Source: Msunduzi Municipality, 2014
In its entirety, Greater Edendale Area (GEA) is divided into two areas, the first of which is categorized as the traditional area of Edendale proper, where local landowners privately own virtually all land. The second area is regarded as the more contemporary area. It is here that all land vests within the ownership of either the state or the provincial government. According to the updated Greater Edendale Business Plan 2016, the administration of the area came under the jurisdiction of Msunduzi Municipality. Post 1994, the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform 5 transferred all state land
5 Previously known as the Department of Land Affairs.
to the municipality in terms of Section 10 of the Local Government Act 209/1993 which was promulgated Proclamation 84/1996.
Following this process, the Greater Edendale Development Initiative (GEDI) was established in 2004 to facilitate development of the GEA, which was crucial to correcting the dire landscape of impoverished areas lacking infrastructure, formal housing, basic municipal services and tenure security. Isibuko SE- Africa, (2009) emphasized that GEDI was established as an urban reconstruction initiative by Msunduzi Local Municipality to drive reconstruction and to oversee land acquisition. Most of land within the area is community and state-owned and that there was a need for transformation of the area from a dormitory suburb into vibrant, urban mixed-use area. The area is divided into Wards 10-23 and the political mandate of the Ward Councillors (WC) and the Msunduzi Executive Committee are to ensure that the municipality fulfils its obligation to upgrade the township.
The Edendale SDF 2009 emphasizes that due to the period of neglect that had to be reversed in the area, the transformation challenges were formidable. These challenges needed to be addressed whilst acknowledging that there were constraints. High levels of poverty, unemployment; rapid population growth; the AIDS pandemic; land legal complexities; inadequate services and infrastructure provision and the rapid advancing rate of informal settlement development characterise the area. To ensure that the attention of all levels of government were focused on Edendale and to co-ordinate and facilitate integrated planning, development and fundraising for the area; the Municipality recognised the need to consider GEDI as a specialised Area Based Management (ABM) mechanism. In 2013, GEDI was further extended to incorporate the Vulindlela Tribal Council6 area hence, the renaming of the Initiative to Greater Edendale and Vulindlela Development Initiative (‘GEVDI’). The majority of the area previously designated under Apartheid accommodates the lowest income sector of the Black population. Past negative development practices and the elements of apartheid planning are reflected. It is separated and segregated from the central part of the current municipality and lacks many infrastructural services;
There are few employment opportunities and lacks social services, particularly of higher order types. As such, the municipality is striving to address high levels of inequality within the context of widespread and deeply entrenched imbalances.
The topography of the area is moderately steep rolling hills with relatively wide river plains in the many of the valleys. Development has taken place on the flatter areas nearest to the main access roads. This implies that a lot of development has occurred in the valley bottoms and up the valley slopes, with very
6 Previously known as the Vulindlela Tribal Authority Area.
little development having taken place on the ridgelines. The development pattern has resulted in the encroachment of development into river floodplains, destabilization of these areas, and consequent stream bank erosion and flooding. The open spaces that do exist are placed under pressure for grazing and natural resource harvesting. There are four main tributaries flowing into the Msunduzi River from the southern side in the Greater Edendale Area: the Slangspruit, Willow fountain, KwaPata and Sinathingi Rivers. A number of smaller tributaries drain the northern and southern lands adjacent to the uMsunduzi. Much of the Greater Edendale Area is densely developed with both formal and informal housing, supported in some areas by ancillary land uses and facilities. Only a limited number of commercial outlets and business enterprises operate in the area. The further development and expansion of these sectors is fundamental to the sustainable growth of the GEA.
5.4.2 Socio-Economic Profile
5.4.2.2 Population Composition
In terms of gender distribution, the area has a higher percentage of women than men do. From a planning perspective, this confirms the importance of gender equity in planning decisions. The age composition confirms that the area is characterised by a large youthful population who could be potentially economically active. This will have significant impact on social, economic and recreational service provision. Also noted is that 41% of the population that will be moving into the job market are below the age of twenty years of age. This potentially large and relatively unskilled workforce base places a greater demand on job creation/employment opportunities. It poses a huge challenge to economic growth and development to absorb the growing labour force (see Table 4 below).
Table 4: Age Structure and Gender Distribution
Source: Census, 2011
5.4.2.3 Education Levels
As reflected on the graphic majority (42%) of the workforce are only educated as far as high school level whilst only 3% have received tertiary education which impacts on employment opportunities and income levels. It is noted that 4% of the employees who do not possess any formal schooling (see Graph 3 below).
AGE GROUP PERCENTAGE
0-20 41%
21-40 38%
41-60 16%
61 and Above 5%
MALE FEMALE
47% 53%
Graph 3: Education Levels
Source: Census, 2011
5.4.2.4 Employment and Unemployment
As reflected on the above employment status graphic, the employment level is 30%, which is low. This confirms that the majority- representing 46% of the economically active workforce (between the ages 15 -64) within the GEA are not employed whilst 24% are not actively seeking work.
Graph 4: Employment Status
Source: Census, 2011
5.4.2.5 Income Levels
Recent South African statistic estimate that nearly 55, 5 % of the population can be termed as living in poverty. Of this number, approximately 12 million can regarded as living in extreme poverty (R321 per capita per month in 2011 prices). Table 5 clearly reveals that majority of the population in the GEA fall within the-low income category, which confirms the high levels of poverty and unemployment experienced in the area. Approximately 9% earn less than R1, 600 per month that is far below the household subsistence level, which indirectly implies that there is a high dependence on grants and other sources of income such as the informal sector for people to survive.
Table 5: Monthly Incomes
TOTAL
WORKFORCE
R1- R1600
R1600- R6400
R6401- R12800
R12801- R25600
R25601- OR MORE
66 153 69% 22% 6% 3% 1%
Source: Census 2011
5.4.2.6 Social Services
The Msunduzi SDF 2015 indicates that the built environment supports higher-level regional land uses such as the Edendale Hospital, two Further Education and Technical (FET) colleges and the Durban University of Technology (DUT) campus. Two police stations service the area. There is a home for the aged and a number of clinics. While there are a number of schools in Edendale, it is evident that the operation and maintenance of these schools are affected by a lack of funds.
5.4.2.7 Infrastructure and Service Provision
The Census data 2011 showed that the southern portion of Edendale has low levels of electricity whilst majority of the population have poor access to water and sanitation (Msunduzi SDF 2015). This reveals that services are not evenly distributed across the municipality. The formal urban areas of the
municipality are better serviced than the rural and peri-urban areas such as Edendale. A lack of adequate water and sanitation could lead to health and financial implications to those communities that are inadequately serviced.
Figure 39: Urban Structure of the Edendale-Northdale Corridor (ENC)
Source: Arup, 2006
The M70 (Edendale Road) forms the main structuring element in Edendale, and follows the valley line of the Msunduzi River that runs parallel to the north. The primary mobility route traverses the township.
To the south running parallel is the Dambuza Road, a collector road culminates at the Qokololo Stadium Node. However due to the steep landscape that limits development, most of the residential township is located to the south of the corridor. The Edendale corridor is dominated by the Edendale Hospital Node and its associated sporting, institutional and community facilities, which is the primary node in the area.
The rest of the nodes are classified as secondary, which includes the Georgetown, Caluza, Machibisa and the Qokololo Stadium Nodes as illustrated in Figures 39 and 40. Furthermore, the role of the Edendale section of the corridor was identified as a primary economic zone suitable for retail, industrial activities
and public zone to serve the rural hinterland. However, all the nodes including Georgetown where Edendale originated are severely underdeveloped and under resourced.
Figure 40: Nodes along the Edendale Section of the ENC
Source: Msunduzi, 2006
The CBD section of the corridor forms the core of the corridor and comprises all the characteristics of a typical central business district. Structured around the Old Greytown Road (M10), the Northdale section is a newer parallel mobility route known as the New Greytown Road (R33). This section of the corridor traverses the Willowton industrial area, the Northdale Hospital Node and splits into two parallel routes.
The old Greytown Road is a residential collector and provides access to the residential suburbs in Northdale. It has two activity nodes namely the Northdale Hospital Node and the Greytown Road Node.
Both the Edendale and Greytown Roads function as the major arterials and primary mobility roads with the several nodes located along them. At major intervals, major distributor and arterial roads intersect with the Edendale (M70) and Old Greytown Roads (M10) as access roads.
The urban structure of the corridor functions as a mobility route and comprises various nodes at different scales of intensity along the corridor as illustrated in Map 20. Hence, the corridor can be likened to the analogy as “beads on a string” as described in Chapter Three of this dissertation. The concept is explained as the string component represents the mobility route between the centres and the beads are the various nodes along the corridor. Iyer Urban Design (2014) indicated that a test of the Edendale Hospital Node revealed that there is a need for greater densities, appropriate land uses and a more permeable settlement structure. Similar characteristics were found in all the other nodes along the corridor since increased densities are critical in order to ensure that the proposed BRT system is viable. A significant findings from the assessments revealed that the areas lacked connections to the corridor.
5.5.1 The Edendale New Town Centre 5.5.1.1 Background
Based on the assessments of the socio-economic conditions prevalent in the Edendale area, the Edendale Hospital Node located within the GEA along the corridor identified as a Primary Node i.e. “a primary economic zone suitable for retail, industrial activities and public zone to serve the rural hinterland’. It is linked to a diverse range of areas and nodes within the Msunduzi Municipality including the rural, traditional, semi-urban, and suburban to urban and industrial areas and provides the opportunity for future development of the area. Studies commissioned by Msunduzi have also concluded that there is a critical need for public investment and upgrading in these nodes. In response to these challenges, the Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant (NDPG) was made available by the Department of Treasury to the Municipality with the primary aim to stimulate and accelerate investment in poor, underserved areas and neighbourhoods such as the Edendale Township. After having followed a vigorous criteria evaluation, the Edendale Hospital Node was earmarked for the development of an Urban Hub (i.e. Town Centre) as part of the Neighbourhood Development Partnerships (NDP) Urban Network Strategy for improving the spatial structure of the city in the quest to advance transformation and reconstruction