4.3. FORCES UNDERLYING LAND USE MANAGEMENT
4.3.1. Income levels
Income levels are one of the major drivers of the functionality and operation of a certain area, and the income levels determine the efficiency, types of services and types of land uses located in the area. This line of thought is reasonable, but not in an environment with large numbers of poor people. In an area like KwaMashu, for instance, there are people from
113 different social groups, with different sized families, different jobs, etc. Although most of them struggle financially, when one of the many families ‘makes it’ or becomes more affluent, they move out to more CBD centred zones. This family is then, in turn, replaced in the township by more poor people moving into the area. Nevertheless, the line of thought of incomes determining the efficiency, types of services and types of land uses located in an area is applicable in more CBD centred areas. This notion brings about the theme of income levels in terms of high; middle and low income recipients within CBD centred areas.
1. High income class: uMhlanga, Kloof, La Lucia, Hillcrest, Durban North, Mt Edge combe Estate, Winston Park etc. (in close proximity to the CBD).
2. Middle income class: Durban CBD, Durban South, Pinetown, West-ridge, Umbilo, Montclair, South Beach, etc. (The majority of the residents are White people, and these areas are also divided into the richest and the rich. These areas are outside the CBD).
3. Low income class: Cato Manor, uMlazi, Chester Ville, the INK area, Newlands, the majority of parts of Phoenix, Adams Mission, Isipingo etc. (These areas are on the periphery of the city).
As is evident, the location of different socio-economic groups is determined by their income levels, however, this is not the case in KwaMashu Township. In the township of KwaMashu there are a variety of social and economic issues that have led people to participate in informal services and trading, and the spatial design of the area has increased the living costs for many so the design has been deemed inaccurate for the area (eThekwini Municipality, 2016). This has resulted in poor services, poor infrastructural maintenance, disuse of civic property, and so on. Corruption at the authoritarian offices has further hampered the economy in the area for both the formal and informal sectors due to a lack of capital. This has created additional strife between the two sectors, concluding with the informal sector being exploited by the formal sector. It is well known that the formal sector always has the upper hand over the informal sector in everything due to rights, accessibilities, resources and skills which are largely denied to the informal sector (eThekwini Municipality, 2016).
The informal sector is economically unstable and battles to maintain itself. There are many competitors and limited options place pressure on the market, meaning that many people struggle make a profit that will sustain their basic needs. The costs of products in the informal markets have increased as a result of the economic recession. The Rand has been devalued and this has resulted in prices rising. Informal traders only have small plots of land on which to maintain one sub-regular residential unit and a small open space for
114 environmental fairness. Some squeeze in an extra room at the back of their houses, well known as ‘Umjondolo or backyard shacks’. There is no space for agricultural production to support their little vegetable trading service at the market; instead they have to buy vegetables from formal stores at high prices because they do not have the money to travel to farms or farm markets to buy cheaper fresh vegetables (eThekwini Municipality, 2016).
There is also little to no space for children to play, thus the majority of children tend to play in the streets. There have been numerous reports of car accidents in townships and a significant number have involved children. This trend of tragedies has added a clinging pain to the community. Crime has increased and hate between religious organisations within the township areas has festered. Strife between neighbourhood boys has led to students stabbing each other, gang wars, and transport feuds. This has all resulted in the continuous killing of brothers and sisters of the same womb of KwaMashu.
The pain of struggle is widely expressed and experienced within informal markets, because everything begins in the economic sector and life has been reduced to Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’. With aims to survive in ‘free confinement’, people turn to petty crime as a quick way of getting money, circumventing the ‘hard work less pay’ strategy of living for the ‘less work more pay’ alternative (eThekwini Municipality, 2016). However, there is no excuse or justification for, or dignity and purity in immoral actions, regardless of the thought processes behind the immoral acts. This rationale applies equally to both the rich and powerful, and to the poor and powerless. Justice is to be served to both and all should be held accountable.
There are crimes where it is ‘expected’ that uncivil activities might occur, and crime increases as unemployment increases.
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Figure 4.5: The KwaMashu urban hubs/economic zones and transit system Source: eThekwini Municipality, 2016
Income levels in the eThekwini municipality affect the urban form by controlling the location of certain market forces (figure: 4.5 above). Due to lacking marketing skills and resources in informal markets, the quality of the products in these markets is automatically reduced in the eyes of their customers and community. Thus informal traders resort to decreasing their products to below market price as a means of trying to keep their businesses afloat. The formal market is at an advantage as it can afford to secure retail spaces and the appropriate platforms in the marketing of their products. Areas with high income people suggest that
116 quality products and services are provided in close proximity to the people. The proximity of the economic services provided is created by the nature of the city’s transitional phases, which affect the design of the urban environment.
Companies that are capital intensive change the land uses, hence, the transition of the urban form is encouraged to be consistent with the prevailing economic, social and environmental factors that are prominent within the eThekwini municipality. When mentioning the economic factors, the informal market is under performing and struggling, while on the other hand the formal market is performing normatively well, so the formal market is favoured by capitalists, funders, investors and the private sector. Consequently, capitalists will further appropriate the current situation of economic instability and inequality (Stiglitz, 2017). Due to the interlinked relationship of various businesses, if one business is established another will be brought closer, so as to create a close relationship with each other. This also applies in KwaMashu Township’s ‘Station’ area and surroundings. However, when more formal businesses are established there, neglecting the informal market’s functionality and operation, informal traders are pushed out into an insufficient spatial form.
Despite this though, more informal participants are finding refuge within the informal sector.
This however affects the income levels for these participants and decreases the livelihood standard of the community. The community of KwaMashu does contain households with individuals who are professionals and who have a fair salary base, but they also struggle financially as their jobs are far away in the city, resulting in increased travel costs for them. In addition, cash flow within the community is distorted; money is made but it does not stay within the community due its outflow to other areas.