MODELO DE DESPLIEGUE

3.2.1 Location

The Eastern Cape Province is situated in the south-east of South Africa and has a total surface area of 169 580 km² and a population density of seven million (13.9 % of the total land of South Africa) (Statistics South Africa (SSA), 2003). The western half of the Province is more

34 developed compared to the former homelands within the eastern half which largely consist of poverty-stricken informal settlements and poorly managed small towns (Bank and Minkley, 2005).

3.2.2 Socio-economic context

The Eastern Cape Province is largely rural (66 %) (Eastern Cape Socio Economic Consultative Council (ECSECC), 2009) and has the second highest poverty levels in the country (47 % below the poverty line) as well as the highest unemployment rate of 27 % in 2009 (SSA, 2010), with many people living without basic infrastructure and services. The demographics of these rural areas largely consist of women (52 %) and children, which reflects how many of the parents, especially men, migrate to more industrialized areas for employment (ECSECC, 2009) (see Chapter 5).

In 2008, the Eastern Cape Province had a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS with 28 % (ECSECC, 2009). In 2000, HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death, accounting for 20 % of all deaths (Bradshaw et al., 2000). At the district level, the HIV prevalence levels of women present at antenatal clinics in 2008 were 26.5 % for Amathole district and 29 % for Chris Hani district (ECSECC, 2009), the districts in which the study sites are situated. The rural people of the Eastern Cape Province are some of the most vulnerable in South Africa as their livelihoods have been impacted by multiple shocks and stressors: climate change impacts, HIV/AIDS prevalence, high levels of poverty, poor access to basic services and ecosystem degradation(IDRC project proposal, 2010).

3.2.3 Biophysical context

The majority (97 %) of the Eastern Cape Province, except for the coastal belt, is classified as dryland. All nine biomes are found within the Province, with the Nama Karoo, Grassland, Savanna, and Thicket biomes being the most widespread (Mucina and Rutherford, 2006). The Eastern Cape Province has a high degree of land degradation due to over-grazing, invasion of alien species, and other anthropogenic activities which in turn has a negative impact on ecosystem services (DEAT, 2004). The Province also ranks amongst the top three most vulnerable provinces to the impacts of climate change (Gbetibouo and Ringer, 2009). The western regions of the Province (Lesseyton study site) are expected to become hotter and drier with the coastal belt (Willowvale study site) experiencing impacts such as a rising sea level, late summer rainfall, and floods (IDRC project proposal, 2010). Downscaled

35 projections (SRES scenario A2: assuming business as usual conditions) for monthly rainfall (based on data from the three nearest weather stations to the two study sites - Queenstown (for Lesseyton) and Mthatha and Port St Johns (for Willowvale) - show high variability between the nine different Global Circulation Models (GCMs). Monthly temperatures are projected to increase by several degrees throughout the year resulting in increased evapotranspiration rates (Climate Systems Analysis Group (CSAG), 2012).

The Eastern Cape Province in general has been subjected to severe drought in 2009/2010 of which these two study sites are no exception (CHDM, 2010). The subsequent two years have been the opposite with very heavy rainfall and devastating floods (South African Broadcasting Commission (SABC), 2012). Climatic stress along with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and poverty makes Willowvale and Lesseyton ideal sites for this study. Research within these sites will make a significant contribution towards a deeper understanding of the complexities of vulnerability in the context of rural South Africa.

3.2.4 History and governance of South Africa’s former homelands with specific reference to the Transkei and Ciskei

The Native Land Act of 1913 marked the onset of segregation in South Africa. Black Africans were forcibly removed from urban or ‘white’ areas to demarcated homelands or Bantustans, and were prohibited from owning or renting land outside of these areas (Perret, 2002). The Transkei and Ciskei were two of the homeland areas which existed within what is now known as the Eastern Cape Province. The ‘Homeland’ policy dramatically shaped the history of South Africa (Beinart, 2012). White farmers had privileged access to natural resources, infrastructure, and financial and agricultural facilities (Perret, 2002), whilst these homeland areas become progressively over-populated, degraded and unproductive (Davies et al., 1985).

The 1936 Native Trust and Land Act saw the ‘Betterment’ scheme being introduced and implemented within these homelands. This scheme was a way of transforming and dividing up the current land use reserves into residential units, arable and grazing units which were fenced, and grouping the households together in village clusters. This scheme was met with resistance as the locals saw it as a scheme of loss: livestock loss through culling, reductions in the availability of arable land, and restrictions on the use of grazing land (Beinart, 2012;

Davies et al., 1985; De Wet, 1989; McAllister, 1989). Moving from a relatively sparse settlement to a more concentrated one had its problems. Apart from the more complex

36 impacts on social relationships, the majority of fields were now located a greater distance from homesteads creating hardship as limitations had been placed on garden sizes. The Betterment scheme also placed pressure on water points close to settlements. No provisions were made for sanitation facilities and toilets, therefore creating threats of water pollution and negative health impacts (McAllister, 1989). Such a scheme limited the choices of the locals and undermined their social and economic lifestyle (McAllister, 1989). The retention of the communal tenure system emerged from below and was accepted by local chiefs within the homelands. This system, which became increasingly rooted in legislation and controlled by officials rather than local chiefs and people, slowly reverted back, in practice, to more local control (Beinart, 2012).

The Transkei was the first of the 10 homeland areas to become self-governing and in 1976 it became the first independent homeland (Dugard, 1980). The Ciskei became independent in 1981 (Khanya, 2000). These policy changes and the gradual removal of Apartheid legislation had a large effect on the Eastern Cape Province. There was a dramatic increase in labour out-migration, especially from the former Transkei area, as rural residents sought employment on the mines (Perret, 2002). In 1974, 83 % of employed Transkei males were migrant workers (Marks, 2002). This out-migration had a variety of impacts: it resulted in a rapid increase in townships and locations surrounding urban areas and had multiple impacts on family structures such as increased teenage pregnancy, the absence of parents having emotional impacts on children, spread of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, decline in marriage, and break-up of traditional household structures (Coovadia et al., 2009)

After democracy in 1994, the Transkei, Ciskei and the eight other homeland areas were reabsorbed back into South Africa. In this present day, the areas of the Eastern Cape Province formally known as the Transkei and Ciskei are still plagued by problems such as high levels of poverty, poor service delivery and development, high dependency on government grants, communal land tenure and a reliance on arable agriculture, animal husbandry, and informal employment (Coovadia et al., 2009).