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5.1 INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER FIVE
THE SETTING OF THE STUDY AREA
Development in most countries has been associated with a 'high quality of life' which, in
turn, is characterised by sophisticated infrastructure and widespread provision of services.
South Africa is faced with a dilemma of having both 'First World' and Third World'
characteristics. KwaZulu-Natal is among the poorest provinces with most of its population
living in situations associated with 'Third World' conditions. Through the Reconstruction
and Development Programme (RDP) [ANC, 1994), the country made it its mission to ensure
that people are provided with basic necessities to generally improve their living conditions.
The Province of KwaZulu-Natal has also developed a 'growth and development strategy'
(KZN Cabinet 1996) and one of the basic principles of the strategy is to ensure that it
'redresses the social inequalities which are wide spread in the province. It should meet the
basic needs, identifY and support poor, vulnerable and marginal areas and communities and
create jobs. A balance of demand-driven and supply-driven approaches will be required to
meet these needs' (KwaZulu-Natal Cabinet, 1996:4).
The spatial distribution of economic activity in KwaZulu-Natal is uneven, and the
composition of economic activity also varies considerably across the Province. Economic
activity in KwaZulu-Natal is geographically concentrated in the urban district municipality of
eThekweni which generates almost two-thirds (61 .2%) ofthe GDP in the Province. The other
areas ofconcentrated economic activity in the Province include the port city of Richards Bay
and its immediate surrounds, Pietermaritzburg and the cities of Ladysmith and Newcastle near
the border of the Province with the Free State and Mpumalanga. The increasing
concentration of economic activity in urban centres. and especially in coastal centres, is a
worldwide phenomenon. It is also widely recognised that major gains in productivity are
realised from the increasing concentration of economic activity in major centres. Given the
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