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‘Catching the development train’: perspectives on ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ development in post-apartheid South Africa

Department of Geography, University of Sussex, UK and University of Durham, UK, bek_dave{at}hotmail.com

Tony Binns

Department of Geography, University of Sussex, UK

Etienne Nel

Department of Geography, Rhodes University, South Africa

Government policy in post-1994 South Africa, whilst upholding the principles of community participation and development, has been firmly wedded to a neoliberal growth agenda. This paper critically examines whether one element of that new growth agenda, that of Spatial Development Initiatives, has catalysed both ‘bottom-up’ development and also meaningfully assisted micro-entrepreneurs through more ‘top-down’ interventions. The paper focuses on two specific projects, namely the Saldanha Steel Plant and the Paternoster Fish Market, which have been components of a Spatial Development Initiative in the Western Cape. The serious constraints faced by communities in engaging with opportunities for socio-economic upliftment is clearly a cause for concern, and it is suggested that a careful re-evaluation of South Africa’s development paradigm is urgently required.

Key Words: development • grassroots • institutions • neoliberal • South Africa

Progress in Development Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1, 22-46 (2004)
DOI: 10.1191/1464993404ps047oa


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