Development issues in the Eastern Cape: a review and assessment: proceedings of a symposium organised under the auspices of the Institute of Social and Economic Research at Rhodes University and the Development Society of Southern Africa, held in Port Elizabeth on March 24, 1986

Rhodes University. Institute of Social and Economic Reseaerch; Development Society of Southern Africa

Title: Development issues in the Eastern Cape: a review and assessment: proceedings of a symposium organised under the auspices of the Institute of Social and Economic Research at Rhodes University and the Development Society of Southern Africa, held in Port Elizabeth on March 24, 1986
Title: Development Studies Working Paper, no. 25
Creator: Rhodes University. Institute of Social and Economic Reseaerch, Development Society of Southern Africa
Subject: Black people -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope -- Economic conditions -- Congresses Eastern Cape (South Africa) -- Economic policy -- Congresses
Date: 1990
Type: Book
Type: Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2340
Identifier: vital:20277
Identifier: ISBN 0868101400
Description: Conditions in the Eastern Cape are generally characterised by rising levels of African community frustration and anger and by decreasing levels of economic activity. These, in turn, have led to high and increasing unemployment and to sustained confrontation and conflict as Africans increasingly seek to satisfy legitimate aspirations in a system which has consistently denied them full and free participation in economic and political decision-making. Consumer and school boycotts, work stay-aways and mass protest are the external manifestations of deep-seated grievances because there are no other appropriate forms of community expression. The Eastern Cape has become destabilised by an escalating spiral of violence, repression and reaction, followed by more repression and further violence. Such circumstances are not conducive to sound socio-economic development and it has now become imperative to address the real causes of community antagonism. The symptoms abound and it is these that the authorities have attempted to address, without any significant success. A necessary precondition to addressing local issues is to know what they are and to understand how they affect people's lives. However, such awareness and understanding cannot be secured without communication, discussion and negotiation - and there is no doubt that too little of this takes place in the region. Organised commerce and industry and some local development agencies have made sincere efforts to engage in honest and frank deliberation with the people; but their ability to produce the goods, and to mobilise fundamental change is limited by the constraints of national government policy. In the final analysis, therefore, responsibility for development lies at the national level and a prerequisite for development requires a commitment to change; not just tinkering with the system structure, but a thorough and comprehensive shake-down of that system to introduce a new order. It was against the background of these imperatives that the Institute of Social and Economic Research at Rhodes University and the Development Society of Southern Africa organised a Symposium under the title of "Development Issues in the Eastern Cape: A Review and Assessment" which was held in Port Elizabeth on March 24 1986. The objective of the symposium was twofold: first, to provide a forum at which a range of pertinent development issues could be tentatively explored, and secondly, to provide a platform on which to build a network of on-going communication and negotiation so as to contribute towards intergroup understanding and cooperation, thereby creating an environment in which joint endeavour towards change can be facilitated. The proceedings of the Symposium are contained in this volume, the publication of which represents 'a first step in the process of establishing a forum for local communication, debate and action; a forum designed to establish the economic and political development imperatives for the Eastern Cape and to ensure that these are unequivocally conveyed to government. An essential point of departure for such a forum is that existing and prior policies and strategies have failed and that solutions cannot be found by attempting to remould a structure that is flawed. A new mould must be devised, one that incorporates a totally innovative approach to socio-economic, political and community development in the Eastern Cape.
Description: Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
Format: 96 pages, pdf
Publisher: Rhodes University, Institute of Social and Economic Research
Language: English
Relation: Development Studies Working Paper, no. 25
Rights: Rhodes University
Rights: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

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