The "bottom-up" approach to M en ... should d o their actual living and working in communities ... small en ough to perm it Local Economic Development (LED) genuine self-government and the assumption of personal In small towns: a South African responsibilities, federated into larger units in such a way that the case study of Orania and Philippolis temptation to abuse great power should not arise. The larger (structurally) a democracy grows, J.J. Steyn the less b e co m es the rule o f the people and the smaller is the say of individuals and localized Submitted to Town and Regional Planning, November 2004; groups in dealing with their own revised January 2005. destinies Gandhi

Abstract o understand what is happening While global forces are playing a bigger role in the world economy, the real changes in small towns as far as Local tend to occur at local level. Local Economic Development (LED) is regarded by many TEconomic Development in the - including the South African government - as a means to facilitate the bottom-up Free State is concerned, it is approach in regional development. In two small towns along the Orange River, necessary to approach it from a Philippolis and Orania, local economic development was implemented in different global to a Local perspective to view ways. In Philippolis, it was mostly brought about by government investment, and help what influences econom ic policies from outside was the driving force. Here, money and ideas were offered to a and the local situation. Thereafter the community with a high level of unemployment. Some projects were abandoned or situation in O rania a n d P hilippolis will discontinued because of a lack of managerial skills or funds, or merely as a result of be addressed as the "bottom-up" certain petty local issues. In Orania, highly-skilled people initiated projects, funded them with their own money and were personally responsible for making these projects approach to development is imple­ work. Lessons from these towns show that economic development cannot originate mented differently in these two towns. from the outside alone, but that people with experience and the willingness to shoulder 1. GLOBAL INFLUENCES responsibility are needed in order to bring about such development. Three big changes that influenced 'N "BOTTOM-UP"-BENADERING TOT PLAASLIKE EKONOMIESE planning took place in the world ONTWIKKELING (PEO) IN KLEINER DORPE: 'N SUID-AFRIKAANSE during the second half of the GEVALLESTUDIE VAN ORANIA EN PHILIPPOLIS twentieth century. The first was the

) “systems revolution". It started off with . Hoewel die wereld ekonomie deur globale kragte bel'nvloed word is dit verandering op 2 the "babyboom" and the postwar

1 plaaslike vlak wat mense se lewens direk raak. Plaaslike Ekonomiese Ontwikkeling word 0 deur baie, ook die Suid-Afrikaanse regering gesien as 'n hulpmiddel om van econom ic growth. This, together with 2 voetsoolvlak af streekontwikkeling te stimuleer. In twee kleiner dorpe langs die the development of spatial d e Oranjerivier naamlik Philippolis en Orania het plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkeling interaction models whereby t a verskillende vorme aangeneem. In Philippolis is dit hoofsaaklik deur regeringslnstansies information such as location theory, d of hulp van buite verkry. Geld en idees van buite is gebruik om werksgeleendhede te ( transportation planning, land use

r skep. Sommige projekte het in duie gestort of is weens 'n gebrek aan planning and any other data could e bestuursvaardighede of fondse of kleinlike plaaslike politiek beeindig. In Orania het h be fed into made planning an s hoogs gekwalifiseerde persone projekte geloods, daarvoor betaal met hul eie geld en i l was hulself verantwoordelik om dit te maak werk. Lesse wat uit die twee gevallestudies academ ic disciplince. In a short b

u geleer kan word is dat ekonomiese ontwikkeling nie net van buite kom nie maar dat tim e P

mense met ondervinding, die bereidheid om hul verantwoordelikheid op te neem

e the discipline of physical planning nodig is om ontwikkeling te laat slaag. h ch a n g e d m ore in th e 10 years t from 1960 to 1970, than in the y b LEANO LA HO GALA NTLAFATSO FATSHE, NTLAFATSONG YA MORUO WA previous 100, possibly even 1000

d LEHAE (LED), DITOROPONG TSE NYANE: DIKETSAHALO MABAPI LE LEANO years. The subject changed from e t LENA NAHENG YA AFRIKA BORWA TOROPONG YA ORANIA LE PHILIPPOLIS a kind of craft, based on personal n knowledge of a rudimentary a r Leha Lefatshe le leka ka matla ho tlisa diphetoho moruong wa Iona, diphetoho tse collection of concepts about the g kholohadi di bonahala moruong wa lehae (Masepala). Ntlafatso ya moruo wa lehae city, into an apparently scientific e c (LED) e bonwa ke batho ba bangata ho kenyeletswa le puso ya Afrika Borwa, ele activity in which vast amounts of n e mokgwa wa ho thusa leano la ho qala ntlafatso fatshe, ntlafatsong ya sedika. Leano precise information were c i garnered and processed in such l lena la ntlafatso ya tsa moruo wa lehae (Masepala), le He la sebeliswa ditoropong tsa a way that the planner could r Orange River (Philippolis le Orania) ka mekgwa e fapaneng. Toropong ya Philippolis e devise very sensitive systems of d leano lena leile la phetiswa ke mmuso le ka dithuso tse tswang kantle ho naha. guidance and control, the effects n Ditjhelete le dikeletso di ile tsa fuwa setjhaba se nang le maemo a hodimo a tlhokeho u

y ya mesebetsi. Diporojeke di ile tsa emiswa le ho tlohellwa ka lebaka la ho hlokeha ha a tsamaiso e nepahetseng ea ditjhelete le mabaka a mang a se lehae. Ha toropong Philippolis was chosen because the Free w

e ea Orania teng, diporojete diile tsa qalwa ke batho banang le boitsebelo bo boholo State University is involved in a community t service programme in Philippolis and the

a ho tsa diporojete, mme ba diqala ka dichelete tsa bona. Tsamaiso yohle ya town is well known to the author. Orania is

G diporojeke ene e etswa ke bona. Seo motho a ka ithutang sona ditoropong tsena tse located just as isolated ds Philippolis but is a t

e pedi, ke hore ntlafatso ya moruo ha etswe kantle feela empa e hloka batho banang good example of a self-reliant bottom-up

n development.

i le boitsebelo ba bileng ba ikemeseditseng honka boikarabello. b a S Professor JJ Steyn, Chairmon, Department of Town ond Regional Plonning, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein. Email: . y b d e

c 55 u d o r p e R SSB/TRP/MDM 2004(47)

of which could be monitored and These influences had the affect that th e British s e g re g a te d th e m se lve s in if necessary modified" in a free market global world a manner that, "the Europeans would (Hall, 1990:327), serviced by information technology get the best...... the Indians the next the role of the state had diminished best, the Africans anything that was left". The second was the need for public as far as rural developm ent is participation. It was the human After the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), concerned, it is markets that dictate reaction to the physical interventions the depression (1929) and drought development and not the state. The into their environment. The (1932/33) 300 000 mostly influence of Reagen and Thatcher weakening of the social fabric of impoverished Afrikaners (the so on the acceptance of a neo-liberal communities that led to urban called “armblankes") led the second world econom y is evident even in unrest, increase in crime and urbanisation drive of the Afrikaners to South Africa. They have an ANC- vandalism and general the towns and cities (Van Jaarsveld, government that is a coalition of the dissatisfaction. Hall (1989:280) 1982:120). African National Congress (ANC), the describes this period in America: South African Communist Party and Urbanisation of blacks took different By the end of the 1960s, all was the Congress of South African Trade p a th s b u t it w as a slow pro ce ss in cha nged . The civil rights Unions (COSATU). This grouping the 19th century, because of their movement had been followed by comes from a socialist background self-sufficiency. At first hut tax was the fre e speech movement; the imposed by the British to get black riots had torn through the newly who all endorsed the Freedom workers to work on farms and in renewed cities, revealing just how Charter, but it was the ANC- little the process had done for the government who signed the World town, but in Natal this did not underclass; opposition to Trade agreements like the General succeed, thus they brought in the Vietnam, and with it the whole Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Indians in 1860 (Smit & Booysens, Pentagon style of planning, was (GATT) and whose econom ic policy is 1981:13). The discovery of at its peak. Almost every value following the structural adjustments diamonds, gold and other minerals that planners had cherished was required by the World Bank and the led to an influx of Europeans to the now stood on its head. Instead of new mine towns while black workers a belief in top-down planning by International Monetary Fund. value-free experts, there was now had to be recruited, regulated and Globalisation, just as urbanisation, is a deep distrust of professional housed by the mine houses, thus a expertise and a demand for a reality that has to be taken into capitalist intervention into their lives. advocacy planning based on consideration when development in Their urbanisation was later inhibited grassroots involvement. small rural towns are being planned by the Afrikaners getting political and implemented. Regional and control in 1948 who followed the The same idea, although with local governments are pressed to policy to develop separate different motivations, was present in increase productivity, competition, homelands for the different ethnic

) Europe, which led to new planning . redistribution and quality of life for groups. This le d to th e fo rm a lisin g o f 2 approaches where power is shared

1 people living their local lives (Muller influx control of black people to

0 by public participation, collaborative et al., 2001:195). Hence, people are

2 urban areas (Gelderblom & Kok, planning or any other “bottom-up" d not global but local. 1994:86-91). However, Black e approach to planning. t urbanisation grew slowly but surely, a 2. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF d The third was a set of global irrespective of control measures. The (

SOUTH AFRICA changes. These changes took place abolishment of influx control in 1986 r e in the 1980s and changed the face In South Africa the Verenigde Oos- caused a sharp increase of black h s migration to towns and cities with the i of planning (Castells, 1992:73-75) Indiese Companie's2 (VOC), which l b identified as affecting the major was one of the first multi-national resultant growth of informal u intellectual foundations of planning companies aimed at profit, not settlements. Globalisation and new P labour laws in South Africa led to e n a m e ly : colonialisation, followed a policy of h higher unemployment since 1994 t mercantilism whereby they • The e n d of communism and y controlled all trade. Between 1652 especially in the agricultural sector. b

the rise of neo-liberal ideology and 1806 they only founded seven This resulted in a large group of rural d e towns in South Africa (Floyd, people migrating to small towns. t • The rise of the global economy n and the shift from mass 1960:20). When the British took over a 3. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT r production to flexible in 1806 they founded 55 new towns g in the next 60 years. This drive for The first regional planning in South e specialisation and networking c colonialism led to the spread of Africa was ad hoc governmental n e • The technological revolution Europeans throughout Southern interventions during the 1933 c i l brought about by information A frica . depression in order to create jobs r te c h n o lo g y and eradicate poverty. Once e d Urbanisation in South Africa took the embarking on a policy of separate n Cultural and social changes in form of three waves of people

u developm ent ("apartheid") for the society brought about by the settling in towns and cities. The British y different peoples of South Africa, this

a new role of women in society was first, the Afrikaners second and policy used the ideas of growth w and the environmental e the Blacks last. poles and growth points in the t m o v e m e n t a National Physical Development Act The British was quick to becom e the G • Spatial changes brought about (Act 88 of 1 967). This led to the t first urbanised ethnic group in South e by the uncontrolled flow of development of border industries

n Africa. According to Hall (1990:190) i information that influence the and the so-called homelands, but b a lives and future of local also to the decentralisation of S societies. 2 Dutch East Indian Company. industries outside metropolitan areas y b d e c u d o r p e R Steyn • "Bottom-up" approach to Local Economic Development in small towns: cases Orania & Philippolis

(Phalatse, 2000:150). However, the The achievement of local The superstructure being political unrest, sanctions and the economic development, in theorising and organisational world recession in the 1980s resulted which local government can thinking in the abandonment of any type of play an important role in job The infra-structure is the regional control by the beginning of creation and in boosting the physical appearance of things the 1 990s. Any type of development local economy through the and phenomena. was better than no development at provision of business-friendly all (Drewis & Bos, 1995). services, local procurement, In terms of ideo-structure the main After 1994 a new policy for regional investment promotion, support choices'' are between socialism and development called the Spatial for small businesses and growth capitalism each with a whole range D e v e lo p m e n t Initiatives (SDIs) sectors o f m e a n in g s. This w orld vie w will programme was introduced in 1995 influence the perception of what is Community empowerment and (Jourdan, 1998). It targeted regions the state, what are its responsibilities redistribution (Binns & Nel, in the country where the greatest a n d w h a t is d e v e lo p m e n t. Rist (1999) 2 0 0 2:9 2 2 ). potential for growth exists and to shows that the underlying belief in some extent the political In an attempt to accomplish this, the concept development found in advantages of development in smaller and poorer local authorities various theories (both socialistic and certain deprived areas. It uses the was absorbed within the jurisdiction capitalistic) are a belief that idea of growth poles, growth points of larger and more resourced econom ic growth will create new and development axes, but gives authorities. (Binns & Nel, 2002:923) jobs on a global scale. To try to them new names like Industrial The demarcation process reduced convert people from one ideology to D e v e lo p m e n t Zones (IDZ) a n d the number of local municipalities another one has to change the Development Corridors (Jourdan, from 843 into six metropolitan value system and that is not easily 1998:7 21 ) councils, 47 district municipalities done, thus this argument will not be that are subdivided into 231 local e xp lo re d . 4. RESTRUCTURING URBAN municipalities and fourteen District SOCIETY At the superstructure level Management Areas.3 developm ent in capitalistic thinking Before 1994 local governments were mostly follows the modernisation only responsible for the provision of Each local government had to p a ra d ig m with its d iffe re n t basic municipal services and played produce an Integrated Development developm ent theories. For socialistic a small developmental or re­ Plan (IDP) w h ich in turn was thinking the dependency paradigm distributive role. The restructuring of incorporated into the district with the relevant supporting theories the local government was a key municipality's Integrated Develop­

) will be used. Maharaj and Ramballi . priority for the ANC national m e n t Plan (IDP). The In te g ra te d 2 (1998:132) found that since 1994 the

1 government. D e v e lo p m e n t Plan (IDP) p ro vid e s a

0 central government control over mechanism "to ensure a consistent 2 The Reconstruction and local development planning has

d and conductive set of measures to e D e v e lo p m e n t P ro g ra m m e (RDP) been reduced: t promote visible local economic a (ANC, 1994:140) stresses that the activities and employment d One of the reasons for this has

( implementation of development generation" (DPLG, 2001:97) as part been the central state's inability to r should be the responsibility of the e of an integrated Local Economic contribute towards the social h local government by the active s support and welfare services

i D e v e lo p m e n t (LED) p ro g ra m m e . l involvement of organisation in civil which were imperative to address b society. However, it was not always the gross inequalities of apartheid, u 4.1 Critique on the restructuring

P and the state attempted to possible for these local governments process e to implement it due to capacity and transfer some of this obligation h t According to McCarthy (1998:421) onto local government and the financial constraints (Binns & Nel, y the identification and addressing of private sector (Maharaj & b 2002:922). Four years later the White the causes of poverty and Ramballi, 1998:132). d Paper on Local Government put the e t obligation on local governments to underdevelopment is a prerequisite One of the trends following the Neo­ n for an African Renaissance. liberal approach was the a be responsible for: r

g “decentralisation" and "devolution" of The provision of household What does one identify as (a) the e power, but also responsibilities. c infrastructure and services ideology behind certain processes n Atkinson (2003:7) states that e (such as electricity, water and (b) the theory on how the process c although good ideas on themselves i l sewerage), with priority given to works or (c) the physical causes of they "are actually doing more harm r the delivery and subsidisation poverty and developm ent itself? e than good because they are d of at least a basic level of Goudappel (1985:180) in his

n crippling rather than empowering Urbanistics-concept differentiates u services to those who currently

local governments". For this model of y have little or no access between three levels of reflection,

a "developmental local government" which might help to understand what w • The creation of liveable, to work in practice more funds and e is happening in South Africa: t integrated cities, towns and sustainable institutional mentoring a needs to be provided, but the G rural areas, in which the spatial The ideo-structure dealing with t legacy of apartheid separation the ideals and values which question begged, "does the national e n is addressed

i directs human activities b a 4 Other choices might include a Christian view S

(Steyn 1997) a Muslim or any other y These were for sparsely populated areas. ideological viewpoints. b d e c 57 u d o r p e R SSB/TRP/MDM 2004(47)

government have enough capacity Atkinson (2003:5) concluded that in 35 new programmes for grants and to d o it?" (Atkinson, 2003:11). the Free State: subsidies are introduced. The aim is that “Local economic Development Atkinson (2003:10) comes to the M any IDPS are less than (LED) is o u tc o m e b a s e d o n lo c a l conclusion that as far as the impressive: they are closer to being wish lists than serious initiative and driven by local Integrated Development Plans (IDP) development plans. Numerous stakeholders." (RSA, 2001:1). are concerned further talk infrastructure and job creation The theory in abstract sense of will b e pointless unless projects are listed, but there is people being helped to h e lp government faces up to the fact little strategic vision, at least partly themselves seems sound. The idea is that many municipalities, as due to the frantic rush to currently structured, funded, and complete the IDPS by the due that everybody will contribute and supported (or not) simply cannot date (end March 2002). the community will benefit - become the developmental something like the story of stone With the Integrated Development agencies the local government soup.6 Trouble starts when it has to Plan in place municipalities have white paper envisaged, be implemented in local theoretical the capacity to link municipalities that are either Furthermore, Klitgaard (1994:491) development to their budget and to bankrupt or nearly bankrupt with found that besides capital shortages im plement it locally, However, limited h u m a n resources. This is and class exploitation considerable lack of experience was supported by Atkinson (2003:9) underdevelopment is bound with found in the Free State where more when she finds that: ig n o ra n c e a n d u n ce rta in ty. This than 90 per cent of the elected could be corrected members and 80 per cent of the The DPLG has m a d e large grants municipal managers have never available to municipalities to by making government freer from promote LED. Hundreds of corruption, reducing worked in a local government before entrepreneurial projects have institutionalized discrimination that (ASALGP, 2 0 0 3 :1 4 ). S ta p e lb e rg been launched. However, very (2003:91) shows that all the is born of ignorance and few municipal staff - if any - imperfect information, and c o m p o n e n ts o f th e IDP a re have experience of offering improving the many markets that obligatory and must be used in entrepreneurial support or of impinge upon the poor (Klitgaard, conjunction with the Spacial managing alternative private 1994:492). D e v e lo p m e n t F ram ew ork (SDF). sector or community support for LED initiatives. Many of these At the infrastructure level reflection Municipalities must also be agents projects have encountered will be focused on what is for Local Economic Development severe difficulties, as community (LED) b y b e in g e ith e r c o o rd in a to r, happening in the real world. members battle on by Research by the Centre for facilitator, stimulator or themselves to keep their micro Development Enterprise found that entrepreneurial developer. businesses afloat, and )

. municipalities have to stand by

2 For the World Bank (2005) local At exactly the same time that helplessly, lacking the staff, time, 1 municipalities were required to economic development is about 0 and skills to intervene

2 amalgamate and were also local people working together to meaningfully. d undergoing radical political achieve sustainable economic e t change, they were required by This is an attem pt to give an overview growth that brings economic a the DPLG to create Integrated of some of the issues that influence d benefits and quality of life ( D evelopm ent Plans (IDP) that Local Economic Development in South r would function as comprehensive improvements for all in the e Africa. The next section will focus on h guides to their future community. In South Africa Tomlison s what happened at small towns like i

l development aqencies (Atkinson, (1994:216) found that the most

b Orania and philippolis. 2003:5). compelling reason for attempting a u

P local developm ent strategy is An elaborate system to support 5. ORANIA e related to the then current (1994) h municipalities in drafting their t A sharp flight of capital out of South

depression and the extent of In te g ra te d D e v e lo p m e n t Plans (IDPs) y unemployment. According to him Africa took place immediately after b

was created by the Department of other means had to be found to Sharpeville (1960) and was d Provincial and Local Government e aggravated by the political unrest in t transform the situation. In a Local (DPLG): the Council for Scientific and n Economic Development document the Congo and South Africa leaving a Industrial R esearch (CSIR), G e rm a n r titled LED Financing: National the British Commonwealth (1961) to g Agency for Technical Cooperation become a Republic. To boost the e Governmental Programmes at least c (GTZ), th e A ustralia South A fric a L o ca l local economy Dr Hendrik Verwoerd n e Government Partnership (ASALGP) decided to launch the Orange River c i and Planning and Implementation l Project7 consisting out of the HF ' “The use of consultants by local authorities r M a n a g e m e n t S upport System (PIMS) Verwoerd and PK le Roux dams (RSA, e has led to many problems, not least the d centre s. expense of commissioning them, and the 1982:52). n fact that they frequently do not have u

In many cases local municipalities detailed knowledge of the social, political y and economic contexts in which the lack the capacity to produce their 6 In this story a man seeking shelter asked his a Integrated Development Plan (IDP) is stingy host for a pot of boiling wafer from w In te g ra te d D e v e lo p m e n t Plan (IDP) located. Furthermore, consultants' contracts e which, he said, he wants to make some t are often too short to achieve an intimate and had to commission consultants ‘stone1 soup. He put a stone in the boiling a understanding and develop a sense of to produce it rather than handling if water and told his host how nice the soup

G empathy with the various actors and would taste. He then begs in succession for t as an essential local authority-led processes at work" (Binns & Nel, 2002:929). e onions, potatoes, carrots, other vegetables Atkinson (2003:5) found that one of the n p ro c e s s 5 and some meat and added it to the boiling i reasons for the low quality of these plans stone soup. In the end the soup is a great b was the inappropriately skilled consultants a success with the stranger's only contribution, who wrote some of them. S an unappetising stone. y b d e 58 c u d o r p e R Steyn . "Bottom-up" approach to Local Economic Development in small towns: cases Orania & Philippolis

The town of Orania was erected in In terms of ideo-structure the vision is development. For economic the 1960s to house the workers to recover the Afrikaner freedom in purposes the job creation could be building the canals under the P.K. le an own, democratic Republic with divided into basic and non-basic Roux Dam (now the Van der Kloof)8. Christian values. Ideologically it activities. When this work was com pleted a could be classified as Christian Basic activities are those which small skeleton staff was left, but the Nationalist on a capitalistic base. export goods and services to econom ic activities stopped Furthermore, it is monopolistic as the points outside the economic because most of the money was holder company, Orania confines of the community, or spent in Hopetown (60%) and Bestuursdienste (Edms.) Bpk., controls which market their goods and Petrusville (40%) (Botha, et al., everything as far as management services to persons who come 1977:1 84). This to w n w ith houses, and maintenance is concerned. from outside the community's shops, halls, hospital, workshops and economic boundaries. Non-basic At the superstructure level the a church, with streets, water, activities are those which provide development follows a bottom up for the needs of persons resident electricity, sewerage and sport approach to development in line within the community's economic facilities cost the state R33 000 per with the "new economic" movement limits. They d o not export any month to maintain in 1 989 (Gunning, where small communities do their finished goods or services, but 1991:16). are primarily local in their own thing and a devolution of productive scope and market responsibility takes place. The In 1991 Orania, which is not a areas (Glasson, 1985:81). proclaimed town, was bought by economy is people centred and Orania Bestuursdienste (Edms.) Bpk. - ecologically sustainable (Puren, Table 1 shows the number of a private company.9 This mother 2004:2). businesses and jobs in Orania, but in company owns, manages and a c e rta in sense does not capture The demarcation of local maintains the property as a share the reality of the town that started municipalities (with its edge-to-edge holder's com pany Vluytjieskraal with no jobs and no workers in 1991, approach) incorporated Orania into Aandeleblok Bpk. To buy a property now have 49 per cent jobs in basic a larger municipality. The inhabitants (share holding) one has to be activities. opposed the inclusion but no selected. As no title deed is legislative decision has yet been Some of the basic services worth available, no money can be m ade.10 It is at the infrastructure level mentioning in terms of local obtained from the traditional where Orania is most successful Economic Development are: banking sector (De Klerk, 2004). because of the determination to • An engineering firm started In 1992 an adjoining farm was succeed and a committed culture eight years ago doing fitting b o u g h t to g iv e th e to w n w ith its of self-help evident in the and turning work. They started small-holdings a larger agricultural com m unity (Kotze, 2003:1 70). ) off as two working owners and . base. At the moment nearly 500 ha 2 With virtually no government support generated their own capital. 1 of irrigation provides numerous 0 as far as Local Economic They grow with eleven staff

2 agricultural opportunities for small Development projects are members at present. d farmers, but also in cooperative e concerned all jobs were locally t farming (Ferreira, 2004). Kenw eb, a firm producing a a generated and in a sense could be d computerised self guided ( classified under local econom ic Kotze (2003:171) found that Orania r Afrikaans medium education e was one of the few urban areas in

h system serving more than 50 s the Northern Cape that does not i ,n this is done in terms of section 31 of the South African Schools and l have econom ic problems. Orania b Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. more than 500 home schools u with its nearly 500 permanent P inhabitants has a highly trained and e

h skilled labour force with 57 per cent

t Table 1: Number of non-domestic employers and employees in Orania* having tertiary qualifications and y b nine per cent either a doctoral or a Number of Employees d Type Section e m edical degree (Kotze, 2003:165), employers (full time) t n a 1.1 Services 4 25 r g

When Franklin Roosevelt becam e President of 1.2 M anufacturing 5 9 e the United States of America in 1933, during 1. Basic c the Depression he started with the New Deal 1.3 Tourism 5 7 n e strategy to create jobs and his Tennessee 1.4 Farm ing** 2

c 14

i Valley Authority (TVA) with its twelve dams was l

its greatest achievements (Huxley, 1943). r 2 e Its drawback is that it was built as a 2.1 G o vernance*** 10 d temporary town. Most houses were pre­ 14 n fabricated while the services was of a more 2.2 Retail 23 u 2. Non-basic 16 permanent nature. The layout was spread

y 2.3 Services 24 across a large area and on both sides of a 1 a provincial road with no real urban design in 2.4 Manufacturing 1 w mind, thus not following any centre or focus e t point. Furthermore, it was not like most small a towns established to perfom a function for Total 49 113 G

their hinterland and never developed such t facilities. e * Only jobs that can be classified as fulll time were included and are based on n 9 Orania was bought for 1,7 million and the i adjoining farm for R43 000. Large profits were a survey done in February 2004. b

a made by the owning company selling the ** Only the larger export farms were taken into consideration.

S shareholder blocks (Delport, 1993:25). *** Management and maintenance of town. y b d e

c 59 u d o r p e R SSB/TRP/MDM 2004(47)

in 15 countries. They started in 5.1 Lessons from Orania and today Philippolis is one of the best preserved old towns in the Free 1994 and now have eight full­ Orania is far away from markets and State. This a rc h ite c tu ra l b e a u ty a n d time employees. with no major road nearby to supply town sense is a major tourist tourists or other consumers. As a A truck and tractor service and attraction as Philippolis is nearly whole Orania is in the words of repair business serving farmers halfway between Johannesburg and professor Johan van Zyl, economist and other clients all along the the Cape - the old road is seven at the University of Pretoria “South O ra n g e River. They sta rte d in kilometres shorter than the present Africa's first working exam ple of a 1996 with two employees and N 1 . new trend of economics from the now have five. bottom up" (Puren, 2004). The farming community, mostly • A Jewellers' Guild was formed extensive stock farmers, declined Being able to select people who by the three jewellers in the from 1 26 farmers in 1955 to 33 in want to settle in the town, but also town and have three staff 2002. Economy of scale and the th e hig h skills a n d e d u c a tio n rate o f members. They promote and effect of rising costs and lower prices the town, helped a motivated sell their products all over the for products are the main reasons. comm unity to help themselves. All is co u n try. Farmhands who lost their jobs not plain sailing as a number of moved to the town where, together On the agricultural side, more businesses have closed down or in with the natural increase of the than 20 000 Pecan nut trees the manufacturing side moved to population growth rate of 19 per areas located near to the markets. have been planted the past cent per year for the past decade The scarcity of lower order labourers ten years, with a production of (and with 50 per cent of the can also be an impediment. over R8 million in 2004. These population under 19 years) (Africon, trees are a assemblage of Orania has an active Development 2000) it ultimately created an urban privately owned orchards that Forum and support centres in problem. Economic and political are managed by Plantsaam different locations in South Africa factors are responsible for the fact Bestuursdienste Bpk." They also serving the community. One of the that only 30 per cent of the plant more than 10 000 largest projects started at Orania population in two of the townships saplings a year in their own was a dairy farm with an initial pay for their services. nursery, either for own use or capital investment of R8 million that With an urban population13 of nearly for selling. They started ten went bankrupt. Frans de Klerk (2004) 6 000 in Philippolis; the population years ago and now employ thinks that it started, too big, too composition in terms of race has twelve people. All agricultural soon. To his m in d a p ro p o rtio n o f th e drastically changed the past irrigation is computerised which failed projects were due to a lack of century. In 1911 there were 65 per

) reduces the labour force.

. m a n a g e m e n t skills a n d th a t so m e cent (750) whites, 24 per cent (271) 2 projects were not thoroughly 1 The owners of Plantsaam blacks and 11 per cent (121) 0 investigated.

2 Bestuursdienste Bpk. also plant c o lo u re d s (RSA, 1976). This c h a n g e d

d watermelons and sweet melons to a respective composition of 1 7 e 6. PHILIPPOLIS t for Woolworths (South Africa) per cent white, 51 per cent black a Philippolis is the oldest town in the d and Marks and Spencer and 32 per cent coloured (Du (

Free State, founded as a missionary

r (E ngland). Plessis, 2002:2). Together with this, e station by the London Missionary Philippolis was seen as a poverty h s On the non-basic side this small Society in 1 823 for work under the i pocket in 1988 due to the fact that l town has a large variety of services Bushmen or San-people (Venter, b 51 per cent of the working sector u ra n g in g fro m a n A rc h ite c t to Skin 1991:9). Three years later Adam Kok, (age 21-60) is unemployed with an P and Nail Care Salon worth noting: the Griqua chief of the Xhoi-tribes, e average income per person in the h settled in the town on invitation of t non-white townships being R1 20 per • A brickyard making bricks for

y one of the missionaries. The Griqua m o n th (Du Plessis, 2002:2).

b local use with one full-time

m ade no plan for the layout of d e m p lo y e e .

e philippolis and this resulted in the The ideo-structure developm ent in t n When the last banking service town seeming unplanned, as streets Philippolis is based on a socio- a are different widths with some very dem ocratic view where the state is r was stopped in Orania in 2001 g

narrow streets (Smit, 1987:49). taking responsibility for the econom ic

e the Orania Spaar en Krediet c Kooperatief Bpk.12 was started Thereafter the town was settled by well-being and upliftment from n

e p o v e rty o f its su b jects. This m ig h t e n d with currently 140 members Afrikaner-Voortrekkers and later the c i up in a sort of dependency trip l Sotho, Xhosa and other African­

and about R2,5 million. They r speaking people. where social welfare is the only e give loans to local home d e s c a p e . owners and businesses and n The main road from Cape Town to u operate legally as a bank Johannesburg used to go through In order to solve the problem on the y m e m b e r of the Savings and a Philippolis, but a new highway super-structure level the government w Credit Co-operative League of bypassed the town in the early e t South Africa Ltd. (SACCOL). 1970s. This le d to a re d u c tio n in a local businesses, for example the 13 No reliable statistics on the population of G Philippolis are available as statistics of only t number of filling stations dropped e the magisterial district or the ward is available n from five to one. On the other hand after 1990 but this also includes farms and i b " Literally meaning Plant-Together it s to p p e d a lot o f ne w the town of Gariepdam. Du Plessis (2002) a Management Services CC. used the number of households to calculate

S developments coming to the town ” Orania Savings and Credit Cooperative Ltd. the population composition. y b d e 60 c u d o r p e R Steyn • "Bottom -up11 approach to Local Economic Development in small towns: cases Orania & Philippolis

demarcated new boundaries for Table 2: Number of non-domestic employers and employees in Philippolis* bigger councils and incorporated Philippolis into the bigger Kopanong Number of Employees Type Section Municipality together with eight other employers (full time) towns. The idea was to shrink the administrative costs, but the towns 1.1 Services 0 0 are generally between 60 and 80 1.2 M anufacturing 0 1. Basic 0 kilometres apart and this increased 1.3 Tourism 13 18 the service costs. However, the 1.4 Farm ing** 1 14 Transitional Municipality of Philippolis was solvent when incorporation into 9 2.1 G overnance*** 109 the Kopanong Municipality took 21 place in 2000. In December 2003 2.2 Retail 48 2. Non-basic 8 the debt liability of the municipality 2.3 Services 42 1 was nearly R44 million with total 2.4 Manufacturing 4 creditors of R20 million. The chance of getting the outstanding debt is Total 53 235 nearly zero, as a large proportion of the population does not pay for any * Only jobs that can be classified as fulll time were included and are based on services rendered. This is a structural a survey done in February 2004. issue involving most of South Africa's ** Or related. rural areas (Belastingbetalers, 2004). *** This includes all types of governmental services.

On the Infrastructure side the econom ic base of Philippolis has Tannery/Craft centre by by MUCPP started 2000, declined the past decade and the Meerland with Local Economic continuing. current number of employers and Development Funds and had jobs (other than domestic) is shown problems in 200314 more funds Adventure, Therapy, Problem in Table 2. Note that 43 per cent of were found and the project is Solving and Leadership skills - all workers are employed by the continuing under a new name. by MUCPP started 2001, government. The private sector in continuing. P hilippolis d u e to its a rc h ite c tu ra l Chicken project by Department heritage of the town has successfully of Welfare (no information Development for Farmworkers done a lot to preserve and renovate available) - bankrupt. P roject - By MUCPP sta rte d ) . buildings as well as initiatives to 2001, continuing. 2 Spinach project by German 1 promote tourism. The number of 0 fu nds (GTZSA) (no in fo rm a tio n b) Projects related to job creation

2 people working in the tourism sector available) - bankrupt. d gives an indication of this. Garden Project - By MUCPP e t and Telkom with R20 000 but a The central government made • Vegetable garden project d was terminated for reasons

( (no information available) -

money available for drafting a third unsure. r b a nkrup t.

e plan for all municipalities, vide, the h

s Local Economic Development plans • Rusk Project - By MUCPP started

i Dairy project by Department of l and initially different consultants 1999, but due to stoves b Agriculture with funds from

u ranging from sociologists, engineers European Union - four men breaking down, project P

and town and regional planners terminated. (Jobs for nine

e working (no more data

h drafted these local economic women - would have received t available) - on-going project, development plans and a sponsorship from the USA y but declining due to lack of b implemented them. Philippolis got all funds to buy food. Embassy but it was apparently d this as from 2000, but no real jobs. withdrawn, because the e t From the Local Development A second phase of LED projects was coloureds' surnames sounded n a Objectives (LDOs) cam e a few initiated largely by dr. R. du Plessis of too white.) r g

projects with a lot of initial capital, the Department of Social Welfare, e E agle Press - By MUCPP starte d

c but little sustainability. University of the Free State (UFS) and n the M angaung University of the Free 2000, continuing (Initially jobs e

c The first phase of LED projects for fourteen people, but in i State Community Partnership l

included the tannery/craft centre 2004 only two were employed). r Programme (MUCPP). Most of these e that was the biggest but others

d projects are either job creation or skills in c lu d e : W ashing P roject - By MUCPP n development. These projects include:

u started 2001, worked with

y Hostel's washing machines, but

a a) Projects related to capacity stopped, because clients • w building in the local community e moved away (jobs for two t 14 No environmental impact study was done a Human Development and and after getting the money the tannery, w o m e n ). G

due to public protest, could not be Empowerment and Capacity t Coffin Factory - By MUCPP and e established. The more than R1 million Building - By MUCPP started n injected into the project produced eleven i 1999, continuing. Private Initiative started 1999, leather couches, three steel tables and thirty- b continuing but production is a two steel chairs. At one stage it owed more

S than R200 000 on outstanding accounts Basic administration and not good because of

y (Meerland Development, 2001). h u m a n skills d e v e lo p m e n t - management and tribal b d e c 61 u d o r p e R SSB/TRP/MDM 2004(47)

problems, as local undertaker Orania has the advantage that a ASALPG (Australia South Africa Local belongs to another clan (two private company manages the Government Partnership). 2003. people working). unproclaimed town and is in total Integrated development planning control. Philippolis lost its autonomy explained: A handbook for the Needlework Project - By and has little influence on what is district / local municipality and its Department of Social Welfare. happening in the Kopanong community. Adelaide: Lewellyns No information available, Municipality. The latter having a bad International Pty Ltd. project continuing. cash flow, and might even be ASALPG (Australia South Africa Local technically bankrupt, leaving little c) Proposed new projects Government Partnership), [s.a.] hope that the local government will Financial diagnostics in Free State. Chicken and Egg Project - By play any role in Local Economic www.asalgp.co.za/resources/activities UFS Department of Animal and Development. Wildlife Sciences, to be started jeports/final%20report%20activity%2 in 2004. Twenty women will In Orania highly skilled people initiate 04.l%20free%20state.pdf each get two cages with projects. They do it with their own (11/4/2004) chickens and food. money and are responsible to make ATKINSON, D. 2003. Post-Apartheid it work. In Philippolis on the other local government reforms: A small L u n ch e o n C lu b P roject - By hand, most of the participants in town perspective. CDE Focus (8). MUCPP and UF Department of projects from outside are in need of Johannesburg: The Centre for Social Welfare, already started a job and will most probably Development and Enterprise. and in initial phase. Will focus participate in any venture. on improving life for the elderly. M a n a g e m e n t skills a re c le a rly BELASTINGBETALERS. 2004. needed because without good d) International project Memorandum (geteken deur 226 financial planning the capital for belastingbetalers uit Poding Tse Rolo, An international group, Tiger continuous purchasing of essential Philippolis en Bergmanshoogte)- Moon Sanctuary, bought material might terminate a project. 2004. [ s.a.I.] [ s.n. ]. 30 000 ha land near Philippolis to rear the South Chinese Tiger More research on the reasons why BINNS, T. & NEL, E. 2002. D evolving and to rehabilitate them into some Local Economic Development Development: Integrated the wild. More than R4,7 million projects work and others not, might Development Planning and was spent, and at this stage is be of value. This is only a m icro­ Developmental Local Government. in full progress. cosmos of what is happening in In: Post-apartheid South Africa. South Africa, but hopefully it will have Regional studies. 36 (8):921 -945. 6.1 Lessons from Philippolis an influence on future legislation

) BOTHA, W. J. v. H. et al. 1977. 'n . In Philippolis it is not always possible and control of projects. A poor

2 Streekbeplanningsondersoek na die country cannot waste money to this 1 to identify the reasons for state PK. Le R ou xd a m - e n b e sp ro e iin g s- 0 extent. Pumping millions of Rands

2 projects going bankrupt, due to into Local Economic Projects without gebied binne bepaalde riglyne met d unavailability of information. For the e the necessary management support sekere ontwikkelingsvoorstelle wat t first p h a s e o f LED p ro je c ts a lo t o f

a daaruit voortspruit. Ongepubliseerde is a waste of good intensions: a

d politics and corruption are

( verslag van die Department van speculated about, but little can be good Local Economic Development r Stads-en Streekbeplanning. e proved. The effect of these project programme alone is not enough. h Bloemfontein: Universiteit van die s failures is a mistrust of the locals who i

l The sustainability of projects is not Oranje-Vrystaat.

b think people coming with project something found in a business plan, u proposals are only in it for the CASTELLS, M. 1992. The world has

P but comes with experience and the money; as in some cases the changed: can planning change? e willingness to shoulder responsibility. h consultants reaped more benefit

t Landscape and Urban Planning.

Projects must start small and grow

y than the locals. with the people involved. Economic 2 2 :73 -7 8. b

d In projects where the University of the development cannot come from the DELPORT, R. 1993. Orania e ie n d o m e t Free S tate is in vo lve d , Dr. Du Plessis outside alone. verkoop goed. Finansies en Tegniek, n

a (2004) found that lack of m anage­ 45(32):25, 1 3 Augustus 1993.

r What is the meaning of

g m e n t skills, funds a n d p e tty lo c a l democracy, freedom, human e issues can easily stop any project. DPLG (DEPARTMENT OF PROVINCIAL c dignity, standard of living, self- AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT). 2001. n Most of these projects are ongoing, e realisation, fulfilment? Is it a Integrated Development Plan, GUIDE c as the University manages it; but most i matter of goods, or people? Of l will fail if this support is taken away. PACK: GUIDE III METHODOLOGY. r course it is a matter of people. e The private sector projects are mostly Pretoria: DPLG. d (...) If economic thinking cannot

n around tourism and are doing well. grasp this it is useless DREWIS, J.E. & BOS, D.J. 1995. u (Schumacher, 1974:62). The regional Industrial development y 7. ORANIA VERSUS PHILIPPOLIS a programme: An evaluation. The w Two different paradigms work in these 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY e South African Journal of Economics. t two towns. In Orania self help within a a ANC (AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS). 63 (2):247-271,

G Christian-Nationalist Worldview is the

1994. The Reconstruction and t driving force; while in Philippolis is in DU PLESSIS R. 2002. Free State e Development Programme: A Policy n most cases depending on development programme: Philippolis. i Framework. Johannesburg: b government or other institutions like Unpublished report by the Department

a Umanyano Publications. of Social Work. Bloemfontein: University S the University of the Free State as the

y initiators to start projects. of the Free State. b d e c 62 u d o r p e R Steyn » "Bottom-up" approach to Local Economic Development in small towns: cases Orania & Philippolis

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