Paul A. Wellings

Geography and development studies in Southern Africa: a progressive prospectus

Abstract Southern Africa provides many fascinating opportunities for critical research, and some exciting material has been emerging in several subject areas. However, very little of this has been the work of geographers or of those engaged in ‘development studies’. This paper explores some of the reasons why the two disciplines have lagged behind their rivals, and suggests a progressive blueprint for the future. It concludes with a brief introduction to the papers brought together for this special issue of Geoforum .

The regional restructuring of politics in contemporary South Africa

A recent literature concerned with the regional restructuring of politics in South Africa is reviewed. The literature provides important insights into both emerging political processes and geographical forms in South Africa, but it remains constrained by three areas of weakness: those of economism, functionalism and spatial fetishism. Suggestions are made as to how these weaknesses might be avoided in future research.

The ‘relative autonomy’ of the Basotho state: internal and external determinants of Lesotho's political economy

Abstract In economic terms, Lesotho is heavily dependent on South Africa and its political integrity is similarly precarious yet the Basotho state has displayed its ‘relative autonomy’ by recently assuming a more militant posture in respect of apartheid and the liberation struggles of the subcontinent. The space for this ‘relative autonomy’, it is suggested, has been largely created by aid disbursements, for whilst these have escalated in sympathy with Lesothos growing militancy Pretoria has been generally tolerant given that South African capital captures the lions share of any aid accruing to Lesotho. Nevertheless, Lesothos position is a contradictory one for at the same time as its political relations with South Africa have deteriorated, economic collaboration has been proceeding apace. Cooperation at this level has been fuelled by the leakage of aid capital from Lesotho to South Africa but internal factors can be shown to have been important as well. Such collaboration may well undermine Lesothos international credibility. On the other hand, Lesotho has to beware that its new aggressive postures are not considered by Pretoria as a serious threat to the security of the Republic. Lesotho has already experienced the heavy hand of South African intervention. The instability of Lesothos position is further prejudiced by South Africas use of opposition inside Lesotho to ‘destabilize’ its government. The interplay of internal and external determinants of Lesothos political economy is therefore exceedingly complex, but an attempt is made in this paper to unravel them.

Penetrating the Frontier

Abstract Conventional geographic research into Third World education has tended to focus upon the identification of spatial imbalances in access or provision and the construction of optimising location models within a liberal redistributive paradigm. By abstracting the analysis from the material conditions of under-development, the educational issue is both de politicised and desocialised. As a result, the geographic contribution is fettered by a preoccupation with phenomenal aspects of educational systems the nature of which demand examination at core. In recent development literature, the social and political functions of education, particularly as regards the entrenchment of class relations, have become the subject of considerable speculation. This paper advises geographers to enter this debate and direct attention to the role of education, its ideology and politics. in the reproduction of the social division of labour. Although the study of spatial accessibility per se may assume importance in certain...

Disinvestment & black workers attitudes in South Africa: A critical comment

Michael Sutcliffe and Paul Wellings criticise Lawrence Schlemmers widely‐cited survey which purports to show that a majority of black male production workers in South Africa are against ‘disinvestment’ and, by implication, would prefer US business to pursue a strategy of ‘constructive engagement’. Their critique was cited by the United Democratic Front on 12 June 1985 and debates at a widely‐publicised seminar in Durban on 25 June. Their paper goes beyond a critique of Schlemmers methodology to question conventional assumptions about the significance of disinvestment in South Africa fr employment. Their critique raises central methodological questions about the inferences which can be drawn from opinion surveys and the political use to which their results can be put.

Lesotho: Crisis and development in the rural sector☆

Abstract Lesotho faces an impending employment crisis of staggering dimensions. The fragile rural base, which accommodates (but does not support) the bulk of the population, continues to deteriorate, and agricultural productivity remains low and unstable. As a result, landlessness and rural poverty are both on the increase. At the same time, developments within the South African mining industry and the regional political economy have reduced opportunities for Basotho † to enter the migrant labour system which is the major source of household income in the country. The governments development efforts, however, have met with little success. None of the agricultural programmes introduced over the years have produced very encouraging results. Diamond mining has been discontinued, and the much vaunted tourism industry has been hard hit by competition from bantustan casinos. Equally, in attempting to attract foreign corporate investment, Lesotho has found it difficult to compete with incentives on offer in South Africas decentralized ‘growth points’. The paper begins with an overview of the crisis. It then examines the difficulties encountered by the government in developing the all-important rural sector. A critical analysis of current development strategies provides the basis for a discussion of alternatives in the remainder of the paper. In this context, the establishment of cooperative ventures is the focus of debate. An important aspect of this discussion is the role of women who have been largely ‘invisible’ to planners even though they often assume central decision-making positions in migrant-dependent households. The possibility of developing non-farm activities in rural areas is also considered.

Rethinking Regional Inequality: The Case of Kenya

Abstract Tomlinson (1982) presents evidence of accelerating regional inequality in Kenya and proceeds to interpret this observation with reference to the country’s underlying class structure. It is argued here that this mode of explanation is far from convincing and complete, not only in terms of data analysis but also in the method of conceptualizing socio-economic inequality on a regional basis.

International competition and industrial decentralization in South Africa: A comment

Industrial decentralization (ID) is a significant phenomenon of growing importance in South Africa. Trevor Bell and I are agreed that this is so. But what is causing it? How is it to be explained? There are three views prevalent in the literature. The first is that ID is primarily a result of government intervention. This has always been, and remains, the dominant position. The second, Bell’s view, is that ID has been a “ . largely spontaneous response to market forces” (Bell, 1987). This implies that the observed rate of industrial relocation would have taken place without government intervention, and that it will continue unhindered should state incentives be removed. The third view is that ID, while largely a function of state intervention, may contain a spontaneous component, specific to certain decentralization locations and industrial sectors. This is the position taken in Wellings and Black (1986a, 1986b). Bell argues an interesting case for spontaneous decentralization. His thesis is a good one. The declining competitiveness of South African manufacturing industry, which he documents, does indeed provide a plausible rationale for spontaneous relocation to the periphery. But has such a thing occurred? Has the vast quantity of money paid towards incentives and the development of infrastructure in far-flung decentralization points been wasted in subsidizing a process which would have occurred anyway? The weakness of Bell’s paper, in my view, is that it fails to provide convincing evidence in support of this contention. I therefore propose to concentrate attention on this issue in the following paragraphs. Bell’s case rests on the observation that decentralization began in the 1960s well in advance of state intervention. This is taken to prove that state intervention subsequently had nothing to do with the process, not even (one must assume) the well documented acceleration of decentralization following the revision of the incentives package in 1982. The problem for Bell, however, is that the South African “periphery” only begins to increase its share of manufacturing employment after 1970, i.e. after the implementation of the Physical Planning Act in 1968. According to Bell’s own figures (1987, Table l), the share of the “industrial periphery” (whatever that might be) actually fell from 12.16% in 1961 to 11.77% in 1970. Bell therefore cannot show that decentralization (by which I mean, relocation from metropolitan area to the periphery) took place before state intervention. He must show instead that the Physical Planning Act was of no consequence. This he tries to do with reference to the textiles and clothing sectors, but the evidence is more than a little flimsy. We are still left with the observation that relocation from metropole to periphery only occurred posr-1970, while relocations in the 1960s were from one metropolitan area to another. How does this prove that the Physical Planning Act was of no importance? We do know, however, from case history material that the Act was important in the relocation of firms from the Pretoria-witwatersrandVereeniging (PWV) area to Durban-Pinetown in the late 1960s since it applied in the former and not the latter (Emdon, 1977; Rogerson and Kobben, 1982). Even if Bell were correct in his assumptions, it is invalid to generalize from two industries with singular characteristics. Both are labor-intensive and subject to intense international competition, prime candidates in our view for spontaneous decentralization should such a thing really exist (Wellings and Black, 1986a, p. 12). The trouble is that not all industries presently operating in decentralization points are members of these sectors. It is also clear from Bell’s analysis that he has assumed a very liberal definition of decentralization, one which enables him to overstate its