Chapter 1: Researching Post-Apartheid Provincial Boundary Disputes
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1 FRONTIERS OF PROSPERITY AND POWER: EXPLAINING PROVINCIAL BOUNDARY DISPUTES IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA EDDY MAZEMBO MAVUNGU A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Political Studies). Johannesburg, 2011 2 DECLARATION I declare that this dissertation/ thesis is my own unaided work. It is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Political Studies) in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted for any other degree or examination in any other university. Eddy Mazembo Mavungu September, 2011 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This work has benefited from the invaluable contribution of many individuals and organisations to which I would like to reiterate my profound gratitude. I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Rupert Taylor, for inspiring and guiding me throughout this research project. I am profoundly grateful for the continuous support received from Professor Sheila Meintjes. This work would not have been possible without the funding and intellectual stimulation received from these organisations: University of Peace and IDRC PhD fellowship program, the Swiss-South Africa Joint Research Program (SSAJRP), the French Institute of South Africa, and the Wits Postgraduate Merit Scholarship. Nevertheless, I am solely responsible for the analysis and conclusions drawn in the pages that follow. Finally, this thesis is dedicated to my very supportive wife Nanou Butsana and my son Bravis Mavungu. They longed to see this project come to fruition. 4 ABSTRACT Post-Apartheid South Africa has been plagued by recurrent and protracted provincial boundary disputes since the demarcation of new provinces in 1993. These conflicts have mainly opposed the Government and affected communities with high security, economic, social and political cost. In many respects, these disputes have threatened the very legitimacy of Local Government. However, existing literature exclusively focused on the early Bushbuckridge case. Besides, analysis of this first instance of post-apartheid provincial boundary, though very enlightening, overemphasized socio-economic factors to account for the border dispute, paying little attention to ideological and strategic underpinnings of the clashes. These deficiencies particularly came to light when there emerged in 2005 other provincial boundary disputes in Khutsong, Matatiele, and Moutse. In the face of such countrywide political phenomena, it became clear that early studies of the Bushbuckridge border dispute needed to be complemented in order to enrich our understanding of social, economic and political drivers of these territorial conflicts. This PhD research distinctively uses a multiple case study approach in order to explain post-apartheid provincial boundary disputes. Drawing on interviews, observations and secondary materials on the three chosen case studies namely the Bushbuckridge, Khutsong, and Matatiele cases, this PhD thesis argues that post-apartheid provincial boundary disputes are complex socio- political phenomena which can best be accounted for by taking into account various socio- economic and political factors including the interplay between historically constituted material conditions of affected communities and their local notions of democracy and development, conflicting regional planning models, Government‟s democratic deficit, strategic political struggles and limits of judicial arbitration. Interpreting these cases with the proposed explanatory framework clearly demonstrates that under the veneer of provincial boundary disputes, disputants have actually been engaging in battles for socio-economic emancipation, in ideological contestations and strategic political struggles. Physical provincial frontiers are fought over not because of any inherent importance, but mainly because they are represented as proxies for socio-economic prosperity and political power. At a time when the current government is still grappling with at least two provincial boundary disputes and is contemplating reducing the number of provinces, this thesis highlights lessons which should inform future provincial demarcation decisions. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ................................................................................................................ 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................. 3 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... 4 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................... 5 TABLE OF MAPS ............................................................................................................. 7 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYSMS .......................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 1: RESEARCHING POST-APARTHEID PROVINCIAL BOUNDARY DISPUTES ....................................................................................................................... 11 1.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 11 1.2. Post-apartheid provincial boundary disputes as political problems ......................... 13 1.3. Existing literature on post-apartheid provincial boundary disputes ......................... 22 1.4. Unique contribution of this thesis .......................................................................... 25 1.5. Methodology ......................................................................................................... 34 1.6. Outline of chapters ................................................................................................ 38 CHAPTER 2: PROVINCIAL BOUNDARY DISPUTE IN BUSHBUCKRIDGE ............. 40 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 40 2.2. The geography and historical background of Bushbuckridge .................................. 41 2.3. Material conditions of the population of Bushbuckridge ........................................ 47 2.4. Local notions of democracy and development ........................................................ 50 2.5. Conflicting regional planning paradigms ............................................................... 53 2.6. Government‟s democratic deficit ........................................................................... 56 2.7. Strategic political struggles .................................................................................... 58 2.8. Limits of judicial mechanisms in arbitrating the conflict ........................................ 64 2.9. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 66 CHAPTER 3: PROVINCIAL BOUNDARY DISPUTES IN KHUTSONG ...................... 69 3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 69 3.2. The geography and historical context of the dispute ............................................... 70 3.3. Material conditions of the population of Khutsong ................................................. 80 3.4. Local notions of democracy and development ........................................................ 88 3.5. Conflicting regional planning paradigms ............................................................... 90 3.6. Government democratic deficit .............................................................................. 93 3.7. Strategic political struggles .................................................................................. 101 3.8. Limits of judicial mechanisms ............................................................................. 106 3.9. Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 108 CHAPTER 4: PROVINCIAL BOUNDARY DISPUTE IN MATATIELE ....................... 112 4.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 112 4.2. Geography and historical context of the dispute ................................................... 113 4.3. Material conditions of the population in Matatiele/Maluti .................................... 122 4.4. Local notions of democracy and development ...................................................... 128 4.5. Conflicting regional planning paradigms ............................................................. 134 6 4.6. Government‟s democratic deficit ......................................................................... 138 4.7. Strategic political struggles .................................................................................. 142 4.8. Limits of judicial mechanisms ............................................................................. 145 4.9. Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 150 CHAPTER 5: THE EMERGING PATTERNS ................................................................ 155 5.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................