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Three broad overlapping stages were envisaged as comprising
the overall development process in Cato Manor: (i) a planning stage to
establish the pre-conditions for development and lay the foundations for
delivery; (ii) a public investment stage to develop the physical and social
infrastructure; and (iii) a private investment and capital formation stage.
The third stage has been expanded to include an emphasis on Local Economic
Development (LED) and social development. (See graph below).
Phase I
Securing the fundamentals for development (1994-1997)
In its first three years of operation the CMDA focused
on positioning the CMDP for intensive delivery and implementation. By
1997, plans and policies had been formulated and technical and social
support secured. Land was effectively assembled, statutory and legal constraints
were cleared, land invasions had been successfully halted and improved
law and order had created an environment conducive to large-scale delivery.
In addition, major public investment had been mobilised and directed into
projects, sound working relations amongst key partners had been established,
roles had been clarified and manpower mobilised and trained to drive the
development initiatives forward.
Spatial Planning
The spatial planning of Cato Manor has actively sought
to promote the ideals of ‘integration' and ‘compact cities'.
The key structuring elements of the spatial framework are two activity
corridors, Bellair and Booth Roads, a mixed use Central Node located at
the confluence of these two corridors, an open space system and a major
transport grid. Residential precincts, as well as social, recreational
and other facilities, are located within the transport grid.
Road infrastructure has largely been developed in line with
the original policy framework. The upgrades of Francois Road and Booth
Road East have resulted in more traffic moving through Cato Manor, notably
along Spine, Booth and Francois Roads. In this way, the spatial integration
of Cato Manor into the rest of the city is unfolding.
The development of accessible, high intensity activity corridors,
housing a mixture of economic and other activities at ground level and
residential space above, was envisaged for Bellair and Booth Roads. Their
expected development has not yet transpired, highlighting the need for
private sector involvement in the commercial and residential opportunities
along these routes. Public housing policy and the limited buying power
of residents have further impeded development of these two activity spines.
Open space corridors, linked to the Durban Metropolitan
Open Space System (D’MOSS), take up around half of the project area.
Planning has had to balance a concern with conservation and sustainable
development with the need to uplift the quality of life in Cato Manor.
New land use legislation is expected to facilitate more
effective land use management and building control in Cato Manor, and
the rest of the city, in the future.
The holistic development approach, which considers
social, economic and environmental issues during planning and implementation,
has impacts that will only be realised in the medium to long-term. In
the meantime, greater levels of private sector investment need to be attracted
to the area.
Public Safety
Lawlessness and crime, exacerbated by volatile social
and political dynamics, seriously threatened to undermine development
in the CMDP’s early years. Community safety initiatives, more effective
policing, infrastructure development and the creation of economic opportunities
have all contributed to an overall reduction of crime in Cato Manor. A
2000 crime audit found that crime rates for a number of crime types in
Cato Manor largely mirrored those for the rest of Durban, while murder
and assault were lower in Cato Manor than in the rest of Durban.
Land Claims
A series of challenges around land issues were successfully
dealt with between 1993 and 1997 including substantial achievements in
combating land invasions and resolving matters associated with the restoration
of land rights. In 1994 a Commission on Restitution of Land Rights and
a Land Claims Court were established to investigate and address the claims
of people dispossessed of land under apartheid. A total of 5 722 land
claims were received by the Commission in respect of properties in Cato
Manor. Due to the time that would have been needed to validate and settle
this volume of claims, a strategy aimed at addressing legitimate claims,
whilst allowing the development to proceed, had to be developed. Accordingly,
the CMDA placed an application before the Land Claims Court in terms of
Section 34 of the Restitution of Land Rights Act No. 22 of 1994, requesting,
in the interests of the holistic and sustainable development of Cato Manor,
that land not be restored to individual claimants and that other forms
of redress such as alternative land or financial compensation be used.
Over 400 former residents opposed the Application. Following a protracted
court case and months of negotiations, the historic Land Claims Settlement
Agreement, the first of its kind in South Africa, was signed in May 1997,
enabling the development to proceed whilst claims were being resolved.
Restitution options for claimants included financial compensation, alternative
land in Cato Manor and, where feasible, restoration of the original land
holding.
The position at the end of 2002 in respect of Cato Manor
land claims which have been processed in terms of the Section 34 Settlement
Agreement is as follows:
- 302 claims were settled on the basis of ‘financial
compensation’.
- 28 claims were settled on the basis that the claimants
would be offered alternative land.
- 22 claims were settled on the basis that the properties
concerned are ‘restorable’.
- 70 claims included properties which are situated outside
the Section 34 boundary and were accordingly not processed any further
in terms of the Agreement.
- Three claims were rejected by the Regional Land Claims
Commission.
- Seven claims were withdrawn by the claimants.
- 13 claims which proceeded to Arbitration were found to
be ‘not feasible to restore’ by the Arbitration Panel.
Phase II
Delivery at scale (1997-2002)
Large-scale delivery began in earnest from 1997 and
the massive public investment in the area became increasingly evident
in the rapid transformation of Cato Manor’s physical landscape. The
CMDP’s main thrust at that time was on eliminating backlogs in housing
and engineeering and social infrastructure. Rapid progress on this front
allowed the emphasis to shift towards programmes directly addressing community
and local economic development issues. An impressive rate of delivery,
encompassing a wide range of projects, took place amid a series of threats
and challenges - some originating in factors external to the CMDP and
others from tensions within Cato Manor and its structures - to which the
CMDA had to respond imaginatively and swiftly. Details of delivery are
contained on pages 10-22 of this report.
The Mid-Term Review
Cato Manor is one of the largest of the EU’s South
African development projects. In 2000, as part of its funding agreement
with the South African government, the EU carried out a Mid-Term Review,
undertaken by a team of independent reviewers, in order to compare mid-term
results with the CMDP’s initial objectives. The overall conclusion
of the Review team was that the CMDP had been highly successful. The Review
gave strong support to the CMDP and provided guidance on its institutional
strengthening and positioning. It also had the effect of bench-marking
the CMDP in national and international contexts. Recommendations focussed
on the sustainability and replicability of the CMDP and highlighted the
vital need to sustain economic projects and to document the lessons learned
so that they can be applied in other urban development projects.
Phase III
Private investment and capital formation (2002 and
beyond)
The CMDP is moving towards the end of the second phase
of public investment and large-scale delivery. By the end of 2002, private
investment in the form of housing and commercial/ industrial development
was gathering momentum. Phase three of the project will focus on four
primary strategic thrusts:
- Social Development
- Local Economic and Human Resource Development
- Escalation of Private Sector Investment
- Completion of the Housing Programme
Research and Documentation Project
Launched in March 2002, a three-phased Research and
Documentation Project will contribute to the replicability of the CMDP
and facilitate dissemination of the CMDP experience. The political and
developmental history of the CMDA will be recounted, core lessons and
the circumstances leading to particular outcomes will be identified and
analysed, and examples of Best Practice will be highlighted. The CMDP’s
achievements in turning urban development problems into solutions, managing
complex, large-scale development projects, and maintaining progress within
a continuously shifting political and institutional environment are of
great relevance, but of equal importance is the establishment of a model
for integrated, area-based urban development targeted at the poor. The
main target audiences of this project are urban development students and
practitioners in the public, private and NGO sectors, locally and internationally.
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