Government expenditure in the independent and self‐governing national states of Southern Africa: An evaluation

Various commentators recently drew attention to the expenditure and financing of the independent and self‐governing national states in Southern Africa. The inference has been drawn that this expenditure appears wasteful and ineffective and constitutes little more than a costly political luxury.

This article makes an attempt at evaluating government expenditure in the national states in terms of the type and level of expenditure, its benefit incidence, as well as its efficiency.

Expenditure of the governments of the national states is largely on collective or social goods and services and therefore of the type widely expected to be provided by governments. Since the benefit incidence of this expenditure is not confined within the borders of the national states, but spills over into South Africa, government expenditure by these states benefits the common integrated economic system of Southern Africa.

With regard to the levels of expenditure, indications are that expenditure in many instances is too low. Increased expenditure in some categories might well show significantly increasing returns.     

The main findings of the district pilot project of labour‐intensive road construction and maintenance in Botswana and the implications for similar projects in South Africa

Unemployment has been identified as one of the main problems confronting South Africa. Recently, in order to improve rural infrastructure and create employment, several pilot projects of rural road construction have been initiated in South Africa. In such a context it is considered that attention should be drawn to a pilot project carried out some time ago in Botswana to examine the potential of labour‐intensive methods in the construction and maintenance of rural roads.

The main conclusion of the pilot project was that labour‐intensive methods were viable, although attention had to be paid to several critical factors. In 1982, following its evaluation of the pilot project, the Government of Botswana decided that over the next five years the technical and organisational methods developed during the pilot project should be replicated throughout Botswana.

After a brief survey of the background to the project, the paper summarises several important features of the pilot project and its main findings. The paper closes with some comments on the implications of this pilot project for those currently underway in South Africa.     

Book briefs

World food marketing systems, Butterworth & Co, London, 1986.

Faces of hunger. An essay on poverty, justice and development, Studies in applied philosophy, Allen & Unwin, London, 1986. xiii + 178, distributed in South Africa by MacMillan South Africa, Braamfontein.

Decentralization and development — Policy implementation in developing countries, Sage Publications, London, 1983, 319 pp

Soviet interests in the Third World, Sage Publications, London, 1985, xi + 329 pp

No shortcuts to progress — African development management in perspective, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, London, 1983, xv + 223 pp.

Strategies for African Development, University of California Press, London, 1986, xii + 603 pp.

Labour and poverty In Kenya 1900‐1980, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1986, xii + 296, £20,00     

The role and place of research and intellectual discourse in the reproduction of social relations of racial domination in South Africa

The South African research community which undertakes all research activity in the social and natural sciences, with and without state and corporate sponsorship, draws its membership mainly from the dominant social group. In this country, the dominant group is both economically and racially determined. Consequently, the white minority dominates the research community and intellectual discourse as it does other socio‐economic and political spheres of society. This situation guarantees the constant reproduction and perpetuation of the social relations of racial domination.

As an agent that generates knowledge and new ideas, research as an academic and intellectual tool of enquiry is an instrument of social control, producing new concepts, language and theoretical abstractions which are not accessible to those outside its multi‐farious disciplines. Insofar as the largest proportion of practitioners of these specialised disciplines is drawn from the dominant group, research has itself become a pivotal part of the dominant ideology. Its role is inevitably and inextricably bound up with the processes of systematic reproduction of the relations of domination.

The aim of this viewpoint is therefore to explore various ways in which research bodies and intellectual discourse in general in South Africa can be deracialised and be made more representative of the social make‐up of society.     

Public administration and development

Public Administration is the study of the activities of government. Where governments accept responsibility for development, public administration is the administration of development.

The approach of public administration to development is one of contingency: to ascertain what a situation is in terms of its environment and devise strategic, structural and procedural interventions appropriate to the situation.

A contingency approach to public administration fits into a social knowledge paradigm which posits that development happens by capacity building through social learning.     

The impact of environmental change on relocated communities in South Africa

The last thirty‐five years have seen the relocation of several million people in South Africa, for reasons related mainly to the implementation of the South African government policy of ‘apartheid’ or ‘separate development’. As a result, most studies of relocation have focused on the political causes and aspects of relocation, often to the neglect of its social consequences.

Community relocation, whatever its causes, involves the transformation of the physical and social environment in which people find themselves. This paper suggests that a focus on the nature and degree of environmental modification involved in particular cases of relocation will provide a useful start to understanding the social and economic consequences of relocation in South Africa. Various kinds of relocation (relating to Betterment Planning, Group Areas, relocation townships and closer settlements) are considered in these terms.     

Conservation of natural resources and rural development: The work of the Institute of Natural Resources

The concept of the Institute of Natural Resources, attached to the University of Natal but funded largely by the private sector, is the only one of its kind in Africa. Its services are seen as being vitally important and urgently needed. Through its endeavours greater awareness has been created that the African rural areas require urgent rehabilitation and development.

Through its various research programmes and practical rural development projects, the Institute is involved in land capability analysis in various parts of KwaZulu, and in formulating sustainable land use strategies which emphasize job creation and food production while conserving natural resources and reclaiming those areas in danger of ecological collapse.

In conjunction with this research and practical work, attention is being given to the establishment of a computer‐based geographic information system, promotion of public awareness of the socio‐economic and environmental problems facing Natal/KwaZulu, and assistance with the co‐ordination of planning in the region.     

Book briefs

G Antonelli and A Quadrio‐Curzio (eds) The agro‐technological system towards 2000 North Holland.

W J Baumol Superfairness: Applications and theory The MIT Press, Massachusetts, 1986

E Boonzaier and J Sharp (eds) South African keywords: The uses and abuses of political concepts David Philip, Cape Town and Johannesburg, 1988

C Bryant (ed) Poverty, policy, and food security in Southern Africa Lynne Rienner Publishers. Boulder, Colorado, 1988

J Butler. R Elphick and D Welsh (eds) Democratic liberalism in South Africa: Its history and prospect David Philip, Cape Town and Johannesburg. 1987

D P Chaudhri and A J Dasgupta Agriculture and the development process: a study of Punjab Croom Helm, London, 1985

R Cohen (ed) Satisfying Africa's food needs: Food production and commercialization in African agriculture Lynne Rienner Publishers. Boulder/London, 1988

J M Conrad and C W Clark Natural resource economics: Notes and problems Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987

D E Janvry and K Subbarao Agricultural price policy and income distribution in India Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1986     

The basic needs approach: A missing ingredient in development theory?

The poor record of conventional development theories in reducing poverty in developing countries may result from the neglect of certain preconditions that are necessary before the people of a developing country are receptive to conventional economic stimuli. The basic needs approach, in its various forms, focuses on some of these requirements through its emphasis on human development and the recognition that economic development does not take place in a social vacuum.

In this article a critical threshold of basic needs satisfaction is said to be a necessary, but not sufficient, precondition for economic development. Only if such a threshold has been achieved, will a population be receptive to those elements responsible for successful development in economically more‐advanced societies.     

The district administrator in rural development

Although the “district administrator” was, and still is, identified under various titles, there was a common role of generalist administrative head within a spatial unit of field administration. For several decades the district administrator's authority was steadily diminished but he never completely disappeared from the scene and he is now making a strong return. The authority of the district administrator is also often augmented, and controlled, by the appointment of a political officer in the same locality. In the process he has come to need special experience in the field of development. In many countries the district administrator is supported in his development work by specialist development officers.

This article traces the changing but persistent role of the district administrator in certain former British territories in Southern, Central and East Africa. Particular reference is made to Botswana, parts of South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya.     

Inefficient land use in KwaZulu: Causes and remedies

Rural KwaZulu is a less developed region of South Africa. Despite intense population pressure, arable land is underutilized. Grazing resources are overutilized.

Supply response to price incentives and farmer support programmes is inelastic as the potential gains to farmers are limited by small farm sizes. Facilitating the land rental market could improve efficiency informing, and also has equity advantages. Institutional changes are needed to encourage land rental

Overstocking occurs primarily because grazing is an open access common property resource. Unlike most solutions to overstocking (eg cattle taxes and quotas), privatization of grazing land (even in the limited sense that arable land is privately controlled) would not only encourage stock‐owners to reduce stocking rates but would also improve their incentive to upgrade herd and pasture quality. It is recommended that privatization be promoted in areas where it is more acceptable to households.     

The role of universities in training for development

The first part of this article starts by discussing the central issue of what a university ought to be in the Southern African context. Included in the analysis is the conventional model for a university as well as the urge for relevance of the university and the issue of relevance in an intensely changing region.

In the second part of the article the focus moves to the changing debate on the concept of development Development has increasingly been defined as striving towards creating opportunities for people to move towards increased humanity.

In order to bring about development as defined in this way, the participation of the people, the recognition of social Justice, education in the broadest sense of the word, community development that can lead to social reconstruction, as well as the provision of a sphere for meaningful existence will have to be included in university training for development This article addresses aspects of such a humantsatlon of university training for development.     

A preliminary evaluation of the new RIDP and its impact on regional development in South Africa

The debate on regional political autonomy makes regional economic development a subject of central importance. Current policy is embodied in the Regional Industrial Development Programme (RIDP), as revised in May 1991. Regional industrial policy in South Africa originated in 1956 with the Border Industry Programme, whose objective was to create economically independent sovereign states, Subsequent shifts of emphasis from socio‐political objectives towards a predominantly economic orientation in the 1991 RIDP were expected to concentrate the allocation of resources to industry at locations with greater natural potential for industrial development.

An evaluation of the preliminary results of the 1991 RIDP confirms these expectations in that, as far as capital investment is concerned, a certain degree of concentration is already discernible especially in metropolitan areas and secondary cities. However, it seems there are a number of factors present in the market‐place that are still inhibiting the full realisation of the objective of concentrated industrial development at locations with a natural potential for industrial development. The existing institutional development framework, the availability of relatively cheap excess infrastructure in certain locations and the spatial application of the new RIDP are some of the factors that could possibly have influenced locational decision making during the last 20 months.

Therefore, although the new RIDP is more market orientated than its predecessor and certainly much more economically sustainable, a number of issues still need attention, and further adjustments to the programme should be made if the various regions are to be developed optimally and scarce economic resources utilised effectively.     

Ecology and development

There is an increasing realization, world‐wide and in Southern Africa, that conservation and development are compatible.

Because human communities in the less developed rural areas are dependent on a renewable group of resources, including soil, water and forests, it is imperative that land use systems that protect these resources are introduced.

The predominance of subsistence agriculture in these areas is the most difficult syndrome of under‐development. An overall rural development strategy is required that integrates human development with resources management Where the population carrying capacity of the land has already been exceeded, a process of rapid villagization/urbanization is required. Village/urban growth and agricultural development require a carefully co‐ordinated programme of land capability analysis and planning, as well as active investment in infrastructure and the introduction of appropriate technologies and institutions.     

A remodelled approach to measuring the social impact of tourism in a developing country

Residents living in communities with tourism activities form a vital part of the tourism industry; without their support, the industry will likely fail. It is the understanding of the Social Exchange Theory that residents should receive a form of physical award for accepting visitors into their environment, however, with the case of South Africa, there are various factors that inhibit the flow of such benefits. Regardless, the residents remain supportive. It was therefore determined that the intangible social impacts of tourism also play a vital role in fostering community support. To better manage both the tangible and intangible social impact perceptions, a framework was successfully developed by means of structural equation modelling (SEM). This novel framework may aid tourism managers to predict and strategically manage the social impact perceptions of tourism in a developing country such as South Africa in order to foster the vital community support for this industry.

Abbreviations: SEM: Structural equation modelling     

Small holder farming in Africa — Lessons from the African regional symposium on small holder irrigation

The five main topics discussed at the African Regional Symposium on Small Holder Irrigation are reviewed in this paper. Particular attention is directed to those points raised during the meeting that are relevant to small holder agricultural development in general, and that may serve as a guide to rural development researchers, planners and implementers in South Africa and its independent and self‐governing national states.

The central theme of the various papers dealing with the design and selection of appropriate small holder schemes, country specific case studies, project evaluation and the role of farmers, was undoubtedly the need to involve farmers in a meaningful way throughout the entire process of project formulation and implementation.     

The South African brain drain: An empirical assessment

There is no reliable data on the extent of South African skilled emigration and return migration. Statistics South Africa stopped collecting emigration data more than a decade ago. This paper provides data from the turn of the century collected in the countries to which South Africans emigrate. It first provides detailed data on emigration to the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States – the main destinations for emigrants from South Africa. It then provides estimates for the United Arab Emirates. Finally, it presents data for twenty-five other OECD countries. By contrast with widespread claims that there has been a very large brain gain as South Africans have returned following the global financial crisis, it shows that there was still a net brain drain, albeit at a slower pace. The most recent data suggest that the rate of emigration may be accelerating again.

Abbreviations: OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development     

Basic socio‐economic elements of a development theory for traditional societies

Notwithstanding the existence of various ‘development paradigms’, little has been done to analyse the fundamental economic determinants of development.

Most important is the basic functioning of supply and demand which, in the traditional society, is determined by religion, customs and rules, resulting in a limited choice and volume of consumption, as well as limited production.

Stimulation of the economy can according to community development principles, be brought about by an increase in demand (needs) to serve as motivation for increased production.

Higher production though, necessitates a change in traditional values and the development of abilities and skills. This is primarily the field of community development.     

Utilisation of indigenous workers and its relevance to human service organisations and development projects in South Africa∗

The article discusses major issues related to the employment of indigenous workers in human service organisations and development projects.

Main motives for introducing this new type of worker and the essential tasks they perform as well as their unique attributes are presented.

The discussion concludes by advocating the expansion of the efforts in the South African context.