CHAPTER THREE: TRACING THE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT POLICIES IN POST-1994 SOUTH AFRICA
3.7 CONCLUSION
118 The rural development agenda suddenly became promiment after the ANC’s policy conference which was held in Polokwane in 2007. After the national elections of 2009, the Ministry and Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) were created to focus specifically on rural development and implement land reform programmes. The DRDLR brought focus and commitment to the rural development issues in the post-apartheid era. It incorporated the former Department of Land Affairs and expanded its scope to include a broader vsion of rural development and the interventions needed to bolster rural economies and create employment in rura areas (Mare, 2016:7). The DRDLR was created specifically to handle the rural development agenda in terms of policy development and implementation21. It is envisaged that it would not work in isolation but collaborates with other government departments and independent entities. Its core task is to initiate, facilitate, co-ordinate and act as a catalyst for any rural development intervention (Government of South Africa, 2009). It is the prerogative of the DRDLR to define the policy direction and provide a framework for implementation (20 Years of Democracy, 2014). Furthermore, the CRDP acknowledges public participation as the cornerstone of sustainable rural development. Although it is largely accepted as a good policy document that speaks to the reality of rural poverty, the biggest challenge is how to translate it into reality to achieve vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities. The next chapter examines the implementation of the various rural development policies that are discussed here and also considers the fiscal framework of rural development.
119 used for learning and experimenting with various strategies to reduce rural poverty. The chapter revealed that the construction of a working definition for the key concepts helped to develop policy response that focused on the whole gamut of rural poverty and identified what needed to be done to facilitate rural development in post-apartheid South Africa.
The chapter argued that, while rural areas have similar characteristics in general, rural areas in South Africa are unique because they are part of local government and subjected to a dual leadership challenge. The majority of Black people were confined to rural areas where they were disenfranchised and excluded from economic opportunities. As a result, poverty became deeply entrenched in rural areas largely located in the Bantustans or Homelands. Hence, that the above-observed historical context account for the continued entrenchment of rural poverty in the country’s four provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Northern Cape and North West, where large tracts of the former homeland regions are located.
The chapter has demonstrated that a well-developed policy framework that is guided by the Constitution has been put in place to respond to the problem of rural poverty and underdevelopment. The LG has a constitutional mandate to deliver services and promote socio- economic development at the grass-roots level. It is obligated as the sphere of government that is closer to the people, by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa to drive the agenda of rural development. It was also noted that a policy framework was developed for the re- demarcation of municipal boundaries to create inter-linkages between towns and the countryside (National Treasury, 2011). The re-demarcation is aimed at integrating rural areas and urban areas in order to establish a symbiotic relationship that creates economic benefits for rural areas.
The chapter noted that rural areas are located in municipalities that are classified under B3 and B4. Category B4 municipalities consist of traditional villages that are typically located in the former homelands and have communal land tenure system. The re-demarcation of municipal boundaries has ensured that category B4 municipalities have not remained isolated nor disadvantaged. Although integration has been viewed as a positive development, ‘it has complicated the administrative determination of what constitutes a rural area and, by extension, a rural municipality’ (National Treasury, 2011). Hence, the chapter has also pointed out the lack of strong and functional structures and institutions at the LG level as the major challenge for rural development. The ISRDP for example, identified the LG as the key player and driver
120 of integrated rural development, but the programme failed to deliver on its promises due to inadequate infrastructure and weak institutional capacity. The problem was also compounded by the lack of a specific budget for the programme.
The chapter also revealed that the ANC government has over the past two decades developed a number of policy responses to address rural poverty and underdevelopment. The most comprehensive was the CRDP whose strategic vision is to build “vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities and food security for all”. The CRDP is a three pronged strategy anchored on three priority areas: rural development, land reform and agrarian transformation.
The CRDP is largely accepted as satisfactory and comprehensive response to rural poverty. It is imbued with the ideals of the RDP. The CRDP explicitly placed agrarian transformation and land reform at the centre of rural development. Thus, the chapter outlined that the DRDLF, which authored the CRDP, realised that, the vision of building “vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities” without agrarian transformation and land reform. Nonetheless, such a vision can only be realised when the CRDP is translated into action through effective implementation. A good programme, such as the CRDP, could fail to deliver on its promises as was the case with various previous rural development programmes despite the availability of resources. The next chapter examines the implementation of rural development policies in the post-1994 era in South Africa.
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