Skip to main content
Log in

The Missing Link in Cooperative Governance and Housing Delivery: Lessons from Mangaung Local Municipality

  • Published:
Urban Forum Aims and scope Submit manuscript

    We’re sorry, something doesn't seem to be working properly.

    Please try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, please contact support so we can address the problem.

Abstract

This paper examines post-apartheid housing delivery in the Mangaung Local Municipality – previously known as the Bloemfontein–Botshabelo–Thaba Nchu region. The paper assesses housing delivery against the background of existing literature on housing delivery, as evaluated from a city perspective and against the notion of cooperative governance. It is suggested that various guidelines from policy and practice at the provincial level impact negatively on housing delivery at the local level. Furthermore, it is argued that despite some innovative attempts to address aspects of informal settlement upgrading, integrated housing development and participation have not received adequate attention. Finally, the paper also questions the lack of appropriate guidelines in respect of housing delivery in some hidden urbanities of South Africa.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. A distinction should be made between the Mangaung Local Municipality, which includes the magisterial districts of Bloemfontein, Botshabelo, and Thaba Nchu, and the Mangaung Township, which refers to the former black township in Bloemfontein.

References

  • Centre for Development Enterprise (CDE) (1998). South Africa’s ‘discarded people’: Survival, adaptation and current challenges. Johannesburg: Centre for Development Enterprise.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charlton, S. (2000). Infill and integration in the post-apartheid city: two low-income housing projects in Durban. Paper presented at the Urban Futures Conference, Johannesburg, 10–14 July.

  • Charlton, S. (2003). The integrated delivery of housing: a local government perspective from Durban. In P. Harrison, M. Huchzermeyer, & M. Mayekiso (Eds.) Confronting fragmentation: housing and urban development in a democratising society. Cape Town: Juta/UCT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charlton, S., & Kihato, C. (2006). Reaching the poor? An analysis of the influences on the evolution of South Africa’s housing programme. In U. Pillay, R. Tomlinson, & J. du Toit (Eds.) Democracy and delivery: urban policy in South Africa. Cape Town: HSRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crankshaw, O., & Parnell, S. (1996). Housing provision and the need for an urbanisation policy in the new South Africa. Urban Forum, 7(2), 232–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). (1999). The State of Human Settlements in South Africa, 1994–1998. Report prepared for the Department of Housing, Pretoria.

  • Cross, C. (2006). Local governance and social conflict: Implications for piloting South Africa’s new housing plan in Cape Town’s informal settlements. In M. Huchermeyer, & A. Karam (Eds.) Informal settlements: A perpetual challenge?. Cape Town: UCT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Free State Provincial Government (2006). Free state growth and development strategy. Office of the Premier, Bloemfontein.

  • Graham, N. (2006). Informal settlement upgrading in Cape Town: Challenges, constraints and contradictions with local government. In M. Huchermeyer, & A. Karam (Eds.) Informal settlements: A perpetual challenge?. Cape Town: UCT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, P., Huchzermeyer, M., & Mayekiso, M. (2003). Confronting fragmentation: housing and urban development in a democratising society. Cape Town: Juta/UCT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huchzermeyer, M. (1999). The exploration of appropriate informal settlement intervention in South Africa: contributions from a comparison with Brazil. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Cape Town.

  • Huchzermeyer, M. (2002). Upgrading through the project-linked capital subsidy: Implications for the strategies of informal settlement residents and their community organisations. Urban Forum, 13(2), 67–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huchzermeyer, M. (2003). Addressing segregation through housing policy and finance. In P. Harrision, M. Huchzermeyer, & M. Mayekiso (Eds.) Confronting fragmentation: housing and urban development in a democratising society. Cape Town: Juta/UCT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huchzermeyer, M., & Karam, A. (2006). Informal settlements: A perpetual challenge. Cape Town: UCT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan, F. (2003). Housing finance. In F. Khan, & P. Thring (Eds.) Housing policy and practice in post-apartheid South Africa (pp. 161–164). Sandown: Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krige, D. S. (1991). Bloemfontein. In A. Lemon (Ed.) Homes apart: South Africa’s segregated cities (pp. 104–119). London: Paul Chapman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krige, D. S. (1998). The challenge of dismantling spatial patterns constructed by apartheid in the Bloemfontein-Botshabelo-Thaba’Nchu region. Acta Academica Supplementum, 1, 174–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malan, L. (2005). Intergovernmental relations and co-operative government in South Africa. The ten year review. Politeia, 24(2), 226–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mangaung Local Municipality (MLM). (2003). Housing sector plan. Compiled by Mvusuluso Multi-Dimension Services for the Free State Department of Local Government and Housing, Bloemfontein.

  • Mangaung Local Municipality (MLM). (2004a). Statistics on housing delivery in Mangaung Local Municipality. Economic Development and Planning, Mangaung Local Municipality, Bloemfontein.

  • Mangaung Local Municipality (MLM). (2004b) On rezoning of urban open spaces in Mangaung Local Municipality. Economic Development and Planning, Mangaung Local Municipality, Bloemfontein.

  • Mangaung Local Municipality (MLM). (2004c). Statistics on housing subsidy approvals in Mangaung Local Municipality. Economic Development and Planning, Mangaung Local Municipality, Bloemfontein.

  • Marais, L. (1997). Botshabelo’s changing housing landscape: A critical analysis. Africa Insight, 27(3), 171–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marais, L. (2001). Towards a policy framework for post-apartheid housing investment in former homeland areas: evidence from the Free State. South African Geographical Journal, 83(1), 183–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marais, L. (2003). Good intentions with negative consequences: the case of housing size in the Free State Province of South Africa. Africa Insight, 33(4), 54–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marais, L. (2005). Housing in former homeland areas of South Africa: Delivery, issues and policy in the Free State. Proceedings of the 33rd IAHS World Congress on Housing in South Africa, Pretoria, 27–31 September 2005.

  • Marais, L. (2006). Housing research in South Africa: Themes, paradigms and epistemological considerations. Paper presented at the ICC Housing conference, Johannesburg.

  • Marais, L., & Krige, S. (1997). The upgrading of Freedom Square informal settlement in Bloemfontein: lessons for future low-income housing. Urban Forum, 8(2), 176–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marais, L., & Krige, S. (1999). Post-apartheid housing policy and initiatives in South Africa: reflections on the Bloemfontein-Botshabelo-Thaba Nchu region. Urban Forum, 10(2), 116–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marais, L., & Krige, S. (2000). Who received what where in the Free State, 1994–1998: an assessment of post-apartheid housing policy and delivery Development Southern Africa, 17(4), 603–619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marais, L., & Wessels, J. (2005). Housing standards and housing rights: the case of Welkom in the Free State Province. Urban Forum, 16(1), 17–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLean, K. (2003). Housing provision through co-operative government in the post- apartheid South Africa. In G. Mhone, & O. Edigheji (Eds.) Governance in the New South Africa: The challenges of globalization. Johannesburg: UCT Press, University of Witwatersrand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morange, M. (2002). Backyard shacks: the relative success of this housing option in Port Elizabeth. Urban Forum, 13(2), 3–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Department of Housing, (2005). Breaking new ground – a comprehensive housing plan. Pretoria.

  • Philippe, G., & Houssay-Holzschuch, M. (2002). Territorial strategies of South African informal dwellers. Urban Forum, 13(2), 86–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Public Service Commission (2003). Report on the evaluation of the national housing subsidy scheme. Pretoria: Public Service Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reddy, P. S. (2001). Intergovernmental relations in South Africa. Politeia, 20(1), 21–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Republic of South Africa (1996). The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act No.108 of 1996). PretoriaGovernment Printers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Republic of South Africa (1997). The Housing Act, 1997 (Act No.107 of 1997). Pretoria: Government Printers.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Presidency. (2003). The national spatial development perspective. Pretoria.

  • The Pair Institute Of South Africa. (2002). Intergovernmental relations and co-operative governance in South Africa. Best practices case study series, report funded by DFID.

  • Todes, A. (2006). Urban spatial policy. In U. Pillay, R. Tomlinson, & J. Du Toit (Eds.) Democracy and delivery: Urban Policy in South Africa. Cape Town: HSRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomlinson, M. (1999). South Africa’s housing policy: Lessons from four years of delivery. Lecture for the Housing Policy Development and Management Programme, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

  • Turok, I. (2001). Persistent polarisation in post-apartheid? Progress towards urban integration in Cape Town. Urban Studies, 38(13), 2349–2377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, V., & Mccarthy, M. (1998). Rental housing policy and the role of the household rental sector: evidence from South Africa. Habitat International, 22(1), 49–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zack, T., & Charlton, S. (2003). A somewhat better life: beneficiaries’ perceptions of the government’s housing subsidy scheme. Housing Finance Resource Programme, Johannesburg.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lochner Marais.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mokoena, M., Marais, L. The Missing Link in Cooperative Governance and Housing Delivery: Lessons from Mangaung Local Municipality. Urban Forum 18, 311–327 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-007-9016-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-007-9016-3

Keywords

Navigation