NEW FORMS OF GHETTOIZATION IN JOHANNESBURG
?
U. JÜRGENS, M. GNAD &
J. BÄHR, UNIVERSITY OF KIEL, GERMANY
1 Introduction
2 Study objectives
3 Study areas and methods
3.1 Yeoville
3.2 Forestdale and Santa Cruz
4 Yeoville
a) Phase of invasion and desegregation
b) Phase of succession and resegregation
c) New invasion and succession since the mid-1990s
5
Preliminary conclusions to inner city developments
6
Urban periphery: Forestdale and Santa Cruz
7
Preliminary conclusions referring to gated communities
8 General conclusions
1 Introduction
The South African city is a product of Apartheid
policies, which led to a systematic spatial separation of residential areas
on the basis of ethnic criteria. The socioecological processes so familiar
from other culture areas were suppressed or frozen. Demographic and ethnic
segregation, invasion and succession on the basis of free decisions made
by individuals, as postulated by the Chicago school of sociology, were
observable only in the part of the city that was declared "white".
2 Study objectives
In the aftermath of the political changes since
1991, the question arises whether the socioecological processes that were
lacking in former times are now occurring. Reasons for such processes would
be the increasing differentiation and spatial mobility of non-whites, liberalized,
often unutilized housing markets in the previous "white" city and the increasing
expectations of the non-white population regarding housing conditions,
residential location and security.
Will the transformation process lead to stable
mixed racial neighbourhoods or will the desegregation processes be only
temporary? Are especially the inner city areas in danger of turning into
new black ghettos ten years after the end of Apartheid?
Are new ghetto-like residential areas also arising
at the edge of the cities in the form of gated communities? Will Johannesburg
continue to exist as a fragmented city characterized by residential islands
of varying ethnic homogeneity and standards of security vis-à-vis
the "outside world"?
3 Study areas
and methods
3.1 Yeoville
Yeoville lies at the northeastern edge of the
inner city and is one of the oldest residential areas in Johannesburg (FIGURE
1). It is a very densely built-up area characterized by multistoreyed
buildings merging with single, unattached houses. Traditionally Yeoville
was considered a residential area for the English speaking middle class.
The empirical findings are based primarily on
two statistical surveys carried out in 1989 (sample, 420 standardized inter-views)
and 1998 (stratified sample, 350 standardized inter-views). Additionally
the purchases and sales of real estate were analysed on the basis of the
deeds registers. The family name was used to identify the ethnic group
of the buyers.
3.2 Forestdale and Santa Cruz
In June 1999 all households in two gated communities
in Greater Johannesburg were investigated (55 and 56 interviews, respectively).
Here too the deeds titles were additionally analysed. Forestdale, which
lies in a belt of single family houses at the northwestern periphery of
the city in the district of Douglasdale, was developed in 1994. Santa Cruz
lies in Midrand, i.e. between Johannesburg and Pretoria, and was finished
in 1997 (FIGURE
1). The grounds are completely surrounded by walls and patrolled by
guards. In its price level (approx. US$ 35.000 per unit) Forestdale attracts
the middle level of the middle class, whereas Santa Cruz, with its price
level of approx. US$ 22.000, makes life in security villages accessible
to "everybody".
4 Yeoville
a) Phase of invasion and desegregation (first
wave up to the beginning of the 1990s)
Even at the beginning of the 1980s, one of the
important features of the South African city, apart from the Apartheid
zoning, was an extremely puritanical way of life. One exception to this
was Yeoville, whose white inhabitants were distinguished by a highly liberal
mentality. As a result the increasing influx of non-whites or mixed race
couples, though illegal until the repeal of the Group Areas Act, was initially
considered an enrichment of the living culture and was explicitly welcomed.
Because the white population was decreasing from natural causes or moving
into the suburbs, non-whites profited from the growing number of centrally
located vacant housing units.
The "greying" began primarily in the western and
southwestern part of Yeoville (FIGURE
2), and the non-white households were initially concentrated in a few
buildings (so-called pockets). An evaluation of real estate transfers
reveals that non-white buyers spread from Southwest to Northeast. This
was not rela-ted to differences in price levels, however, because they
vary only slightly within Yeoville. The most important reason is a spillover
effect from the very densely settled grey areas of Hillbrow and
Berea, where the cores of the expansion lay.
Like in other grey areas of Johannesburg,
the pioneers consisted of well educated Coloureds, Indians and Blacks on
their way up the social ladder, who were moving in from all over the country
and whose social status was as high as that of the white inhabitants or
even higher. Nevertheless, the proportion of non-white and mixed race households
was only 3.4% in 1989. The multiculturality in Yeoville at the end of the
1980s was still characterized by white dominance and was based primarily
on the various European immigrant groups and the strong Jewish population
element.
b) Phase of succession and resegregation (second
wave up to the mid-1990s)
In the following we analyze different aspects
referring to the international discussion on ghettos.
Demography: After Apartheid was repealed
in 1991 the population of Yeoville rose considerably, as many non-whites
began to move legally into the area. The population has almost doubled
since 1991 (Table 1), whereas the number of housing units has remained
approximately constant. After the elections in 1994 the influx of non-white
households increased, causing the proportion of this population group to
rise to 84.1% by 1998.
Table 1: Population groups in Yeoville 1970 -
1998
|
1970 |
1980 |
1985 |
1991 |
1996* |
1998** |
| Whites |
9,722 |
9.012 |
7,290 |
6,517 |
3,243 |
2,507 |
| Coloureds |
18 |
17 |
28 |
279 |
582 |
883 |
| Indians/Asians |
2 |
31 |
46 |
177 |
259 |
378 |
| Blacks/Africans |
1,489 |
983 |
878 |
1,237 |
6,688 |
11,999 |
| Total |
11,231 |
10,043 |
8,242 |
8,210 |
10,893 |
15,767 |
* Including unspecified persons
** Estimated by Department of Geography University
of Kiel (1998)
Source: Central Statistical Service (1970-);
Statistics South Africa (1999)
Because fewer young whites are moving in, the
white population is ageing in place and growing out of the pyramid (FIGURE
3). On the one hand we have a residual white population that is immobile
because of its age and on the other hand a growing young black population.
Further evidence of white flight on the
one side and great migration dynamics among non-whites on the other side
is the average duration of stay. Among whites it has more than doubled,
from 7 (1989) to 17 years (1998), whereas the non-white population records
only a slight increase from two to three years. Altogether almost 70% of
the inhabitants have lived in Yeoville for five years or less, and of these
non-whites represent the overwhelming majority of 94%.
The influx of non-whites is primarily an intraurban
migration flow. Altogether 74.2% of the persons who moved to Yeoville in
the past three years came from other parts of Johannesburg. The majority
of the inmigrants (55.5%) came from the neighbouring residential areas,
which points to a spillover effect. Reasons given for moving here
are the central location and lower crime rates than in the place of origin.
Social dimension: The socioeconomic contrasts
among the inhabitants have intensified, although the non-whites are by
no means typical underclass or outcast ghetto population.
The income and educational level of non-whites in Yeoville indicate that
the socioeconomic structure is that of the middle class, if we take the
South African non-white average as our standard (Tables 2 and 3).
Table 2: Educational level of inhabitants
over 20 years of age in Yeoville 1998 (in %)
|
Yeoville Whites |
RSA Whites |
Yeoville Blacks |
RSA Blacks |
| no schooling |
0.8 |
1.2 |
1.0 |
24.3 |
| some/complete primary |
0.8 |
1.2 |
5.1 |
27.8 |
| some secondary |
17.5 |
32.8 |
40.7 |
32.8 |
| matric |
55.8 |
40.7 |
40.7 |
12.1 |
| higher/degree |
25.0 |
24.1 |
12.3 |
3.0 |
Source: Survey by Department of Geography, University
of Kiel (1998); Statistics South Africa (1998)
A comparison of the socioeconomic structure of
the non-white with that of the white population reveals considerable dispa-rities,
however.
Table 3: Average net household income in Rand
per month (standard deviation in parentheses)
|
White |
Non-white |
| Yeoville |
7,751 (5,490) |
3,254 (2,217) |
| South Africa* |
8,583 |
1,917 (Blacks)
5,917 (Indians) |
Source: Survey by Department of Geography,
University Kiel (1998)
* South African Institute of Race Relations (1998):
status as of 1995
Around half of the non-white households have less
than R 3,000 available per month. The average net income of white households
is 2.5 times as high as that of non-white households.
Climate of fear: Violent crimes, such as
murder, armed robbery and rape more than doubled in the district covered
by the Yeoville police station between 1994 and 1998. Among the population
a climate of fear has spread. The number of persons directly affected
by crime is very high. In every second white household at least one person
has already been the victim of an attack. Among the non-white households
the figure is each third one. Physiognomically the area is decaying due
to overcrowding of housing units and slumlording. Almost one fifth of the
housing units of non-white households is occupied by five or more persons.
Redlining: The flow of capital to Yeoville
has dropped considerably. More and more often finance companies deny mortgage
loans because they fear a progressive loss of value of the real estate
(Interview Smithers, June 1999). Because buildings can only be sold at
a great loss, many owners decide to divide their houses or flats into several
units, hoping to be able to amortize the property in a short period through
usurious rents. This strategy means that the owners no longer invest in
maintenance and that they tacitly accept that the buildings will decay.
c) New invasion and succession since the mid-1990s
(third wave)
Since the mid-1990s blacks from South Africa?s
neighbouring countries and from Western and Central Africa have been moving
into the inner city of Johannesburg. Since many of these are illegal migrants
who are in danger of being deported, they, like the non-white South Africans
at the beginning of the 1980s, are willing to pay higher rents. In Yeoville
too the street scene and especially the informal sector are increasingly
being dominated by persons with conspicuously darker skin who are French
speaking. Of the residential population 8% come from the SADC States and
6% from other parts of Africa.
The pioneers of this new invasion are not, like
the black South Africans at the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s,
persons who are rising up the social ladder and who have a comparable socioeconomic
status to that of the old-established residential population. The unemployment
rate of the migrants from black Africa and the SADC States is above average
and the majority of those who are gainfully employed work in the informal
sector.
5
Preliminary conclusions to inner city developments
- Among the white population the perception of
Yeoville is negative, and they avoid it as a residential area. It is an
attractive residential area only for the non-white population; a mixed
race composition is only the transition from one ethnic homogeneity to
the next.
- Whereas the pioneers of the non-white influx
had a comparable social status to that of the white population, in the
further course of succession a socioeconomic gap is becoming apparent.
A process of filtering is occurring, which will end in the concentration
of a non-white urban underclass.
- Both the pace of the population exchange and
the conspicuous changes in the residential environment allow us to speak,
in a purely descriptive sense (cf. definition by Morrill 1965), of ghettoization.
If we apply more complex definitions (Wacquant 1998), however, not all
criteria are fulfilled.
6
Urban periphery: Forestdale and Santa Cruz
The "paranoia" of insecurity and political uncertainty
has led to a great number of security measures in the white dominated cities
since the middle of the 1980s. The market for walled communities
includes not only the upper class but also members of the white
middle class and the emerging black middle class. A market that is especially
booming is the so-called gash market (gash = good address, small
home), which appeals preferably to young couples, single persons and single
parents at relatively low real estate prices.
a) Population structures
Both Forestdale and Santa Cruz are mixed race
residential areas, though with very different ethnic predominance. Whereas
in Forestdale 85.6% (of 132 persons) are whites and 14.4% non-whites (FIGURE
4), in Santa Cruz 80.2% are non-whites (of these 67.9% blacks) and
19.2% whites (of a total of 156 persons) (FIGURE
5). In other words, both areas are changing and adapting to the ethnic
structure and image of their surroundings: Forestdale in the traditionally
white Randburg and Santa Cruz in Country View, which traditionally experienced
a strong influx of black and Indian households.
A conspicuous feature of both study areas is the
very young age structure. The average age in Santa Cruz is 24 to 25, in
Forestdale around 31. In 22 of 56 households in Santa Cruz there are children
six years of age or younger, in Forestdale in 14 of 55 households.
b) Social structures
The cost of buying or renting a house/lot and
the monthly basic fees encourage the social selection of the population
in security villages. In Forestdale the average net monthly household
income was approx. US$ 2,200, in Santa Cruz US$ 1,300. The income of blacks
in Santa Cruz was thus two and a half times as high as in Yeoville. This
is also related to the higher level of education: only 7% in Forestdale
and 15% in Santa Cruz had a lower educational level than matric. As a consequence,
no one in Forestdale and only six of 102 persons in Santa Cruz of employable
age professed to be unemployed. In comparison, the official rate for the
province of Gauteng was 28.2%, according to the census of 1996.
c) Reasons for moving in and level of satisfaction
The main reason stressed by more than half of
the interviewed households was the security aspect of the community. "For
the first time I feel secure about my children´s safety" one mother
replied to the question what had improved for her after moving into a cluster
settlement.
For this 60% of the households in Forestdale and approx. 45% in Santa Cruz
have had to be content with a smaller average number of rooms than in their
previous housing. As a rule they formerly lived in single, unattached houses
in Greater Johannesburg. A majority of non-white buyers and renters also
moved in from other "white" areas and not from black townships.
Nevertheless the satisfaction with the walled
communities is not total. The interviewees especially criticized a
"lack of privacy" because of the poor soundproofing of the houses and because
the buildings were so close together. Particularly in Santa Cruz whites
complain about their black neighbours because of cultural differences.
They criticize them for slaughtering chickens in the yard, customarily
speaking loudly on the street and having regular parties, behaviour that
is summed up as township culture and meets with disapproval. For
such reasons at least one white party wants to move out and rent their
house out. This practice is already widespread, because in 20 of 54 cases
the housing units are not inhabited by their owners.
7
Preliminary conclusions referring to gated communities
- The perception of insecurity encourages the
construction of gated communities at the edge of the city.
- The initial experience shows that these are
also not mixed race.
- In Santa Cruz a tendency towards succession
is emerging, in which black households are succeeding the original white
inhabitants.
- Other ghetto features, such as negative changes
in the residential environment are not evident so far.
8 General
conclusions
- Contrary to the vision of a rainbow nation,
the white population is reacting to the in-migration of black population
(after 1994 at the latest) with white flight.
- Johannesburg is disintegrating into residential
islands with different degrees of protection and different images, which
continue to be or are again dominated by individual ethnic groups.
- Gilded ghettos (middle class enclaves)
and run-down ghettos exist side by side.
References
Central Statistical Service (1970-): Population
census South Africa 1970-1991 (on magnetic tapes). Pretoria.
South African Institute of Race Relations (1998):
South Africa Survey 1997/1998. Johannesburg.
Statistics South Africa (1998): Census in brief.
Pretoria.
Statistics South Africa (1999): Population census
South Africa 1996 (data for Gauteng province on CD-ROM). Pretoria.
Figures
FIGURE
1: Map of Greater Johannesburg and study areas
FIGURE
2: Housing transfers in Yeoville
FIGURE
3: Population pyramids for Yeoville
FIGURE
4: Ethnic structure in Forestdale
FIGURE
5: Ethnic structure in Santa Cruz
