The Rural Immigration Effects on Urban Service Delivery in South Africa (SA)

Abstract

The current socio-economic and political problems of South Africa are rooted in the colonial apartheid era as scholars and researchers suggest through extensive research. However, there have been high levels of service delivery protests related to the government performance on the issues of service delivery to the local communities’ countrywide. Governments departments appear to be lacking much required knowledge and understanding of external factors associated with rural to urban migration such social-economic factors and other various relevant challenges, hence, local authorities are struggling to meet up with demands caused by the ever-increasing number of urban populations, which affects services delivery performance. The study was quantitative approach and used 5 Likert scale questionnaires which were distributed in the selected areas of eThekwini city. A total of 100 with 25 respondents per area, chosen areas include emhlabeni, emalandeni, ezimeleni and silver city. Whereas, qualitative aspects of the study were secondary data through extensive literature review, the study has found that indeed rural to urban migration has a negative impact on service delivery the study argue that service delivery, rural to urban migration, public participation need to be part of the government agenda holistically to improve service delivery and capacity of local authorities. This study recommends proactive urban planning and community involvement through public participation channels. The generalization of the findings of this study should be done with care.

Socio-Economic Dynamics Inhibiting Inclusive Urban Economic Development: Implications for Sustainable Urban Development in South African Cities

“…In summary, the literature on urbanization and urban development, especially the analysis described in this paper, has widely employed qualitative research approaches, with a few adopting quantitative approaches. These studies have focused on spatial dynamics such as space planning, infrastructural and structural development [20,51,53,57], social inequality and migration [6,9,13,28,66], violence and safety in urban areas [41,42,[45][46][47], and economic growth and unemployment [44,48], to mention a few. These studies, among others, illustrate the factors affecting urban economic development in South Africa as it works towards achieving sustainable urban development.…”

“…These studies, among others, illustrate the factors affecting urban economic development in South Africa as it works towards achieving sustainable urban development. Moreover, research on solutions to rapid urbanization in South Africa has focused on curbing immigration, investing in rural areas [6,9,13,28], policy development and improved governance, and spatial inclusivity [57,62,67]. Recent studies have also focused on technology and innovation [58,77,79], and on social investment [65,70,73,74] as an alternative approach to various aspects of socio-economic and urban development.…”

“…The influx of people in urban areas is exacerbated by rural-urban migration [9,28,51,60]. This is because of the 'pulling' factors such as jobs and access to services in cities, as well as 'push' factors such as poverty and unemployment in rural areas.…”

“…The need for deliberate transformative and sustainable urban planning and development in South Africa is informed by the ugly legacies of apartheid that still linger in the country, especially in the socio-economic and spatial development of rural and urban areas [5,6]. Consequently, there is growing fragmentation of rural and urban areas, causing a high rural-urban migration [4,[7][8][9][10]. Urban areas across the globe continue to experience increasing pressure from the growing urban population and its spinoffs, such as poverty, inequality, informal settlements, crime, and unemployment, to mention but a few.…”

Socio-economic Dynamics Inhibiting Inclusive Urban Economic Development: Implications for Sustainable Urban Development in South African Cities

“…The need for deliberate transformative and sustainable urban planning and development in 2 South Africa is informed by the ugly legacies of apartheid that still linger in the country, especially in the socioeconomic and spatial development of rural and urban areas [4,5]. Consequently, there is growing fragmentation of rural and urban areas causing a high rural-urban migration [3,[6][7][8][9]. Urban areas across the globe continue to experience increasing pressure from the growing urban population and its spinoffs such as poverty, inequality, informal settlements, crime, and unemployment to mention but a few.…”