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Since the early 2000s, the roll-out of the MeerKAT astronomy project and the subsequent Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project in the Carnarvon area of the northern Karoo has been remarkably rapid and well managed. This article argues that the project, and the Department of Science and Technology in South Africa, have taken on the characteristics of a 'developmental state'. This is remarkable, particularly in the context of the general problem of high-level government corruption and 'state capture'. In the process, the SKA project has also shown a significant degree of centralist direction, which has brought it into tension with the constitutional provisions for decentralised municipal leadership in developmental planning. The weakness of the relevant local and district municipalities can be ascribed to the general problems of poor financing and local leadership; in addition, the Department of Co-operative Governance, at both national and provincial levels, has made no meaningful effort to assist the municipalities in grappling with a highly sophisticated scientific project being implemented within their jurisdiction. In particular, the extensive land acquisition by SKA and its requirements for restrictions on radio-frequency interference may have extensive implications for local and regional development. The article engages with theories of a 'developmental state' in South Africa, by arguing that it is possible for a single department to adopt such a centralist modus operandi, even though the rest of the state is characterised by dysfunctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal commonage land in South Africa is currently utilised by resource-poor black and coloured farmers. This paper analyses information from two case studies - the Karoo towns of Carnarvon and Williston in the Northern Cape. By comparing data between 2009 and 2018, we show that a significant number of these commonage farmers have increased their livestock holdings. In addition, several have moved their livestock onto ‘new’ commonage farms, purchased by Government, or on land leased from white commercial farmers. We argue that the concept of ‘economic class’ needs to be reintroduced to South African development analysis. The paper compares these proto-commercial farmers with the ‘kulak’ farmers of Russia in the early twentieth century (before the Soviet regime) and the early twenty-first century (after the collapse of communism). We concur with Russian authors that the emergence of new commercial farmers may constitute a new economic class. In South Africa, the situation is of course divergent, given that a strong class of commercial farmers exists. We suggest that the commonage farming phenomenon can make a contribution to current South African land debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on regional economic development in South Africa, across provincial political jurisdictions. The article argues that remote hinterlands can be more usefully understood as forming an integrated whole, rather than functioning as the poor rural cousins of their provincial metropoles. This article considers three propositions: that key transport projects (such as airports) may unlock regional development; that this may stimulate regional spatial integration; and that this may spur the South African government to address its weak regional planning system. All three propositions are speculative, drawn from the international literature, but they contribute to an argument for greater spatial coherence in South African planning in rural regions. The argument is illustrated with reference to the Karoo region of South Africa, and the potential of a new airport to impact on regional economic dynamics. Furthermore, the article argues that such impacts will require new regional planning systems, which are currently absent from the South African political system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prospect of ‘fracking’ for shale gas in South Africa's Karoo has generated heated exchanges in public forums and in the media. This article seeks to understand why common ground in the debate has proved to be so elusive. The article divides the parties to the impasse into three camps and examines the ethical positions which seem to inform each faction's standpoint. The article finds that the tensions between the main protagonists’ positions are due to two related ethical ‘faultlines’. The first revolves around the inherent incompatibility of consequentialism with moral absolutism. The second relates to tensions between nature as an instrumental good, and an ethic that treats nature as an intrinsic good. The discussion considers the merits of cost–benefit analysis and whether, at the very least, exploration for shale gas should be permitted. The article concludes by weighing up the preconditions for a rapprochement being reached between the contending factions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper critiques Vetter's (in this issue) assertion that commercialisation of smallholder agriculture holds dangers for sustainable rangeland management. The paper argues that a range of policy options are required, including commercialisation and subsistence farming, large-scale and smallholder farming, a range of land tenure options, rural and peri-urban farming, and part-time farming. The case of municipal commonage land is useful to show the effectiveness of a flexible range of policy options regarding land ownership, farming scale and the social nature of farming. However, the key requirement, in all cases, is effective institutional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small towns are a neglected topic of study but they are gaining importance in South Africa because of rapid urbanisation. This paper discusses a case study of business development and gentrification in Aberdeen, a small town in the Eastern Cape's Karoo. Although there has been a long-term decline in Aberdeen's economy, major changes are now taking place that call for more focused development policies. The findings of a 2006 business survey in Aberdeen are presented here and integrated with findings from the international literature on small town development. The paper shows that endogenous development of a small town's economy by its business sector can lead to some local economic growth; however, it needs to be assisted by judicious government investment. Aberdeen's economy will need a stronger level of municipal guidance to exploit its strengths and overcome its limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the problem of managing municipal commonage land in the Nama Karoo, which is increasingly being used by black or coloured emergent farmers. Many of these live in the towns and have very little agricultural experience or knowledge, and some are unemployed farmworkers. The paper presents findings from a survey of emergent farmers who use municipal commonage in Philippolis in the southern Free State. It uses the sustainable livelihoods approach to suggest that environmental knowledge is a key asset for small farmers, and that suitable approaches to agricultural extension need to be adopted to promote ecological knowledge. It suggests that ecological knowledge needs to play a more prominent role in people-centred, participatory developmental approaches so as to strengthen municipal commonage management and prevent the rapid desertification of commonage land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the article by Kim Palmer and John Sender regarding agriculture. She mentions that Palmer and Sender argue that land availability will not improve the livelihoods or quality of life of poor rural households. Moreover, she presents factors to consider related to agricultural support systems which include access to agricultural resources, agricultural knowledge, and support for poor farmers.

This article explores three possible avenues at the local level for political restructuring towards non‐racialism in South Africa. These are: government‐created multi‐racial bodies (like regional services councils), locally‐initiated negotiations between representative white local authorities and popular township organisations (like the East London case in 1986), and locally‐initiated participatory planning exercises (such as Pieter‐maritzburg 2000). The conclusions are nuanced, pointing at both possibilities and shortcomings in all three cases. Regional services councils do offer avenues to white leaders for reformist political action, but their government origin and racial premises obstruct a wider political credibility. Local political initiatives can address many important political issues, yet they run the risk of being unacceptable to the central government and white local voters. Participatory planning exercises at the local level would offer opportunities to focus on less overtly politicised matters, yet to engage a broad spectrum of interest groups from communities in strategic planning. This article suggests that the latter approach offers more strategic possibilities than the two avenues which are based on representative institutions, provided that participatory planning takes full account of the delicate political context within which it is being undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]