A number of mechanisms were used in the past to racially divide
South Africa's population, among them, the most notable being
the Group Areas Act. Apartheid was more than just the physical
separation of race groups. It was supported by an apparatus
designed to inequitably provide and distribute social amenities,
education, housing etc. In addition, it was a psychological
exercise designed to enforce the notion of white superiority on the
people. Now that the Group Areas Act has been repealed, the racio-spatial
patterns of the South African city are expected to change
as the doors of the previously prohibited residential areas become
"open" to all South Africans. The following dissertation is
concerned with the residential desegregation process. Its central
argument is that the practice of segregation stretches far beyond
the limits of the law. Informal processes will replace formal
legislation so that the segregation of the South African population
will continue. The main focus of the argument is that in the post-apartheid
period, disadvantages based on income will have the
same effect as the differences based on race did, in the old South
Africa. Affordability will play a major role in determining who gets
access to the housing stock in the "White" residential areas of the
old South Africa. Estate agents, the state, and the development companies will be
amongst the key actors in determining not only who gets access
to middle income housing but also in the new racio- spatial
patterns that are likely to develop in the residential areas of South
Africa's cities. Lastly, desegregation is about getting people of
different cultures, religions, and ethnic backgrounds together to
live as a single integrated community - a difficult task in a society
in which decades of separation have made us virtual strangers.
The study, which was conducted in the Borough of Queensburgh
and the Bellair-Sea View-Hillary areas,has revealed that ,as a
result of the reasons mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, the
rate of residential desegregation has been slow. Also the old
forms of segregation are being replaced by new forms in the
shape of ethnic pockets within the former "white" residential
areas. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1996.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/7526 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Naidoo, Reubendra. |
| Contributors | Soni, D. V. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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