Chapter 4 Figure 4.1
4.7 Trends of urbanization
On the other hand, homesteads in Lower Mapholaneng, especially in Motete and Meketeng, are arranged in clusters on the Mapholaneng plateau, along the main road and below the small hills facing the Mabunyaneng river that passes below the village on its way to Khubelu river. Homesteads in lower Mapholaneng consist of both traditional stone walled, grass-thatched huts and houses with modern corrugated iron roofs and cement-block walls. In most cases, the type of material used in building household houses is a reflection of relative wealth or the socio-economic status of the household concerned.
Most traditional households are characterized by the presence of a stone built animal kraal within the homestead yard. However, at present in 1999, most kraals have fallen, or remain empty as a result of the decline of livestock husbandry. The second type of residential settlement in rural Mapholaneng catchment is the traditional institution of a cattle-post which is a residential settlement associated with livestock farmers. A cattle- post is a stone and grass hut built at a distance of about 30 kilometres away from home in the far-away mountains. It is a second home for the rural livestock farmers and it was established in order to facilitate the rural livestock process of transhumance.
Transhumance is a livestock-farming process that concerns seasonal movement of
livestock and rotational exploitation of range lands or pastures. In summer, or during
the ploughing season, livestock accompanied by shepherds or herd boys are moved
20 to 100 km away from the home pastures to the far away cattle-posts. This is done
with the motive to avoid crop-damage by livestock and also to give home pastures time
to regenerate and rehabilitate until, after harvest when livestock would again be moved
towards home pastures and so avoid the extreme winter cold and snow commonly
associated with the higher altitudes in the far away cattle- posts.
97 Mapholaneng is said to be a second town in Mokhotlong district. In 1986, when the first signs of urbanization were being noticed in the catchment, Quinlan asserted that:
'Mapholaneng is on the threshold of being recognized officially as an urban development'(Quinlan,1989:47). This catchment has recently developed a sprawl of villages arranged in clusters on the Mapholaneng or Motete-Meketeng plateau. Most households are located along both sides of the recently constructed (1993 to 1997) tarred road passing through the catchment. It connects Mokhotlong with the Lowland district of Butha-Buthe.
Mapholaneng catchment offers both governmental and non-govemmet socio-economic services. At present, 1999, there is a police-station, post-office, bank-agency, a livestock veterinary department, Red-Cross-Clinic, two pre-schools, one Primary and a High school (photograph:4.5). The number of shops and cafes that sell merchandise imported from both the Western Lowlands and from South Africa have increased considerably since late early 1990's. These services, plus the access of the tarred road have attracted immigration from outside villages into Mapholaneng. For example, the new village called' Vaal Reefs' established at the crossing point of the Mabunyaneng river in Mafikalisiu is a result of immigration of people from Mahemeng and Mabuleng villages, from the upper Khubelu river. New villages that have also erupted in Motete and Moketeng are on the one hand, results of immigrations of people from other places from the outskirts of Mapholaneng, while some new households are for people from upper Mapholaneng rural villages of Khuhkune, Tiping and Matsoiring. On the other hand, some newly established households are for people that have immigrated 15 to 50 km from far away places into Mapholaneng. This category of immigrants are those from Tloha-re-bue, Ntsupe, Makhoaba and from Semenanyana and Matsoku rural villages in Thaba-Tseka district. Thus, the period between 1980-1997 could be associated with the process of unregulated urbanization in Mapholaneng. Most of the immigrants came looking for job opportunities especially during the construction phase of the tarred road between 1993 and 1997. Related new changes that came with the construction of the road included the development of houses for renting to serve the increased demands by employment-seekers and the road construction employees.
Photograph 4.5: Meketeng village
Soil erosion is seen in the foreground. Fields and new settlements can be identified below the hills, thereby illustrating the encroachment of settlement on land formerly used for crop farming.
Mapholaneng High School is located on the plateau and is bordered by tall trees. Opposite are the traditional Meketeng homesteads and modern social service buildings, consisting of the Lesotho Bank agency, Post-office, Red-Cross Clinic, Agricultural Extension Department and Mapholaneng Police Station. What is more significant in the photograph is the new tarred road seen in the background. This road was constructed between 1993 and 1997. Since then, the road has been valuable in promoting increased socio-economic links between the urbanised core Lowland Region and the Mapholaneng which had been isolated from the major towns in the Lowlands.
The development of the new road has brought about increased population settlement in Mapholaneng and the road has had the negative effect of promoting the encroachment of new homesteads onto already scarce arable land.
99 As a result, Mapholaneng, for the first time, came to be characterised by the mushrooming of self-help shelters made of cardboard boxes and corrugated iron- sheets.
Another recent development in Mapholaneng is the petty commodity production (PCP).
It shows itself in the establishment of small cafes and shops along the tarred road from Meketeng to Motete villages. These sell grocery, hardware, building materials, clothing and other households goods. Furthermore, on both sides of the road there lies a chain of hawkers' market stalls. These PCP stalls sell a variety of goods imported mainly from South Africa where they are relatively cheaper.
The type of goods sold by hawker trade include clothing, jewellery and cutlery. The hawker trade has had its initiative from both migrant labour and non-migrant labour incomes. With the construction of the tarred road, avenues for trade were opened.
The construction ofthe road in 1993 stimulated the demands for restaurant-service and as a result, stalls or temporary shelters for the provision of food to the road construction workers were developed. Butcheries and other food providing enterprises were also opened in Mapholaneng. Another related recent development was the opening up of a local market for live-livestock especially, for sheep and cattle. These animals were needed for slaughter for the provision of meat for the food providers catering for the employees of the road construction.
Although the above factors have led, on the one hand, to the incipient urbanization and thereby contributed to positive socio-economic changes in the catchment, these incidences of urbanization have also led, on the other hand, to a complexity of urbanization related social problems which included the following:
o
the differentiation of catchment households into social classes of rich, middle and poor peasants as result ofthe unequal access to the commodity production and factors of production as a whole among the different households of the catchment;o
the shortage of housing for the increased population occurring during theconstruction of the tarred road also led to increased groups of youngsters and adult persons roaming about the catchment area as they had failed to procure employment from the construction work. Thus, the unplanned and unregulated incipient urbanization in Mapholaneng has resulted in increasing social problems relating to house-breaking, theft, robbery and crime which have currently characterised the urban villages of Motete,Meketeng, Mafikalisiu and Majakaneng.
The other two events which have also led to the increasing unemployment of the catchment labour force in Mapholaneng are:
the completion of the tarred road in late 1997;
ii and the dwindling business trade in the catchment, due to the shrinking local market for road labourers and diminished income sources resulting from the increased rate of migrant labourers' retrenchment from the mines of South Africa.