uMama wekhaya: local subjectivities, water infrastructures and grounded perceptions of development in Agnes Rest, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Abstract

This article provides a window into the lives of the residents of Agnes Rest, a rural village in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Using water infrastructures, I explore how two local terms umama wekhaya and abuntu babelungu, express local subjectivities created on the premise of an individual’s experience of water access and their associated roles. I argue that local subjectivities are important to consider when conceptualising “what is development?” The grounded perceptions of Agnes Rest residents are shaped by the unique social categories that are present in their community. Inevitably, they portray a story of inequality and uneven distribution of municipal infrastructure in contemporary rural Eastern Cape. Drawing on Brian Larkin’s definition of infrastructure, I analyse how points of water infrastructure are generative sites of engagement that connect and differentiate people, construct social spaces and influence local meanings of change and development.