Mthatha: Transforming The Fractured Capital Of The Transkei Bantustan

Abstract

The development and planning implemented during various historical periods before and during apartheid have resulted in many former ‘Bantustan’ and South African cities being fractured, incoherent, and thus characterised by an absence of a fair economy and effective spatial and infrastructure development. This situation thwarts economic growth and poverty relief. To highlight the issues and context of “Bantustan” cities, one of them, Mthatha, will be used as a case study. Using literature review methodology, four distinct historical periods will be examined to understand the city’s current situation. The periods are the Pre-colonial period, the Colonial period (1816-1910), the Apartheid and the post-apartheid period (1994 to present). The planning patterns resulted in many problems that thwart efforts at economic uplift within these cities. It will be shown that a strategy is required that will reverse the planning legacies of colonialism and apartheid by encouraging local aspirations, enabling integration, and stimulating urban opportunity and thereby economic enablement.