Occasional Papers

Local government in crisis: Insights from municipalities in Gauteng, South Africa

This Occasional Paper problematises and dissects the anatomy of South Africa’s local government crisis to deepen our understanding and broaden our thinking about how to manage and mitigate it. The Occasional Paper brings together empirical evidence, theoretical perspectives, and policy intervention ideas on South Africa’s municipal crisis. The paper argues that South Africa’s local government challenges can be collectively framed as a "creeping crisis". A creeping crisis can be understood as a threat to widely shared societal values or life-sustaining systems that slowly evolves over time and space, then accelerates and becomes widespread, and receives insufficient responses from authorities. The research draws on an extensive evidence base to demonstrate the scale and dimensions of the crisis, and how it disproportionately affects townships, informal settlements and other marginal urban neighbourhoods. The work offers ways forward not only for thinking about the crisis, but also for how to intervene in it to bring about stabilisation, targeted rebuilding and transformation.

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Balancing inclusivity and practicality: Should the South African census and social surveys include measures beyond the gender binary?

This Occasional Paper aims to prompt critical thinking and inspire a more inclusive way of collecting data related to sexual orientation, gender identity, and variations in sex characteristics (SOGISC). It draws on discussions from a seminar series on ‘queering social survey research’ hosted by the GCRO in collaboration with the Centre for Sexualities, AIDS and Gender (CSA&G) and Social Impact Insights Africa (SIIA) from 6 October to 17 November 2022. The paper suggests the significant value of including SOGISC questions in the South African national census and various social surveys to make aspects of queer experiences visible in policy and broader understandings of society.

Finding our rhythm: Pathways and futures for the Gauteng City-Region

This Occasional Paper is the outcome of a scenario building process led by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA) on behalf of GCRO. While taking the national Indlulamithi Scenarios as a starting point, it presents an outlook tailored to the particular trends and dynamics shaping Gauteng. Based on a consultative process that elaborated 26 key variables clustered into Key Driving Forces, the paper sets out three scenarios, named after popular songs from the period before the dawn of democracy. It concludes with a proposed development path for Gauteng to achieve its ideal scenario.

‘Township economies’: Uses, meanings and key debates in the Gauteng context

This paper presents multiple meanings of ‘township economies’ and the implications of key debates around framing township economic development. Overlaps in various national and provincial government strategies have included government procurement in townships, settlement upgrading, promoting entrepreneurship and creating a conducive regulatory environment for productivity. These efforts notwithstanding, the paper points out the need to include township development within broader national policy and encourages discussion on important concerns such as bringing jobs to people or people to jobs.

An analysis of microscale segregation and socio-economic sorting in Gauteng

This Occasional Paper analyses racial segregation and socio-economic sorting in Gauteng at the microscale. The three inquiries highlight continued segregation, but also nuances in the nature of desegregation in the Gauteng province at various macro- and microscales. The analysis reveals barriers and opportunities for future spatial transformation and highlights the potential role of public and private housing expansion in shaping equality of opportunity.