We are changing the face of Mdantsane

The Urban Renewal Programme is a government initiative, announced by President Mbeki during the State of the Nation Address in 2001. The intention of the programme is to speed up service delivery and improve the quality of life of communities living in eight identified townships otherwise known as nodes. The main aim of the programme is:

“To fight poverty and underdevelopment through job creation, infrastructure development and the stimulation of growth”.

The programme, under the auspices of the National Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) promotes co-ordinated service delivery in eight selected Urban Renewal Nodes in the country, has a life span of ten years with the following objectives:

• To address poverty alleviation and underdevelopment by focusing the resources of all of government on the nodes. The aim would be to maximize the quality and the quantity of service delivery to the poor.
• To achieve increased equity, by bringing these previously excluded communities closer to economic and social opportunities.

• To encourage socially cohesive communities, who are viable, safe, mutually supportive, productive and involved.
• To ensure integration between the spheres and sectors of government, understanding that to make a difference in the lives of poor people, all of government must work closely together.
• To enhance local government capacity to deliver, by building stronger and financially healthy municipalities, who are accountable to communities in the nodes.

The Urban Renewal Programme targets urban communities, with a special focus on vulnerable groups such as women, youth, the aged and the disabled.

As one of the selected nodes, Mdantsane Urban Renewal Programme was launched by Buffalo City Municipality in October 2003. Following the launch, the MURP needed a vision that will guide all future developments in the township. The vision is:

“Mdantsane to be innovative place, socially inclusive, addressing the imbalances of yesterday, investing in today for a better tomorrow” where:

• less people will travel outside to look for work
• It will be a safe place to live and invest
• There will be greater incomes and economic benefits
• The social & physical environments will be enhanced and
• The community will be proud of Mdantsane

This is however linked to the vision of the Buffalo City Municipality, which is: ‘A people centred place of opportunity where the basic needs of all are met in a safe, healthy and sustainable environment’.

The Township of Mdantsane had the roots of its establishment buried in the apartheid era of South African History. In the 1950’s the East London City Council undertook to move the majority of the inhabitants of East and West Bank to a new dormitory township of Mdantsane, located 25km outside the city.

The aim had been to create a fully-fledged town, semi-autonomous but economically integrated into white urban areas. Between 1964 and 1970, thousands families were re-settled in Mdantsane, but the envisaged growth into a city never materialised. In its place there was instead a growth in unemployment and poverty, along with violence and crime.

Some of the focus areas proposed to guide the implementation of MURP are as follows:

• To ensure that all programmes, projects and funding are located in the geographical area of Mdantsane
• To encourage and support local initiatives
• To promote the use of local resources, assets, capabilities and talents
• To develop sustainable programmes rather than ad hoc projects

Integrated planning by all spheres of government, with implementation at nodal level, will help achieve the national targets of URP, as the task of Urban Renewal is a common responsibility we all share.