempts at voluntary segregation which were initiated by the central state. In spite of opposition from the disenfranchised Indians, and reluctan...

Land invasions during political transition: The Wiggins saga in Cato Manor

Urban land invasions have occurred in South Africa since the 1940s. However, since 1993 a new form of invasion has developed ‐ the invasion of developed and often serviced land and dwellings. This article examines the orchestrated land and housing invasion at Wiggins in Cato Manor. The focus is on the socio‐economic and political context that led to the invasion, which was highly organised and planned. The main reasons for the invasion are the serious housing shortage in Chesterville and the racist allocation of dwellings in Wiggins by the House of Delegates. The invasion took place on the eve of elections, when the moral and political authority of the apartheid state was waning. Although there were tensions, social relations between Indian residents and African invaders in Wiggins have improved. The Cato Manor Development Association has been appointed as development agent for Cato Manor and on its shoulders lies the inordinate task of resolving the Wiggins crisis.

The creation of ‘real’ spaces: regions and regionalism in the New South Africa

Abstract The culmination of a protracted struggle for liberation was crystallised in the debate over a new regional dispensation for South Africa. The aim of this paper is to examine the creation of the new regional geography of South Africa. The nascent regional dispensation was defined at a particular moment and it is the contention of this paper that the creation of the ‘geographical moment’ was not entirely conjunctural, but rather was the product of the different political parties’ understanding of space. The paper attempts to analyse the dynamics of the different political parties’ conceptualisation of the spatial and in so doing provides an explanation of the proposals for a new regional geography for South Africa. This position is derived from a realist theoretical argument which seeks to understand the stratification of reality by attempting to uncover structures and mechanisms responsible for the constitution of a particular historical event. The theory is illustrated by considering the process ...