From industrialisation to de-industrialisation in the former South African homelands

Local Economic Development in an Era of Globalisation: The Case of South African Cities

“…The uneven impact of globalisation on South African localities results in large-scale job losses occurring in particularly vulnerable communities due to the closure of factories or mines. A further source of job losses is changing state policies that have marginalised many South African localities (such as Butterworth or Mogwase) that were formerly the beneficiaries of generous government incentives for industrial decentralisation (Phalatse 2000). In order to address the pressing needs of those localities in decline or in the throes of restructuring, national government has introduced an important programme to assist local economic development regeneration initiatives, namely the Social Fund which targets and assists localities affected by large-scale retrenchments (Rogerson 1999b).…”

The Village in a Game Park: Local Response to the Demise of Coal Mining in KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa

“…Within South Africa, the poor performance of the manufacturing sector, especially such subsectors as clothing and textiles, has been a notable trend for several years (Bell and Madula 2001;South Africa at a Glance 2000). Although these trends are partly a response to poor local competitiveness in the global market, the withdrawal of state support for such industries in the former black homelands following the demise of apartheid has also been a key factor leading to deindustrialization (Phalatse 2000(Phalatse , 2001. While many sectors of the South African economy have been hard hit by rationalization and closure in the past decade, it would be fair to suggest that the worst-affected sectors are those of iron and steel production and gold and coal mining (Metroplan 1999).…”

The Economic and Social Geography of South Africa: Progress Beyond Apartheid

“…Other aspects of spatial economic change have centred on the prospects for individual economic sectors, such as jewellery (Da Silva 1999a, the transformation of the tourism industry from its dominance by white ownership (Goudie et al, 1999) and of the national importance of what in South Africa is called the small, medium and micro-enterprise economy (Nobanda 1998;Rogerson 1998bRogerson , 1999aRogerson , 2000cKesper, 1999). The abandonment of apartheid inspired programmes for regional policy linked to industrial decentralisation, and the development of the former Homelands has brought forth new forces of, and policy contexts for, spatial change Phalatse 2000). The implementation of Spatial Development Initiatives is becoming a critical feature in the planning for reconstruction in post-apartheid South (and Southern) Africa.…”

“…Geographers have documented several important examples of relatively successful community-led and NGO-led initiatives (Nel 1995(Nel , 1997Nel & Hill 1996;Nel et al 1997). The need for such initiatives is particularly urgent in those parts of rural South Africa where de-industrialisation processes have been observed as a result of the phasing-out of industrial incentives in former Bantustan locales (Phalatse 2000) and of changing legis-lation concerning casino licensing which have removed the former privileged position of the former Bantustans (Rogerson 1998e). The importance of providing a facilitative policy support environment for the growth of rural non-farm enterprises has been stressed in certain investigations (Rogerson 1998f, 1999d and the potential for periodic markets to be a development vehicle in rural South Africa has also been examined (Rogerson 1997b;Fox & Nel 1999).…”