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PAGE 4 Social issues Conclusions and implications for policy Related to the unemployment and crime discussed previously, residents commented Industrial decline in Ekandustria is the on high rates of teenage pregnancy and the biggest concern. Many people have Abandoned factories in Ekaindustria fact that girls engaged in relationships with lived in the area for a long time and sugar daddies because of poverty. A lack of have invested in their housing. There Living the urban periphery: investment, infrastructure and economic change in education was blamed too, and concerns has been some improvement in ser- about HIV/ AIDs mentioned. The perception vices, and facilities although there are African city-regions: Ekangala and Rethabiseng of the area varied. Some found it very noisy, still problems and gaps. Residents are usually worsened if living near a tavern. still living in serious poverty and they Introducing the Research Project December 2018 want policies and assistance with ac- Others found the area peaceful. Residents cessing employment. Casual work and worried about taverns being unlicensed and inconsistent, poorly paid and casual In 2017 a group of researchers from the University of Sheffield in the UK and the University of the Witwatersrand in SA being a place of crime. Some mentioned employment is a dominant problem. began a research project in Ekangala and Rethabiseng in the western edge of Tshwane. The researchers were interested positive developments, such as sports facili- in finding out how changes in areas on the peripheries of African cities happen (especially changes in infrastructure), who ties and the community centre in Rethasa- Further improvements are needed in makes these changes, and, most importantly, how these changes are experienced by people living there. The researchers bing which helped to occupy the youth. basic services and facilities in the area. focused on a few different types of infrastructure, so the study includes examples of investment in housing, roads, Schools were seen as good and some pro- Transport and mobility are also particu- transport, basic services, and investment in industrial areas. The researchers wanted to test the idea that infrastructure vided food for children, but not all areas had lar concerns. Addressing the high un- investment in the urban periphery can improve the quality of daily life for the communities where new infrastructure has schools. Churches were viewed as very employment and industrial decline is a been put in place. important in the area. major challenge. The research in Ekangala/Rethabiseng formed one ‘case’ in a much larger project researching seven different areas in three city-regions in Africa. There are two other cases in Gauteng – Winterveld in Tshwane, Lufhereng, Protea Glen and Waterworks in Johannesburg and Rand West— and two in eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal: first the cluster of Hammonds Farm, Waterloo, Canelands and Conistion, and second, Molweni, Crestholme and Crestview . There are also two case in Addis Ababa the capital city of Ethiopia: the areas of Tulu Dimtu and Yeka Abado. The researchers hope to understand Research on experiences of living the urban periphery in other African cities each of these places in detail and compare them to each other to increase our knowledge of how infrastructure changes affect poverty reduction and how people living in these areas experience these changes. In Ekangala and Rethabiseng 45 people wrote diaries about their daily life for a two-week period and took photographs Similar research has taken place in Mol- dence of improvement. Residents are long commutes into the city centre for showing living conditions, services and experiences of their neighbourhood. The researchers spoke to 31 of these men and women in the community, and six professionals involved in planning and urban development to gather further infor- weni, Hammonds Farm, Waterloo, Luf- very anxious about waiting times for work. Residents noted the new invest- mation. Surveys (questionnaires) were undertaken with around 200 residents. This pamphlet summarises the main find- hereng, Protea Glen and Waterworks in housing and many are living in poverty. ments in employment opportunities in ings of the research based on information we gathered from residents of Ekangala and Rethabiseng. Unfortunately there South Africa and Addis Ababa in Ethio- In some areas on the edges of cities their areas or beyond. But, many lacked is not enough space to report on everything that was said. pia. The researchers spoke to men and local government is quite weak or is far the right skills for the work or were seen women in the community, collected resi- away, and in these cases some local as too old or not supporting the right dent diaries and photographs, and inter- powerful men control whole areas and political party. Many struggled with basic viewed residents and key professionals. can often be useful to residents but also things like lack of access to photocopiers Experience of changes overtime The findings of the research showed that operate through a culture of fear. etc. to submit CVs for consideration. residents had experienced both positive These findings would all be shared with and negative consequences of the Lufhereng, Soweto, South Africa relevant government authorities and also Overall, residents of Ekangala and Rethabiseng portrayed a changes that had occurred in their are- with those involved in urban planning negative picture of the changes they had experienced in their as. Some of the key findings in other and housing. respective areas overtime. A common thread that cut across areas are as follows: RDP housing is all the areas researched including Dark City and Phumekhaya much appreciated elsewhere but resi- Yeka bado, Addis Ababa informal settlement was that the decline of Ekandustria indus- dents struggle with affordability and trial park over the years has affected the socio-economic sta- also access to jobs and services such tus of residents negatively. as clinics. Conditions in informal settle- many people are unemployed and facing poverty on a daily ments remain very poor with little evi- basis (Ekangala resident) Residents in many cases note the im- In addition there is a generalised sense of stagnation owing to portance of shopping malls and new little government and private sector investment. Although gov- shopping facilities both is making their ernment is now attempting to improve infrastructure in daily lives easier but also sometimes Ekandustria, this has still to yield significant new jobs, and sev- providing employment. Lack of employ- eral factories have closed over the years. However, ment was a dominant theme across Rathabiseng offered a slightly different picture in this regard as there has been recent investment in RDP housing. The U- South Africa and this undermined most Save in Ekangala has helped, but is not seen as enough. residents’ otherwise positive experiences of all the changes. In Ethiopia, more resi- there have been lots of changes around Rethabiseng such as the dents had employment but they really More information and contact details: construction of RDP houses and a school (♀ Rethabiseng resident). struggle with the costs of their new gov- https://www.wits.ac.za/urbanperiphery ernment homes and also with the very / Hammonds Farm, Durban, South PAGE 2 PAGE 3 Transport, mobility and location Alcohol, drugs and crime Taxis and buses are the only forms of Taxis are considered expensive and out- The high incidence of crime was a major addicts who are accused of engaging in public transportation available to resi- side of peak hours, they also take time to When riding by taxi it is easy however some- times it can take time for them to be full, so it issue in all the areas researched. The criminal activities to fund their addiction. dents. With the decline of Ekandustria, fill up. So residents can take a long time to takes longer to leave (♀ Ekangala resident) crimes range from muggings, car hijack- people are looking for work as far as Pre- go short distances. From places like Re- ing, murder and rape. Many residents The lack of job opportunities was blamed toria but residents noted that the location thabiseng, it is difficult to get direct taxis to displayed their concern about crime and for the increased uptake of drugs as peo- of Ekangala and Rethabiseng makes it too Pretoria and residents complained about serious interventions are needed in this ple seek activities to keep themselves expensive to commute to work. regard. The presence of a local gang busy. was mentioned by some residents, who “Travelling to Pretoria is difficult. To get there In Rethabiseng, residents note that the In addition, the bus service which is the you need to hike to Cullinan and then get a noted how violent this gang was, and how cheaper option is considered unreliable taxi from there to Mamelodi. It costs R60 to Connectivity between township is also they used threats to control residents. absence of a police station in their com- People that work in Pretoria and live in Dark City get from RB to Pretoria and it can takes about poor for instance it some residents com- The police were seen as less willing to munity has led to an uncontrollable in- it doesn’t work as the bus is too expensive and plained that there are no taxis between confront this gang. crease in crime. They complained about so you are working for transport (♀ Dark City calling either the Ekangala or Bronk- resident). Rethabiseng and Ekangala. Some roads the time they spend travelling. are not tarred and taxis do not use them The increasing crime levels were linked horstspruit police stations and how the meaning residents have to walk. to the increased intake of a drug called police take a long time to attend to them and time consuming. Despite this, stu- The absence of nearby shopping centres dents who are attending colleges in Preto- in Ekangala and Rethabiseng also means “I do not feel safe as the criminals can then do “ most of the young people smoke Nyaope as as they please.

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