Chapter 4 The Research Site in Context: BOPHELONG IN SOUTH AFRICA 4.1 Introduction Part 1 of this chapter locates the research geographically together with a brief history of the Bophelong Township, contextualised within the broader political economy of South Africa.1 Part 2 is a socio-economic profile of Bophelong within the Emfuleni municipality. Part 3 discusses the family forms, family-households and the woman- heads in Bophelong. Part 4 discusses the importance of the social grants for woman- headed family-households in Bophelong. Part 1 4.2 Bophelong in South Africa 4.2.1 Geographic Location Bophelong is located in the Vaal region, 70 kilometres south of Johannesburg, and is a stone-throw away from ISCOR/Arcelor Mittal. The two main routes from Johannesburg to Bophelong along the Golden Highway and the National Highway Toll road from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein pass the sprawling dormitory townships of the Vaal - Sebokeng, Evaton and Orange Farm - before reaching Bophelong (see maps on p. xxi and xxii). This is a landscape of rugged beauty, a lush green in summer and turning different shades of brown, orange and red, in the dry winter. Throughout the seasons, the burning flares and pollution of Arcelor Mittal can be seen from a 20-kilometre distance, dominating the skyline, and the already contaminated environment. 1 This section is based on the booklet, ‘Bophelo Bophelong’ (Living in Bophelong), that I wrote based on my research in the township, and published in 2010. The research is based on the Emfuleni local municipality’s Integrated Development Plan 2007-2012, cited as IDP, 2007. 145 The towns of the Vaal are built close to the Vaal River, which winds its way from the mountain kingdom of Lesotho through three provinces in South Africa - Gauteng, the Free State and the Northern Cape – before it joins the Atlantic Ocean. The Vaal River was important for indigenous people long before the advent of colonialism. The development of capitalism, mining and secondary industry contributed to the pollution – of the river, the surrounding area and the population (Groundwork Report, 2006).2 4.2.2 Brief overview Bophelong Township was built in 1948, on the cusp of the National Party (NP) coming to power, to accommodate cheap black labour needed for the industries in the Vaal region, a minerals and energy complex, integral to South Africa’s capitalist development (Groundwork Report, 2006).3 Historically, mining interests dominated capitalist development in South Africa and key state companies (parastatals) were developed in its support which combined and informed class formation. A particular configuration of social relations, based on colour, social class and gender developed within the Vaal region, a microcosm of the broader South African society. This configuration expressed itself between and within the different social classes and their organisations: black and white workers, the white mine-owners, the parastatals and the state itself (Davies et. al, 1984a and 1984b). This was a predominantly male workforce (Monareng, 2003). Post-apartheid restructuring combined some of the former white towns and black townships into the Sedibeng region, consisting of three municipalities, namely Emfuleni, Metsimoholo and Lesedi. Bophelong forms part of the Emfuleni municipality. The Emfuleni municipality includes the former black townships and the former white towns and suburbs, namely, Boipatong, Boitumelo, Bophelong, Evaton, Loch Vaal 2 For South Africa’s first environmental report on ‘air’, which focuses on the Vaal region, see VEJA (2007). 3 For a fuller account of the Vaal and capitalist development in South Africa, see Groundwork Report (2006) and Slabbert (2004); and Monareng (2003) for contemporary developments in the region. 146 and North Vaal rural areas, Sebokeng, Sharpeville, Tshepiso, Vaal Oewer, Vanderbijlpark and suburbs, and Vereeniging and suburbs (IDP, 2007: 7). Although six of these are large peri-urban townships (with larger populations than the former white towns and suburbs), they do not have the infrastructure and facilities associated with towns of this size. From the east to the west, Emfuleni covers about 120 kilometers. The Vaal River, its southern boundary, still provides opportunities for tourism and other forms of economic development. Emfuleni borders Metsimaholo municipality in the Free State province, Midvaal to the east, the City of Johannesburg metropolitan area to the north, and Westonaria and Potchefstroom municipalities in the west, in North West province. Unlike the garden cities of Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging and Sasolburg built for white workers, Bophelong remains dusty, polluted and almost tree-less; and very sensitive to the elements. It is extremely hot in summer, and winds turn the reddish sand into whirlwinds of dust and pollution. The largely untarred streets become muddy after the rain, making mobility difficult for both pedestrians and motorists. Key indices reveal Bophelong’s continued township status, and continuities with apartheid include: its physical appearance, poor infrastructure, infrequent refuse collection, lack of public transport and the general absence of any sustainable development. The differences between Bophelong and former white towns like Vanderbijlpark, also reflect the continuity of fundamental inequalities in South Africa. The history of Bophelong reflects the development of capitalism in South Africa, including the development of inequality and poverty. Since the 1990s Bophelong Township has undergone many changes, it’s close neighbour, the former parastal, ISCOR, is now a privately-owned international steel company, Arcelor Mittal, that has drastically reduced its workforce and contributed to unemployment in the region (Hlatswayo, 2003). 147 Apartheid policies constructed the patterns of urban (and rural) social and economic development in the country nationally; and its social classes.4 A particular nexus of colour and class was formed historically, where black people are predominantly working class and poor, and this has continued. In Emfuleni, the high income areas are linked to urban facilities and economic centres, and remain the former apartheid white towns and suburbs. These high-income areas contain the potential workplaces, the trade centres, and the transport nodes. The low-income areas remain the black townships, highly dependent on the white high- income areas, as sources of work, and where between 80-90% of goods (groceries and clothing) are bought (Slabbert, 2004). Frequent commuting occurs between the low- and the high-income areas. There is no public transport, black people depend on privately-owned mini-bus taxis and white people use their own private cars. In the post-apartheid period despite the restructuring at a national and local level, the previous historical inequities and dependencies continue. Although some black people live in the former white suburbs, in post-apartheid South Africa, social class has replaced colour as the basis for social exclusion – and the apartheid demography remains largely untouched. Based on the 2006 local government elections, the Emfuleni Local Council has a total of 86 councillors, 69 are from the African National Congress (ANC), 12 from the Democratic Alliance (DA), 1 from the Independent Democrats (ID), 1 from the Freedom Front (FF), and 3 from the Pan African Congress (PAC) (IDP, 2007). The ANC has a majority on the council that includes the mayor, the chief whip and the speaker (ibid). 4 This was of course prefigured by the wars of dispossession and conquest, discussed very briefly in Chapter 2. See also Roux (1964) and Simons (1983). 148 4.3 A Brief History of Bophelong 4.3.1 History and economy of the Vaal region before apartheid By 1948 - when Bophelong was built - the pattern of capitalist development in South Africa was largely determined, and the importance of the Vaal region was confirmed. Mining – diamonds, coal and gold - and related industries demanded huge supplies of energy, water and steel, which the Vaal region provided. The mine-owners’ interests propelled this development and a particular close relationship developed between the capitalist, in particular the mine-owners, and the South African state (Groundwork Report, 2006). 4.3.1.1 Coal The discovery of gold stimulated the coal mining industry in the Vaal, because coal provided energy for the extraction of gold. By the 1880s the coalmines produced 200 tons of coal but faced transport problems. Two British capitalists, Samuel Marks and Isaac Lewis, from the diamond houses in Kimberley, owned the coalfields in the Vaal, the Vereeniging Estate, after which the company town of Vereeniging was named. Marks was a friend of the Transvaal Boer Republic President, Paul Kruger, for whom the goldfields revenue was important. In 1890 Kruger negotiated with Cecil John Rhodes, the prime minister of the British Cape Colony to build the railway from the Cape to Johannesburg. Besides cutting transport costs by 80%, the railway passed Marks’ Vereeniging Estate and transported his coal to the Witwatersrand goldfields. This was a lucrative business and the production of coal increased from 7 000 tons in 1893 to 100 000 in 1895 (Groundwork Report, 2006: 54). Coal also replaced wood as energy for the railways, as the forests were already depleted. 4.3.1.2 Steel Steel was necessary for the mining and related industries, and Lewis and Marks built the first steel plant, the Union Steel Corporation of South Africa (USCSA) and produced the first steel in 1913. Lewis and Marks needed state capital to develop steel 149 production locally, but the mining companies refused to pay any tariffs or increases in the price of steel. Marks negotiated a contract with the state-owned railways to supply scrap metal to the USCSA, and for the railways to procure steel goods from his company, and this was a profitable agreement. In 1928 the South African Pact Government passed a law that formed the Iron and Steel Corporation (ISCOR), a parastatal or state company, boosting industrial development in the Vaal. ISCOR produced steel from iron-ore. Hendrik van der Bijl became the chairperson of the independent ISCOR Board of Directors.