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Nkandlagate: Only Partial Evidence of Urban African Inequality Ruvimbo Moyo

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Nkandlagate: Only Partial Evidence of Urban African Inequality Ruvimbo Moyo 160 Moyo Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/thld_a_00065 by guest on 26 September 2021 Nkandlagate: Only Partial nce of Evide Were we really shocked by the R246 million (US$24 million) upgrade to South African Pres- ident Jacob Zuma's Nkandla residence? It was not a new concept. It was not a new architec- African ture. In the “Secure in Comfort” Report by the Public Protector of the Republic of South Afri- Urban ca, Thuli Madonsela investigated the impropri- ety in the implementation of security measures on President Zuma’s private home. 1 Madonse- la found ethical violations on the president’s part with respect to the project: his fam- quality ily benefited from the visitor center, cattle Ine kraal, chicken run, amphitheatre and swim- ming pool among others, built in the name of security. The president also violated the Ex- ecutive Ethics Code after failing to contain the cost when the media first reported the 2 1 then R65 million project in 2009. So-called Madonsela, T N. 2014. Secure In Com- “Nkandlagate” did not move from the Afri- fort: A Report of The Public Protector. can political norm that says loud and clear: Investigation Report 25 of 2013/14, Pub- lic Protector South Africa. 2 Rossouw, M. 2009. "Zuma's R65m Nkandla splurge." Mail & Guardian. December 04. Accessed 12 29, 2014. http://mg.co.za/article/2009-12- 04-zumas-r65m-nkandla-splurge. Moyo 161 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/thld_a_00065 by guest on 26 September 2021 Opulence is an acceptable perk for our leaders, a craving, an urge, a right. This duality of extreme wealth against extreme poverty has existed since colonial Africa, a discrepancy that is only increas- ing. Nkandla itself, where Zuma’s residence is located, has a population of 114,416, an unem- ployment rate of 43.9% with only 16.7% of the households having piped water and 8.1% with flush toilets. 3 Considering the claims of corrup- tion, exploitation of public funds and a required relocation of neighbouring households at the states expense, the presence of this spectacle in Nkandla is a clear representation of the differ- ence in rights offered to members of the popu- lation based on wealth and power. The built environment provides a canvas to portray the tragic relationship between pow- er and the dying promises of the leaders of the continent. In his book Architecture and Power in Africa, architectural historian Nnamdi Elleh poses the following question: Is it possible to evaluate the urban as- pirations of Africa’s postcolonial leaders employing the same paradigms and stan- dards with which we evaluate the urban aspirations of colonialist conquistadors? 4 Urban planning and design was a vital tool in colonial political and social control, seen in apartheid urban planning. Today, it is the same tool still being used by neo-African leaders. Social housing typologies from the period of imperialism are re-used by our gov- ernments. These “clones” are usually located 3 in townships away from the city center, at Statistics South Africa. 2011. Nkand- the periphery, reducing access to economic la Municipality. Accessed 07 08, 2014. http://beta2.statssa.gov.za/?page_ id=993&id=nkandla-municipality. 4 Elleh, N. 2002. Architecture and Power in Africa. Westport: Prae- ger Publishers. 162 Moyo Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/thld_a_00065 by guest on 26 September 2021 opportunity because of the distant location paired with public transport systems that are ineffi- cient, expensive and sometimes non-existent. 5 This disempowers a proportion of the popula- tion and yet it is still the quickest solution for the state. 5 The inefficiencies stated include Juxtaposed with the clones of apartheid-era that of congestion due to an in- architecture, a new typology has emerged in crease in private car usage, high contrast: the African “eco-city.” 6 The third world accident rates, high cost of trans- port due to traveling distances that has become a playground for developers with disempower the marginalized com- the creation of utopian eco-cites: Eko Atlantic munities (both rural and urban), City (Lagos, Nigeria); Konza Technology City, poor safety and security that de- ters people from using the public billed as “Africa’s Silicon Valley” (Kenya); and Ki- transport, limited access for per- gali City Masterplan, by OZ Architects and Sur- sons with special needs, increas- bana Urban Planning Group (Kigali, Rwanda), ing backlog in infrastructural main- tenance and the lack of formalized to only name a few. These developments are institutional arrangements to as- usually located in the urban periphery of Afri- sist in coordination and delivery ca and promise functional, technologically rel- on an integrated transport man- date. Western Cape Government. evant cities. Kigali Conceptual Master Plan was 2011. “Increasing Access to Safe and pitched by strategic planner Thomas E. Wheel- Efficient Transport.” Western Cape er as “an exemplary master plan that truly ad- Government Public Information. dresses the vision and development needs of 6 an emerging city such as Kigali.” 7 “Eko Atlan- This term targets the new urban tic,” according to the city’s sales office, “will master plans in Africa. These plans are often created by global proper- enhance the status of Lagos and create a new ty developers and called “eco-cities” and stronger financial hub for the whole of or “smart-cities” to target a rapidly West Africa.” 8 Even city masterplanners are growing middle class emerging from Africa's economic growth. Watson, V. explicit about strategies to separate the new 2013. “African Cities: The new Post- cities from the existing. Referring to Amboseli colonialisation. Lecture at the Bart- New Town in Kenya deputy director of Metro- lett Development Planning Unit at Uni- versity College London (Recorded by politan Planning and Environment, Dan Kiara, Bell, J).” Future Cape Town. 03 06. Ac- stated: “The idea is to disperse the current cessed 09 12, 2014. http://futurecape population from the current city of Nairobi. town.com/2013/04/future-african-cit ies-the-new-post-colonialisation/. With fewer people in the city, it will be easi- er to provide services for those who remain in 7 the capital while establishing new economic OZ Architecture. 2013. Kigali Master Plan. Accessed 12 29, 2014. http://ozar ch.com/portfolio/kigali-master-plan/. 8 Eko Atlantic Sales Office. 2012. Eko Atlantic. Accessed 07 08, 2014. http://www.ekoatlantic.com/. Moyo 163 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/thld_a_00065 by guest on 26 September 2021 zones with specific themes.” 9 Yet while these cities may represent the dreams and ideals of the growing African middle class and reflect economic activity on the con- tinent, they ignore their context. These eco or “smart-cities” promote, sponsor and urge the in- equality gap in Africa, with many still living in poverty and informal settlements. The new de- velopments set an urban aspiration of exclu- sion reminiscent of colonial jurisdiction. Like Zuma’s Nkandla residence, they in fact reveal the skewed distribution of resources in which opulent architectural products can only be en- joyed by an elite few. Nkandlagate, which caught the attention of the media and public, in fact represented how urbanism in post-democratic Africa expos- es the impact of government strategies. These strategies promote economic growth favoring a private sector while disregarding increasing poverty and inequality. Two examples expand on this condition. First, marginalized housing conditions that do not improve on historical injustices are outlined and compared to South African apartheid era housing policies that de- nied a “non-European” population the right to democracy. Second, the recently constructed Nova Cidade de Kilamba, a housing develop- ment in Angola, will be explored to represent trending idealistic developments that disre- gard the complexities of the continent includ- ing urban layout, informal settlements and economic realities. These developments are a deterrent to solving the housing issues in Africa as they promote microeconomies that once again exclude the poor. The peripheries 9 Muiruri, P. 2014. "Coming soon: Kenya’s world class metropolis." Standard Digital News. 10 23. Accessed 12 29, 2014. http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/evewoman/m/?arti cleID=2000139159&story_title=coming-soon-kenya-s-world-class-me tropolis&pageNo=3. 164 Moyo Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/thld_a_00065 by guest on 26 September 2021 of old and new African cities become an omni- present, regenerating restrictive zone that deny many rights to the city. I. South Africa's Housing Policies Consider the realm of social housing in South Africa for the evolution of housing policies and schemes to illustrate the current urban prob- lems within the region. Today, a growing pop- ulation, increasing urbanization rate and low housing delivery rates have attributed to a housing backlog in South Africa that reached 2.1 million units in 2013, a deficit that affected 8 million people. 1 0 To make up for this backlog, housing structures for fast, easy and inexpen- 10 sive construction have been constructed by the SAPA. 2013. “Housing Backlog Stands state with the former Minister of Human Set- at 2.1 million – Sexwale.” City Press. tlements, Mosima Gabriel “Tokyo” Sexwale, ac- 06 07. Accessed 12 29, 2014. http:// www.citypress.co.za/news/hous- knowledging, “We should admit we started on ing-backlog-stands-at-2-1-million-sex a wrong foot. These Reconstruction and Devel- wale/. opment Programme (RDP) houses that people 11 are saying are falling [down], not a good job SAPA. 2010. “SA in ‘Haiti-like’ Situa- was done there.” 1 1 tion.” News24.
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