The formation of a settler elite and its role in colonial Durban's urban development between 1854 and 1910 have been studied. In this instance of early colonial capitalism, local business leaders readily established an intimate connection between economic and political power. Many of them used their position on the Durban Town Council, formed in 1854, to wield preponderant civic influence and become the driving force in the development of the town. The nature of this settler elite has been investigated in terms of the theories of social stratification, formulated along Weberian lines. Following the institutionalization of power arrangements these leading settlers were legally acknowledged as a governing elite. Durban provided the setting in which metropolitan institutions, activity patterns and environments could be introduced and maintained, as dictated by the underlying value-system of the British settlers. The colonial city of Durban hereby not only demonstrated the appearance of a civilization, but also the mutual interaction between man's behaviour and his culturally modified environment. The ruling elite regarded the beautification of the urban environment as part of their civic responsibilities in this city-building process. Such a civic pride was especially applied in Durban to the building of impressive Town Halls and public buildings. These leaders also played a decisive role with regard to harbour improvements, railways, tramways, electricity supply, telephone services and sanitary improvements. Following a historical pattern of colonial urban development, Durban became another British city in Africa. Yet it possessed local features which made it atypical, if not unique, in a South African context. The driving force and way of life of the town during the colonial period was clearly British. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1994.

This study is necessitated by the emergence of the notions of a developmental approach towards the informal economy within urban governance. Using the case-study methodology to draw a comparative analysis between Msunduzi Local Municipality and Hibiscus Coast Municipality, the study highlights various key challenges facing the development of the informal economy in South Africa. The study reveals that there has been a slight shift towards a developmental approach, for instance, where some level of infrastructure investment and skills support has become a part of the intervention strategies for the informal economy. However, it is argued that local government lacks adequate institutional arrangements, and is characterized by an underdeveloped policy and legislative environment with regards to the development of the informal economy. These issues at the local government level are exacerbated by a lack of direction at the national level in terms of structuring the outcomes of policy, legislation and the institutional environments in addressing the dual objectives of poverty alleviation and economic development through the informal economy. At the local level, these factors have subsequently led to unstructured, uneven and uncoordinated interventions, which have collectively hampered the development of the informal economy. This has also been aggravated by the wider struggles of stakeholders such as urban elites, political interests and informal traders’ agencies at the local level, competing to influence urban development and policy for their preferential gains. Furthermore, the state continues to determinedly institutionalise global economic competitiveness between its cities and towns in the pursuit of reaching ‘world class’ standards. This leaves local governments ill-equipped to deal with the socio-economic issues and challenges of developing the growing informal economy as an unfunded mandate. Moreover, the political ambivalence at all levels of government is fundamentally limiting the creative assimilation of alternative urban configurations that meet and synthesize the diverse needs of both formal and informal economy actors in reimagining a hybrid economy. Finally, the study raises key recommendations around the need for a deeper democratization process which attempts to overcome the barriers to more deliberative policy making and implementation. This also includes the need for aligned national, provincial and local government policy and legislative frameworks for the development of the informal economy. These should outline clear implementation plans and mechanisms, and the coordination and integration of interventions between various stakeholders as a multi-disciplinary approach. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

This study aims to explore the relationship between the Transitional Local Council of Pietermaritzburg, and various arts and culture bodies in the Pietermaritzburg area. It has seemed that there is a power differential in this relationship, with a very high concentration of power in the hands of the TLC, while very little of it resides with the arts and culture organizations. The findings of this study have shown that the relationship is, in all cases, built on funding. However, secondly, the problem with this is that the TLC has no real policy on the allocation of funding to arts and culture. There is some informal policy, but nothing concrete. Thirdly, the study shows that the TLC does in fact have a power base from which to work - the finances it controls. And, finally, the study has shown that the transition to democracy in 1994 has not substantively changed the situation in which arts and culture organizations find themselves. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

South Africa (SA) has always been a unique case for political scientists to analyse because of its heavy socio-economic cleavages created as a result of racist apartheid policies, but what has not been extensively covered is how these economic and social cleavages could impact on the practical experiences of public participation in post-apartheid South Africa. There are indeed many unexplored dimensions of this area. Herein lies the rationale for this research which revolves largely around global consensus amongst academics, development practioners, civil society as well as, amongst others, global bodies, that public participation is part of the solution to SA's development challenges but acknowledgement that obstacles to constructive SA public participation with local government do exist; it are these (potentially unique) obstacles which this dissertation aims to identify and examine in order to become part of the solution for a better SA for all. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.