THE ORIGIN AND CONTEXT OF THE URBAN PROGRAMME

Contributing to post-apartheid reconstruction

Sweden has, through Sida, supported the people of South Africa since the 60’s, when humanitarian assistance was channelled to the African National Congress and to a host of other organisations within the wider anti-apartheid movement.
In 1995, the humanitarian programme was transformed into a regular development cooperation programme between the governments of South Africa and Sweden.

Sida engaged in post-apartheid reconstruction
The Apartheid Era with its segregation laws, policies, programmes and actions, severely affected all aspects of life in South Africa. The urban landscape was visibly fragmented; zoning schemes and physical buffer zones ensured that people from different racial groups were separated from each other and access to adequate municipal services and livelihood opportunities was highly un-equal.

When the African National Congress (ANC) won the first democratic elections in 1994, the pass laws had already been lifted and people were free to move and settle throughout the country. This resulted in rapid urbanisation in search of economic opportunities not available in rural areas, and municipalities were unable to upgrade and expand infrastructure apace with the population influx. Existing township housing became severely overcrowded, and vast informal/shack settlements rapidly developed, mostly on unserviced land, creating serious health and social problems for their residents.

It was in this context that Sweden was asked by the new South African government to participate in the post-apartheid reconstruction of the country. Sida’s involvement in the area of urban development started just after the elections with a study named ‘Urban Poverty and Urban Needs – Options for Swedish Assistance to South Africa’.

In 1995, an annual consultation meeting between South Africa and Sweden/Sida took place and two pre-appraisal missions were carried out by Sida in two South African cities that had been identified as suitable for inclusion in the cooperation: Kimberley (now part of Sol Plaatje Municipality) in the Northern Cape Province and Port Elizabeth (now part of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality) in the Eastern Cape Province.

As a result of this process it was confirmed that one of the major areas for Swedish support would be urban development and housing. The ideas for an urban programme first evolved around three entry points:
• Comprehensive Urban Planning
• Improvement of physical environments in townships
• Active participation in housing development

In 1999, a third municipality was selected for inclusion in the programme – King Williams Town (now part of Buffalo City Municipality) in the Eastern Cape Province. Sida initially decided to support the Urban Programme for a start-up period of three years (1996 to 1998), which was later extended until 2007.