Modelling socio-economic dynamics in a working class desegregation area in post-industrial, post-Apartheid South Africa : the case of Danville-Elandspoort, Pretoria

Abstract

Within post-Apartheid research there is little to no research into poor historically White areas which are experiencing rapid rates of desegregation. It is in these cases a researcher could pose a question to whether or not Apartheid’s race-class divisions are still prevalent. A further gap in South African literature is a lack of a model on which to base socio-economic changes in a situation of post-Apartheid and post-industrial trends. This study addresses both of these short fallings of current academic literature. This paper explores Socio Economic Transformation within a lower income urban area of Pretoria, South Africa. The area, which was previously White only under Apartheid legislation, has been experiencing changes due to factors including post-Apartheid legislation and post-industrialism. Desegregation and a decline in industry have created complicated racial and social patterns within a merging community. Two major trends within the study area include an influx of an upwardly mobile Black population and secondly a downward economic movement of White individuals. The trends identified within the study area contradict many mainstream South African beliefs as the more traditional White-racist-empowered vs. Black-marginalized-oppressed binary is not absolutely valid. These newly emerging racial geographies are identified and explained with the use of personal interviews. The resulting classifications of local individuals are then utilized in a conceptual model to help explain the various socio-economic trends within the area. The study is structured in three main components. Firstly, structural and contextual issues relating directly to the study site are addressed to provide a backdrop on which social issues can be analysed. Socio-economic changes with focus on racial and economic situation are identified and explained. Once the social, economic and spatial are well discussed a theoretical model is developed. The theoretical model is then utilized to plot the individual changes within the study area. The individual trends, which were identified during field studies, are modelled and analysed within a South African context. The model developed from the study has the potential to base further community research upon, both within South Africa and international arenas. The model identifies and explains both the status of individuals which is an individuals socio-economic standing. Secondly trends are defined as an individuals change in socio-economic status through time. Results from the study have shown that labelling the economic situation of varying racial groups on the historic Apartheid framework is no longer valid in all situations. Post-Apartheid racial hiring policies as well as a national de-industrialization trend has created a situation of an upwardly mobile Black middle class as well as a declining poor White economic classification.