Synopsis: The role of this chapter is to introduce the reader to the local and provincial context, issues and challenges including the planning issues and challenges relating to cross border planning with
surrounding municipalities. The spatial development team has initiated a working stream with neighbouring Municipalities to discuss proposals particularly those with cross border implications in
order to foster greater cross border alignment and planning.
From a local context eThekwini’s planning background and current planning is explored with a particular focus on the four Municipal Planning Regions, namely, the North, Central, South and Outer West Planning Regions. The Municipal Land Use Management Framework (Land Use Schemes) has also
been reviewed under the local context.
45 2. INTRODUCTION TO ETHEKWINI MUNICIPAL AREA (EMA)
2.1 EThekwini Contextual Framework
The eThekwini Municipality is located on the east coast of South Africa in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN and is bordered by three district municipalities, namely, iLembe in the north, UGu in the south and uMgungundlovu in the west as shown in Figure 1 below. The eThekwini Municipal Area (EMA) spans an area of approximately 2297km2, extending from Tongaat in the North to Umkomaas in the South and from the coastline in the East to Cato Ridge in the West and is characterized by coastal plains and steep and dissected topography. Figure 1 below shows the spatial extent of the EMA as well as the administrative extent of the municipal planning regions.
Figure 1: Location of eThekwini Municipality Provincially and Spatial Regions 2.1.1. EThekwini Demographic Profile
All figures and graphs were created using Stats SA 2011 data
Population
The total population of eThekwini is currently approximated at 3.4 million, just over one third of the population of KwaZulu-Natal (Stats SA 2011).
In terms of population spread, the greatest population concentrations occur in the central and north planning regions. The Outer West Region which represents the largest extent of the Municipality (approximately 78 438ha) actually comprises of just 11% (approximately 338 000 people) of the total population of the Municipality. The northern region which represents approximately 26% of the total extent of the Municipality has approximately 1.15 million people which represent 33% of eThekwini’s total population. The majority of the population of approximately 1.18 million people (34% of the total population) is located in the Central region which is the second largest in extent in the municipality. The South makes up 23% (760 000 people)
46 of the total Municipal population. The figures below depict the total population and race profile and the population breakdown per region in the Municipality.
Source: Stats SA 2011
The people who reside within the municipal area consist of individuals from different ethnic backgrounds.
The majority of the population come from the African community (74%) followed by the Indian community (17%), White community (7%), Coloured community (2%) and other nationals (0.4%).
Population Projection
The population number is projected to rise to approximately 3.8million by 2021 (eThekwini Municipality IDP Review 2014/2015). According to Stats SA (2011) eThekwini has experienced an average annual growth in population of 1.13% from 2001 to 2011 as against 2.34% from 1996 to 2001. The growth of the population is likely to be driven by the general trend of migration and natural growth.
Figure 2: Total Population and Profile by Race Figure 3: Demographic Breakdown per Region
47 The eThekwini Demographic Projections for the period 2012 to 2021 are depicted Table 3 below.
Table 3: eThekwini Demographic Projections
Year Population estimate
2012 3 446 447
2013 3 480 726
2014 3 517 157
2015 3 555 868
2016 3 596 543
2017 3 638 918
2018 3 682 524
2019 3 727 032
2020 3 772 097
2021 3 818 499
Source: eThekwini Transport Authority Demographic Study
Gender Profile
The gender profile of the eThekwini Municipality is typical of the trend in most other municipal areas. There are a greater number of females totaling to 1759956 as opposed to males which are 1682408. The diagram below presents the gender profile.
Source: Stats SA 2011 Age Profile
The majority of the population in eThekwini Municipality is still very young falling within the 0-29 year age category. The 60-70 and above year category constitutes a small percentage of the entire population.
A relatively young population implies a high dependency rate on the working population to meet the needs of this young population. As such there is significant pressure on the working population to take care of the youth and the elderly. To further exacerbate the problem, not all the people within the economically active category are employed.
Figure 4: Gender Profile
48 Figure 5: Age Profile
Source: Stats SA 2011 Vulnerable Groups
Within the eThekwini Municipality, reside groups of people with specific needs. These groups are referred to as Vulnerable Groups. The eThekwini Municipality recognised and acknowledged that these groups of people should be treated with the dignity that they deserve and as such has initiated the Vulnerable Groups Programme. The IDP has identified the following groups as vulnerable:
People with disabilities
Children
Elderly
Homeless
Refugees
People suffering from incurable diseases like HIV/AIDS
Youth
Women
As part of this programme and in line with Plan 4 of the IDP, a vulnerable groups policy has been developed.
The Vulnerable Groups Policy aims to create a framework for social integration that serves to develop a society and workplace that addresses human diversity and participation for everyone.
Education Profile
29% of the eThekwini Municipal population has some secondary education, 19% of the population has some primary education, 4% has no schooling and 4% is unspecified meaning they are functionally illiterate in that they either do not have school-based education or have not received sufficient school-based education to acquire marketable skills and engage in serious business ventures. 26% of the population has secondary education (grade 12/standard 10) while only 8% of the population have tertiary level education.
Age (Years)
< 9 2240668
10 - 19 2158370
20 - 29 2083313
30 - 39 1341855
40 - 49 953722
50 - 59 709965
60 - 69 447006
> 70 332371
49 Source: Stats SA 2011