Apartheid, decentralization and spatial industrial change

The programmes for industrial decentralization, which were introduced progressively after 1948, became incorporated as a key component in apartheid, forming part of the mythology of the state attempting to help develop the Bantu peoples. The only substantive attempt so far to draw up a balance between the employment gains and losses resulting from decentralization concluded that for every one job created in the decentralized areas, nine potential jobs were lost in South Africa’s metropolitan areas. Contrary to government propaganda of the supposed beneficial effects of the strategy for Blacks, the major impact of the industrial decentralization programme has been to further contribute to raising levels of Black unemployment and poverty in South Africa. Furthermore, it is argued that the employment creating effect of decentralization for Blacks is a myth; rather, the chief effect of the implementation of the Environment Planning Act has been to contribute towards further raising levels of Black unemployment.