(GREATER DURBAN)
CONTEXT
LOCATION AND STATUS
Greater Durban is located on the eastern coastline of South Africa within the Province of KwaZulu-Na- tal (KZN). It falls largely under the jurisdiction of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. Durban is the largest city in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, and also has the largest port in South Africa.
HISTORY
Durban began as a colonial trading outpost and small port in 1824, within a region that was then dominated by the newly-consolidated Zulu Kingdom. The settlement survived early conflict be- tween the Zulu kingdom and the British, and between the British and the Boers. Durban was pro- claimed as a town in 1835 in the British Colony of Natal, and formally laid out in 1860. In the late 19th century it expanded, largely as a result of the development of sugar cane estates in the hinterland, a coal-mining industry in north-western Natal, and the development of a railway line to the gold fields of the Witwatersrand. In the 20th century Durban developed as the premier des- tination for domestic tourism in South Africa, and also as Africa’s largest port. From around World
War II it developed a significant manufacturing sector, focused on chemicals, port-related industry, and clothing and textiles. Colonial and apartheid policies of racial segregation significantly shaped the spatial and institutional form of Durban, with the boundary between Natal and the ethnic homeland of KwaZulu passing through the metropolitan region. With the ending of apartheid, the metropolitan region was consolidated under the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.
POPULATION
POPULATION SIZE
Census 2011 indicated a population of 3.44 million for the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, with municipal estimates for 2015 of 3.55 million. The UN figures for the urban agglomeration for 2015 are lower, at 2.9 million, but this is because the UN excluded the approximately 500 000 people living in the rural or semi-rural parts of the municipality.
POPULATION RANKING
Using the UN estimated data, Greater Durban would rank about 150th globally, 63rd in the BRICS and fourth in South Africa (after Johannesburg, Cape Town and Ekurhuleni).
POPULATION GROWTH
The population is growing slowly. The UN estimates 1.15% per annum in the period 2010-2015. Census 2011 indicated an annual growth of 1.08% for 2001 to 2011.
DIVERSITY
eThekwini differs from other metropolitan cities in South Africa with its large minority population of Indian/Asian origin, and with the predominance of a single language, isiZulu. It also has a relatively low proportion of foreign nationals for a South African city. The racial breakdown in 2011 was: black African (74%); Indian/Asian (17%); white (7%); coloured (mixed-race) (3%). The main home languages spoken were isiZulu (63%) and English (27%). 6.5% of the population was foreign-born.
STRUCTURE OF URBAN REGION
The Durban Metropolitan Region is strongly shaped by physical elements, including the Indian Ocean coastline, the Bay of Natal, and the road network, with the N3 (east/west) connecting with the N2 (north/south) to create a ‘T’ shape. The historical City of Durban is the dominant core of the metropolitan region, with a 2011 population of around 600 000 (with the currently designated Central Region having 1.3 million people). The other major concentrations are on the edge of the core city, in the apartheid-created black African townships of Umlazi (408 000) and KwaMashu (176 000); the Indian townships of Chatsworth (196 000) and Phoenix (176 000); and the mainly informal settlements of Inanda (178 000) and Ntuzuma (125 000). But these are all dormitory settle- ments with no substantial economic base. The small satellite nodes with economic activity beyond the boundaries of Durban include Pinetown (144 000), Stanger (51 000) Verulam (37 000), and Um- hlanga (24 000). A new ‘edge city’ with large-scale, upmarket private development is emerging to the north of Durban, at Umhlanga Ridge. There is also a semi-urban population within the jurisdic- tion of the municipality of around 500 000.
ECONOMY
The Brookings Institution estimated the GDP of Durban to be around USD 48.9 billion. This is slightly less than that of Pretoria (Tshwane) and comparable to that of cities in the BRICS such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Curitiba. Durban’s economy contributes around 8.7% of South Africa’s GDP and
DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES
As indicated, economic and employment data reveals an uncertain picture. Significantly, for exam- ple, the Census 2011 data suggested an unemployment rate significantly higher than the Labour Force Survey data.
It is clear however that eThekwini is one of the poorer metropolitan municipalities in South Af- rica. While population growth is relatively low, the housing backlog remains high. In 2011, 18% of the households in the metropolitan municipality were living informally, a figure similar to that of Gauteng’s metropolitan municipalities. However, two-thirds of these informally accommodated households were living in freestanding informal settlements, and only one-third in backyard ac- commodation. This is different from Gauteng, where there is a far higher proportion of the latter. Durban has been one of the HIV/Aids hotspots of South Africa and globally. Estimates of HIV in- fection have varied dramatically, but the 2012 national HIV/Aids survey put the prevalence rate for eThekwini municipality for the total population at 14.5%. This is the highest for any metropolitan municipality in South Africa, although lower than other estimates, which go as high as 30%. Crime rates remain high in Durban, with the Mexican Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice ranking the city as the 41st-most violent in the world, with a 2015 murder rate of 35.9 per 100 000. Other significant problems faced by the city are the high levels of air pollution in Durban’s Southern Industrial Basin where the chemical industry is concentrated, and social tensions including often-vi- olent forms of xenophobia.
THEMATIC REPORTS
TRANSPORT
ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE
As a major port city, transport and logistics have been critical to the development and functioning of Durban. The Port of Durban is the largest and busiest in sub-Saharan Africa, handling about 31.4 million tons of cargo a year and accommodating 4 500 commercial vessels. According to the World Shipping Council, the Port of Durban ranked 50th globally in 2013 as a container port, but it was second in Africa after Port Said in Egypt, and 14th in the BRICS (mainly after Chinese ports). Durban handles around 58% of South Africa’s container market, followed by Cape Town at 19%. While the Port of Durban is moderately large in global terms, it has faced challenges in terms of efficiency. There are major plans for port expansion, by creating a large dug-out port on the site of the previous airport.
A major new development has been the construction of the King Shaka International Airport to the north of Durban, which opened in 2010. It is ranked as the ninth-busiest airport in Africa. The air- port forms part of the Dube Tradeport, which includes a trade zone with industrial and commercial activities linked to air travel.
The rail and road corridor between Durban and Gauteng is recognised by government as criti- cal to the national economy. There are ambitious plans to rehabilitate this corridor, including the proposed dug-out port, a logistics hub midway between the two urban centres, and massive im- provements to rail capacity and efficiency for freight. A high-speed rail link between Durban and Johannesburg has been mooted through a partnership with the China International Railway Group, but finding an adequate funding model has proved difficult.
HOUSEHOLD TRANSPORT
There are significant data challenges in calculating a modal split for eThekwini, especially since national travel data is provided on the provincial scale only, and there is no KZN equivalent to the Historically, Durban’s economy was built around transport and logistics, manufacturing, and tour-
ism. Recently, however, tertiary sectors have become more important. Currently the largest sector in terms of GVA is Finance and Business Services, followed by Trade, and then Manufacturing and Transport. The relatively large size of the transport sector in this port city is what distinguishes eThekwini from other metropolitan cities in South Africa.
There is a lack of reliable economic data, but in the period 2006 to 2011, eThekwini outperformed the other metropolitan areas in terms of employment creation, with employment increases of 3.8% per annum. eThekwini’s unemployment rate trended down to 16% by the second quarter of 2015, compared with the national average of 25% unemployment, indicating its relative success in cre- ating jobs. There are indicators however that the downturn in the national economy from around 2014 is having a disproportionately negative impact on eThekwini. The Statistics South Africa La- bour Force Survey for Q1 2016 revealed a dramatic 12.8% reduction in employment since Q1 2015, with unemployment rising to 18.8%. It is not clear however whether or not this represents a longer- term setback for the local economy.
GOVERNANCE
Greater Durban falls within the governance arrangements indicated on the cover sheet for South Africa. The city is under the jurisdiction of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality and the Kwa- Zulu-Natal Provincial Government.
There are minor differences between the governance of eThekwini and that of South Africa’s other metropolitan municipalities; with, for example, the executive authority in the eThekwini municipal- ity resting in an Executive Committee, which then appoints a Mayor as chairperson. In other metro- politan municipalities, executive power is vested in a Mayor who appoints an executive committee at his/her discretion.
The other key features of eThekwini include the role of traditional (or tribal) authorities on the edge of the urban agglomeration, and the significance of the Transnet National Ports Authority as a major institutional player.
The relationship between the democratically elected local authorities and the hereditary traditional structures has not been entirely resolved in the post-apartheid period. There has also been a history of fragmented governance, with the ports authority and the metropolitan authority not coordinat- ing adequately; but this is improving.
% CONTRIBUTION TO TOTAL GVA, DURBAN, 2013
Manufacturing 15% Transport 15% Trade 19% Construction 4% Finance and Business Services 22% Government 13% Other 6% Community Services 6% SOUTH AFRICA
rofitting of buildings for energy efficiency, and solar water heating in township houses). eThekwini launched the Durban Solar City Framework Project in April 2015. The project aims to promote rooftop solar PV panels on homes, factories, and office blocks, with the aim of making sun power a significant contributor to Durban’s energy supply. The project proposes to allow residents to export surplus energy generated by their PV panels into the grid, which would reduce their electricity bill. Although production of green energy is still very limited, eThekwini municipality is exploring the potential of flare methane at waste treatment plants, ‘water reticulation mini hydros’ at reservoir turbine sites, and wind-energy options with a German association.
INNOVATION-DRIVEN ECONOMY
eThekwini was ranked only 385th on the 2thinknow Innovation Cities Global Index, which is also relatively low for a BRICS city. Its ratings are also low in South African terms, with its share of ex- penditure on R&D only 6.5% in 2012, and its per capita expenditure on R&D the lowest of all South Africa’s metropolitan cities.
eThekwini may lag behind the Gauteng metros and Cape Town in terms of innovation indicators such as R&D expenditure and patents submitted, but the metropolitan municipality has taken a recent lead in promoting innovation. Innovate Durban was launched in 2014 ‘to highlight the importance of innovation in economic processes, as well as channel creativity into improving the City’. It is a partnership between eThekwini Municipality and institutions including the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban University of Technology, the International Labour Organisation, IBM, the Technology Innovation Agency, and the Standard Bank of South Africa. Its programmes include an Open Exchange Project to accelerate internal innovation within the municipality through the smart use of technology, and the development of an innovation precinct, a youth innovation challenge, and an innovation needs assessment.
Durban has two major universities – the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and the Durban Uni- versity of Technology. In terms of the 2016 Times Higher Education rankings, UKZN ranks in the band 501-500 globally. The QS University Rankings for 2015 ranked the University of KwaZulu-Natal as 68th in the BRICS.
GCRO. The municipality estimates that 40% of residents use public transport in Durban, with 60% using private modes. Of the 40% who use public transport, 68% use minibus taxis (which is a form of paratransit, as it is privately run), 25% use buses, and 7% use rail. However, this data is ‘broad brush’, and does not distinguish between different types of trips.
MINIBUS TAXIS
The minibus is by far the most important mode of collective travel and is organised within 120 taxi associations. It is a flexible mode of transport suited to the spatial form of South Africa’s cities, but is also associated with problems of user safety, a poorly-maintained fleet, and conflict between associations over routes, which frequently turn violent.
BUSES
After taxis, buses are most important; and here there is considerable complexity, with around 200 operators serving 1 400 routes, with a mix of government-subsidised contracts and unsubsidised services. These operators often have low profit margins, and inadequate and deteriorating fleets. Durban Transport was historically a municipally-owned operator, accounting for around a third of the bus fleet and half of the routes. It experienced increasing problems resulting in growing unreliability of service, and in 2003, was controversially privatised when it was sold to Remant (Pty) Ltd and the Alton Coach Africa Consortium. However, as part of the preparations for the FIFA 2010 World Cup the municipality established a bus service called People Mover. The system only operates in the Durban CBD and along the beachfront.
RAIL
The commuter rail service is run by an SOE, Metrorail, and has eight routes radiating outwards from central Durban; but the share of rail transport has been declining, and major investment is required for rail to regain an advantage.
FUTURE
Overall, Durban’s transport system is inefficient and inadequate for the mobility challenges in the city. But there are plans for improvement. Go! Durban is the name of the Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network (IRPTN) Project, which aims to provide seamless, safe, cost-effective and flexible public transport to at least 85% of the metro’s population. The project involves the development of nine transport corridors of various modes (bus, rail, and taxi) by 2027. Phase 1 of the project entails the development of four corridors, and is expected to be complete in 2018. It includes three Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridors and one railway corridor. There are also plans for a high-speed mono- rail between the Durban CBD and King Shaka Airport, with construction expected to begin in 2017.
GREEN ENERGY
eThekwini Municipality is massively dependent on Eskom for its electricity, and faces all the chal- lenges and vulnerabilities of other municipalities in this position. Only 0.4% (45GWh) of annual electricity supply is generated within the boundaries of the municipality, mainly from the Landfill Gas projects at the Bisasar Road and Marianhill landfills. For the foreseeable future Durban will remain dependent on national systems for supply, and the shift towards green energy will follow the pace of change nationally.
The main impact of the municipality will be in demand management. eThekwini municipality has an Energy Office which began operation in 2009, set up with funds from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and the Environmental Management Programme. The Energy Of- fice is responsible for promoting sustainable energy options in the city; mainly through improving energy efficiency, but also exploring new sources of green energy. This unit has worked to reduce energy consumption in municipal infrastructure (e.g. with street lights and metering systems, ret-
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