THE STUDY AREA AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.2. The UCLG mentorship program: The case study of eThekwini Municipality, Durban as mentor and Otjiwarongo, Namibia and Mzuzu,
Malawi as mentee cities
4.2.1. Background to the UCLG mentorship program
As a starting point, it is useful to note that the mentorship program is driven and coordinated by the USPC of the UCLG. According to the UCLG Annual Activity Report, this Committee
“responds to the growing need to create spaces for discussion and exchange between cities, and offers advice to improve the quality of local policies on urban strategic planning, with special emphasis being placed on a south-south cooperation, in response to the need to share first-hand experiences on pro-poor policies and informality” (UCLG, 2012: 2).
The focus on the global South and on a more developmental and pro-poor agenda is unsurprising, given that the leadership of the UCLG USPC comes from the southern cities. The Committee was formed in Jeju, South Korea, in 2006 with the Mayor of Rosario, Argentina as Chairperson, and the City Manager of eThekwini Municipality as Vice Chair (UCLG, 2011b). Funded by the Cities Alliance and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the focus of the Committee has been around four key areas: (i) the preparation of a global policy paper on urban strategic planning; (ii) serving as a sounding board on planning matters for international networks and the Cities Alliance;
(iii) redefining the concept of decentralized international cooperation between cities of the global South; and (iv) the promotion of urban strategic planning through mentorships, partnerships and learning exchanges (UCLG, 2011a).
Through its City Future project, it is clear that the support of mentorship programs and learning exchanges are key to its mandate, with the following active city-to-city learning initiatives presented in its report to the UCLG Executive Bureau: (i) Lilongwe and Johannesburg, (ii) Mzuzu and eThekwini, (iii) Blantyre and Ekurhuleni, (iv) Xai-Xai, Inhambane and Porto Allegre, (v)
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Maputo and Belo Horizonte, (vi) Mombasa and Bergen, (vii) Ciudad Sur and Rosario, and (viii) Namibian cities and eThekwini (UCLG, 2011a).
Significantly too, it has identified the promotion of inter-regional learning on urban strategic planning and the up-scaling of the action learning as strategic priorities for 2012-2015, ((UCLG, 2011a). This was again confirmed in its report to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry that the emphasis of the USPC is on the mentoring program around city/ town development strategies (UCLG, 2011b). Writing in his capacity as the Co-chair of the UCLG USPC, the former City Manager of the eThekwini Municipality outlined the rationale for the UCLG mentorship program. Essentially, the case for city mentorship and decentralized cooperation was made along the lines of improving municipal planning capacities, sharing collective knowledge and wisdom, and enhancing local innovation (UCLG, 2009). What is powerful in the statement is the careful articulation of an environment of mutually reinforcing coaching and collective partnering which emphasizes the spirit of enriching dialogue between the cities (UCLG, 2009). In the message too is a clear call for using the spaces created by the UCLG to promote local experiences and “giving a voice to the South” (UCLG, 2009:1). This notion of repositioning the global South as articulated by the Chairperson of the Committee is important to note and will be considered again in later chapters when the geographies of learning are explored.
It is necessary at this point to clarify here how the UCLG defines the geographical boundaries of southern Africa and which countries are included in this definition. Given that the research makes reference to southern Africa, having a geographical fix is important. According to the UCLGA (2014: 32), the following ten countries form part of its southern Africa delineation: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In contextualizing the mentorship project, it is also useful to point out that in addition to the program management role played by the UCLG there are Local Government Associations in each of the respective cities that play a support role and the Cities Alliance that is the program funder, which is also an important role-player in the process. These role-players are summarized in Figure 4.1 below. The international nature of the mentorship project is made explicit in the diagram which
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shows that the UCLG plays the role of program coordination, managing by remote control from Barcelona, Spain with very little role being played by UCLG Africa. The Local Government Associations in each country offer varying levels of support to the respective cities in each of the three countries, whilst the Cities Alliance with its Head Office at the time in Washington, D.C.
managed the funding from its program office in Johannesburg.
Figure 4.1: Key support agencies involved in the mentorship program
It is also important to note that there are at least eight active city-to-city learning processes underway within the UCLG mentorship program. A full and complete study of all these mentorships will be an interesting and important research project in its own right. However, the scope of this research is limited to a critical analysis of only two mentorships, both of which involve eThekwini Municipality in its role as mentor to Malawian and Namibian cities and towns.
Key supporting role-players in city-to-city
learning
International Managing Agency
(United Cities and Local Governments,
Barcelona)
International Funder
Cities Alliance, Washington D.C.
office and SA office) African Local
Government Associations (UCLGA, ALAN, MALGA, SALGA)
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Figure 4.2: Locality Map indicating comparative location of three selected cities of Durban, Mzuzu and Otjiwarongo
Source: http://www.intercape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/RouteMapLRGnov14.png The eThekwini Municipality’s mentorship program, with the respective cities in Malawi and Namibia as managed by the UCLG, provides an excellent case study to understand how city-to- city learning occurs within urban strategic planning processes in southern Africa. Given the overall pragmatic stance adopted in the research, and the focus on improving the quality of practice, the adoption of a case study proved most suitable. More details on case study research and its advantages will be returned to in the second part of this chapter, where a fuller consideration of the research methods is undertaken. What is useful to consider next, however, is an overview of
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the eThekwini Municipality and its strategic planning process that is being shared with its two African counterparts.
4.2.2. The eThekwini Municipality, Durban, South Africa
4.2.2.1. An overview of the eThekwini Municipal area
The eThekwini Municipal area which is located on the east coast of South Africa in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal spans an area of approximately 2 297 km2 and is home to nearly three and a half million people (eThekwini Municipality, 2014a). Consisting of a diverse society which faces various social, economic, environmental and governance challenges, eThekwini’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in constant 2005 prices, amounted to R210 billion in 2012 and importantly comprises 65.5% of KwaZulu-Natal’s GDP and 10.7% nationally (eThekwini Municipality, 2014a).
In an appendix to its publication on the lessons learned in its process of long-term planning for urban sustainability, the eThekwini Municipality (2011) provides a useful snapshot of the eThekwini Municipal profile, and in particular of its natural assets which are summarized here.
Characterizing the Municipal area by subtropical weather and almost 320 days of sunshine per year, the summary boasts of its “63 114 hectares of open space; 18 catchments; 17 estuaries; 4 000 km of rivers which provides approximately R3 billion in value for core ecological/ biodiversity assets that deliver free environment goods and services to residents per annum (assessed in 2002)”
(eThekwini Municipality, 2011: 52). As a result of this environmental contribution, it further argues that essentially the city also “registers financial benefits from cost savings on goods and services” (eThekwini Municipality, 2011: 52).
According to its 2014/ 2015 IDP, the eThekwini Municipality (2014a: 80) records the achievement of “a number of significant social, environmental and economic development advances”, since the new democratic municipal dispensation in 2000. It notes that the majority of the citizens now have increased access to a wide range of basic services, and that more opportunities have been created for their participation in the economy (eThekwini Municipality, 2014a). From Table 4.1 below, it
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is clear that whilst significant strides have been made, the service delivery backlogs are high, and based on current funding levels will only be addressed over the next four decades.
Table 4.1: Summary of eThekwini Municipality’s service backlogs (eThekwini Municipality,
2014a: 44)
Economic growth and job creation is an important theme in its plans, and as such the Municipality notes that it has been accelerating further development opportunities in order to create sustainable business to grow in its already established economic base (eThekwini Municipality, 2011). It does this through the introduction of a number of infrastructure investment plans and major projects in order to act as catalysts to the economy. Some of these include the Dube Trade Port and King Shaka International Passenger Airport, the 2010 World Cup Stadium (Moses Mabhida Stadium), the Port Expansion and various shopping malls (eThekwini Municipality, 2011).
Whilst the eThekwini Municipality does have a set of clear economic development plans, it acknowledges its challenge around inequality. It accepts that “the number of people living in extreme poverty in the eThekwini Municipality area has increased, mostly affecting Black Africans and this is a result of a legacy of apartheid and racial exclusion which created poverty gaps, wealth disparities and inequality between racial groups” (eThekwini Municipality, 2011:
53). Whilst it accepts that an estimated 44% of the total households earn less than R1 500 per month, it has embraced the challenge and suggests that this has created a window for change with the strategic thrust of the Council’s strategy on the strengthening of the economic base of the city in order to generate jobs and income (eThekwini Municipality, 2011: 53). It is perhaps timely to
Basic Service Existing Backlog (consumer units) as