An evaluation of the integration of the 'white' town of Pietersburg and the 'black' township of Seshego after the local government elections of 1995

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The emergence of urban systems in South Africa was from the start shaped by racial bias.The black people of this country were refused any form of participation in town planning.To aggravate the situation, urban space was manipulated in a manner that each racialgroup had its own residential space. The manipulation of urban space gave rise to what iscalled the Apartheid City. This Apartheid city is characterised by stark contrast indevelopment between a well-serviced, first world town lying side by side with underservicedthird world townships.The Apartheid City of Pietersburg-Seshego has been undergoing restructuring since1990. The Local Government Transitional Act (LGTA) has served as an interventionwhereby the two formerly unequal areas had to integrate and become one city. Thecentral aim of this study is to evaluate, by using a series of indicators, the integrationlevel that has been achieved since 1995, i.e. since the first local government elections.The study will focus on three key areas to reflect the level of integration, namely, landuse patterns, ward demarcation, and integration of personnel.The main conclusion is that though one council has been formed where there werepreviously two, spatial inequalities and racially-based ward demarcations between theformer Pietersburg town and the former Seshego township persist. On the other hand,personnel drawn from the administrations of former white Pietersburg and formerLebowa civil service has not been fully integrated. The former Pietersburg municipalitypersonnel is still white male dominated in both senior and middle management levelswhile the former Lebowa personnel is black male dominated found in the lowest levels ofthe TLC structure.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University