Institutional matters: exploring the roles of the state and traditional councils in self-help housing in the peri-urban spaces of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Abstract

The main aim of this thesis is to explore the roles of the state and traditional councils in self-help housing in the peri-urban spaces of KwaZulu-Natal. This thesis primarily explores the extent to which the roles and power relations of the local state and traditional council impact on self-help housing in peri-urban spaces, considering the history of institutional segregation and the contesting powers introduced by the crafting of the post-apartheid state, land management and government functions in both planning and housing development. The thesis develops an understanding of the multiplicity of planning and housing policies as well as agencies converging around housing development in the urban edge in order to gain insight into the historicity of self-help housing and governmental practices in eThekwini Municipality. More specifically, the thesis traces the historical narrative of housing and its effects on periurban spaces in South Africa; investigates how the concept of self-help housing has a bearing on the production of governable spaces in the context of rural spaces in eMaphephetheni in South Africa; examines how the influence and powers of the state and traditional councils contribute to the mass production of self-help housing in eMaphephetheni; examines the role of peri-urban place-making in generating a culture of suburbia, wealth, lifestyle and new African urbanity; analyses different role players involved in self-housing within the peri-urban areas and their influence in housing products; and develops a framework that will contribute to the sustainability of selfhelp housing in the peri-urban spaces in South Africa. The thesis also interrogates the application of various South African building laws, in particular the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act No. 17 of 2007, and their implications for the self-builder. This thesis has utilised the work of influential post-structural and critical theorists – Foucault, Lefebvre and Gramsci, and that of institutionalists – Pierson, North and Thelen, in order to gain a critical insight into the challenges of self-help housing development at eMaphephetheni. The thesis adopts a qualitative research approach and interpretivism paradigm which offer a research design suited to explore the powers and roles of diverse institutions. Interviews were conducted with 50 respondents that were comprised of 30 local homeowners and the various stakeholders in both the agency of the state and that of the institution of traditional leadership, and documentary analysis from government sources and municipal policies was carried out. These theoretical framing and methodological tools were used in order to triangulate both secondary and primary sources of data. The findings of this thesis reveal that self-help housing development is faced with a variety of challenges of an institutional, economic, social, constructional and architectural nature, among others. The thesis found that peri-urban spaces are governed through constrictive normative planning practices and regulatory control on the one hand, and a firm capture and control of land by the traditional institutions and elites on the other. Overall, this thesis developed a framework that will contribute to the sustainability of self-help housing in the peri-urban spaces in South Africa, while also facilitating the institutional assemblage of the agency of the state and that of the institution of traditional leadership. The essence of the framework is the introduction of a digital platform that seeks to host and harmonise user friendly land data which can be accessed and used by various stakeholders. It is an attempt towards advancing hybridity in land governance using modern technology readily accessible to everyone. The framework further suggests technical advisory support to self-builders through localised housing support facilities. To give effect to the envisaged cooperative arrangement suggested in the municipal SPLUM bylaw, the framework makes suggestions about how the Service Level Agreement between the traditional councils operating within eThekwini municipality and the municipality itself, could be operationalised.