ABSTRACT
6.4. THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL AIMS OF THE INDUSTRIAL DECENTRALISATION STRATEGY
The functional role of the state's industrial policy was clearly stated by one of the key captains of the apartheid machinery, Minister of Constitutional Affairs, Coos Heunis, when he said:
a more balanced development actionina regional context is necessaryinorder to carry out the policy of the separate development to its logical conclusion. (SABC News, 1988)
It was clear that the intention of the apartheid regime was to eventually accommodate black people in some 'independent' political order, and to keep them away from major metropolitan areas. Itwas hoped that there would no longer be a moral obligation to accommodate themin the central political system, but to establish 'pseudo economic nodes' in the form of small towns, in which the majority of black South Africans would be encouraged to live.
Differences arose over how best to entrench political partition. The reformist intellectuals believed that over the long term, South Africa needed to move toward an ethnically based political association in a federal system Federation was seen to .be more feasible than a confederation which is a single constitutional unit involving an agreement between sovereign independent states.
The establishment of a confederation, based on ethnic homelands, was vitiated by the refusal of certain homeland leaders to accept their 'independence'. This was one of the central problems facing the apartheid strategy and it made the realisation of the formation of a confederation based on bilateral agreements with 'independent states', unobtainable.
Furthermore, the constitutional future of so- called 'urban blacks' could not be settled within a conventional confederal formula For these reasons the development of 'federal features' was advised. A pattern of population distribution had to be maintained. It was believed that it would be preferable to keep the descendants of the different major African chiefdoms living in and around their original areas of settlement.
The research argues that essentially, the economic decentralisation strategy and the emergence of the apartheid type 'small towns' were aimed at providing the economic base for the population distribution needed to retain ethnicity as the fundamental organising principle of the society.
The apartheid state had hoped that the private sector would assist in ensuring the economic viability of the small town so that their constitutional and political goal could succeed. The emergence of apartheid type small towns was therefore viewed as an important strategy in influx control because it was essential that control of movement should rest less on coercion and more on economic incentives.
The analysis of the policy framework within which the strategy was being implemented enables this research to conclude that there was a contradiction between theoretical free market principles and the strict control over the movement of African labour that the strategy entailed. The removal of discrimination against non-whites, it can be argued, was only one step towards eliminating the imbalance.
This process was fraught with dangeriftaken too far because the government's strategy could not succeed unless it was accompanied by an effective programme of stabilising the migration of people in the region as a whole. This geographic dimension was an indispensable element of the new dispensation. Influx control was viewed by all as a fundamental non-negotiable principle of the reform process.
The principle of geographic distribution of ethnic groups remained as important as it ever was in terms of the original Verwoedian doctrine. However, serious differences arose over its interpretation The nationalist party government believed that attempts at industrial decentralisation to various 'rural growth points' through enticing incentives might help them
achieve the political agenda Instead, they opted for a policy of creating growth poles in broad regional areas, which included metropolitan areas, throughout the country.
The earlier architects of the industrialisation strategy were less conservative than those that had been implemented in the late eighties. The country was almost ungovernable due to the mass popular movement led by the United Democratic Front. What was perceived, as 'flexibility' within the strategy was unacceptable to the politicians of the time. P.W Botha opted for a far more conservative decentralisation policy.
The ann was the attainment of a more rigidly segregationist pattern of demographic distribution away from metropolitan areas, throughout the country. He believed that the 49 developments points that had been identified for the decentralisation strategy far exceeded the bounds of economic possibility. The six most favourable areas would all be in white areas.
The black states would need to have development points as well. Due to financial constraints a strict selection process had to be followed.
The necessary infrastructure was not provided inall49 locations. The proposed Development Bank was the central mechanism fOF channelling funds to various places. Although plans for 'disincentives' to discourage industrial expansion in urban areas had not yet been finalised, the plan to create additional sources of income for local authorities could form part of the disincentive package in urban areas.
The decentralisation strategy in both its economic and political aspects went handinhand with the concept of depoliticisation. Thisterm involved the removal from the sphere of government ofallfunctions and services that could be met and provided by the private sector. As soon as the government, for example, assumed responsibility for supplying houses, it became a political matter. People who were not represented in the political process would then attribute their lack of housing to their lack of parliamentary representation. Fewer issues would get politicised if matters such as housing could be confined to the economic sphere.
6.5. CONSTITUTIONAL BACK -UP TO INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT