Abstract
One of the most devastating breaches of the South African Constitution is the government’s failure to provide reliable water to rural residents in the same way they provide water in urban areas. The different treatment of residents as citizens and subjects underlies academic and political debate on local conflict about service delivery and the role of amakhosi in rural areas. The duality of citizen and subject gained prominence with Mamdani’s book Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the legacy of late colonialism. Mamdani (1996) argues that citizenship is considered a privilege of the civilised, while subjects are considered the uncivilized group, whereby they may have few civil rights, but no political rights at all. This theoretical framework serves as the grounding approach for this thesis. Citizens are defined as residents who have access to services and with people’s rights. They are consulted and there is engagement between those in authority and the residents they serve. In contrast, subjects are those occupants who are without services, and who are not allowed to participate in government decision making processes.
This study sought to understand the application of the idea of citizens and subjects to rural residents’ experiences in the post-1994 period. This was done through investigating water access in rural areas under different authorities such as farmers, traditional authorities, municipal officials, and other elected representatives. The study looked at various forms of land tenure and how residents have experienced and engaged with different local authorities.
Through life histories, the study further sought to capture the role of different authorities as (farmers, traditional authorities, municipal officials, ward councillors, and political parties) from the perspectives of the residents and their experiences in communicating and interacting with those authorities. Lastly, it sought to assess how such engagement has affected residents’ perspectives of themselves as subjects or citizens and their sense of agency.
The data collection methods used were life histories, whereby I followed five participants to understand their water struggles; twelve semi-structured interviews with residents as
well as municipal and traditional representatives; and community observation, whereby I observed residents interaction with various authorities in meetings and everyday events. These were used to assess the perspectives of Chanceni and Ngulani residents. The study also used legislation, such as the 1913 Land Act, the Bantu Homeland Citizenship Act 26 of 1970, the KwaZulu-Natal Amakhosi and Iziphakanyiswa Act 9 of 1990, and the KwaZulu-Natal Ingonyama Trust Act of 1994, to better understand the power dynamics that play out in rural areas.
This research found that rural residents have been deprived of access to safe and clean water under the apartheid and under the new democratic government. This infringes on their basic human and water rights. Furthermore, they are not even provided essential services and end up accessing services such as water from unsafe river streams and rainwater. This denial of the human right to water and to dignity is itself an indication of rural residents being treated as subjects.
It also found that the colonial and apartheid government’s indirect rule over tribal homelands created a system whereby tribal leaders were given powers to be a law unto themselves, treating rural residents as subjects with limited rights. Furthermore, the democratic government, which came to power in 1994, inherited this system of governance of traditional leadership structures without restructuring it to ensure that democratic processes also occur in rural areas. Although the new government introduced laws that govern traditional authority, these structures are not operating the way the legislation intended them to operate. This research shows how rural residents are not allowed to participate in decision-making.
Lastly, proper service provision in rural areas seems highly impossible as the situation worsens daily, with residents who were interviewed saying they preferred the apartheid government compared to the democratic government due to service delivery. The study also found that rural residents of Chanceni and Ngulani do not have experience as citizens, but they were treated as subjects by different authorities. This then created an environment whereby residents are uncertain about how to participate or demand services from those in authority and the government, if the government does not create the space for public engagement. Although the law clearly stipulates that residents are to
participate in all decisions that affect them, from the planning phase to the completion of the project, what was noted is that the government does not give rural residents an opportunity to participate in key decision making. This is evident in the absence of consultation of rural residents in the drafting of the Amajuba District Municipality and eMadlangeni Local Municipality’s Integrated Development Plans, while it does host events in urban areas, far away from rural areas.
ACRONYMS
AFRA Association for Rural Advancement
ANC African National Congress
APF Anti-Privatisation Forum
CBD Central Business District
CLLR Councillor
CLRB Communal Land Right Bill
CLRB Communal Land Rights Bill
CPA Communal Property Association
DHS Department of Human Settlements
DOL Department of Labour
EFF Economic Freedom Fighters
FBS Free Basic Services
IDP Integrated Development Plan
IFP Inkatha Freedom Party
KZN KwaZulu-Natal
LGBER Local Government Budgets and Expenditure Review
LRAD Land Restitution for Agricultural Development
MCEJO Community Environmental Justice Organisation
MEC Member of Executive Council
PHTL Provincial House of Traditional Leaders
PMS Performance Management System
RSA Republic of South Africa
SAHRC South African Human Rights Commission
SAIRR South African Institute of Race Relations
SERI Socio-Economic Right Institute
STATS SA Statistics South Africa
TLGFB Leadership and Governance Framework Bill
UN United Nations
WHO World Health Organisation
WSDP Water Service Development Plan
WUAs Water User Associations
Inkosi Chief