Bridging the Divide: Can Durban’s Growth Be Sustainable and Inclusive?

I live in Durban, on the east coast of South Africa, where striking dissimilarities attempt to co-exist with one another both in culture, wealth, and development – and this is ever more evident in the rapid approach towards gated development and burgeoning coastal towns suddenly becoming national metropoles of leisure, commerce, and retirement.

Straddling these hubs of major infrastructure and industry are sprawling informal settlements clubbing with people who travel into these small cities each day, working the kind of jobs that many people need to seek a small living. Titans of development alongside parched poverty, major roadways surrounded by potholed township streets, and cultures of western modernization against tradition.

The two exist alongside one another like a separated couple; disagreeable, yet civil. Using Ballito and Umdloti as case studies, what the natural environment has exposed during recent major storms, floods, and inclement weather is the bare backbone underpinning rapid development, as Umdloti expands northwards and Ballito southwards to cater to the increased demand for traffic and housing to populate these growing cities – caught in the middle of the two is a comparatively underdeveloped area called Tongaat and La Mercy, both of which border the King Shaka International Airport.

The After-effects of Flooding Events and Tornado

After the major flooding events of 2022 and the tornado that ripped through the coastline in 2024, several bulk infrastructure works burst at the seams, washing away communities and taking roadways, homes, and lives with it, severing the road links between these communities and leaving thousands of people in desperate need of urgent help to rebuild their lives – events that were markedly infrequent or absent in the pre-developed 90s and early 2000s.

When it comes to development, we often tend to view these in a vacuum; that a cash injection into an area will naturally provide for and attract people of all backgrounds to flock in, partake, commune, and sometimes extract wealth as a by-product, but larger and more pressing factors are often ignored in pursuit of this. Umdloti had allowed for the Salta commercial development and Gold Coast residential Estate to open its doors to the public circa 2019, a marker of progress that would provide several opportunities for work, housing, and investment from national and international partners – however, the neighbouring under-developed areas such as the Pholani informal settlement in La Mercy, that provide the bulk of the labour force to build and operate within these blossoming high-income areas were ignored – no facilitation or development was headlined for their ability to get to and from these areas safely.

As a result, hundreds of the labour force are commissioned to stand on the municipal freeway alongside 100km/h traffic waiting for a taxi to make an unlawful stop on the yellow line to fetch them, risking an accident, or worse – trudge the 4- or 5-kilometre journey along the shoulder of the freeway to work, and risk getting knocked and killed. The developers had made no investment into a transport infrastructure for these settlements despite how incredibly critical it was, a matter of life or death for the chance to receive an income.

When the staggering storms of 2022 hit the coast, Umdloti paid a hefty price – uncontrolled stormwater over-burdened and exhausted the systems built by the Gold Coast developers sitting at an elevated position above the coastal town, and millions of litres of water pummelled into the residential area in an unprecedented flow, taking blocks of flats, roads and cars into the sea with it. Infrastructure was catastrophically destroyed, and La Mercy was by all indication an emergency disaster zone.

The area above Umdloti that was once covered by flora and held in place by steady planting, had been flattened and cut to make way for developers to erect multi-million Rand mansions surrounded by access-controlled fencing – a price for which the residents of Umdloti had paid dearly.

The Notion of “Commonality and Common”

The idea of commonality and common areas are arguably removed from the equation when developed areas are built catering only for those with the ability to access them, however environmental impacts are non-discriminatory, and when Municipalities allow the potential cash investment by developers to smother the town-planning scheme’s outlay for overall provision inclusive of under-developed communities, an imbalance occurs, where pressure is created on smaller poverty-riddled areas to navigate through their own overloaded infrastructure while still taking on neighbouring issues that stem from rapid construction and expansion of wealthier communities.

The Law and Regulations on the Event

Section 24 of our Constitution enshrines the right that every person has to be surrounded by an environment that is not harmful to one’s health or well-being, and to have that very environment protected for the sanctity of natural beauty, preservation and future generations to come, but this has been blatantly cast aside to make way for potential economics. 

The Ethekwini Town Planning Scheme has an active functional area plan (FAP) that covers the progressive implementation of development in conjunction with incorporating environmental sustainability surrounded by innovative approaches towards land management, but this has not been materialized as the Municipal powers bow to private developers who promise targeted profit margins within short time frames, boosting re-election potential and further investment.

It appears that one cannot merely isolate environmental issues without including socio-economic and political factors that drive development forwards, and with Durban being such a unique coastal city with multi-cultural perceptions on how land management should be prioritised, it seems pertinent that a unique solution that is inclusive of all communities and parties is needed – one that must be spearheaded and led by the authority of the Municipality and not commercial potential.

The Durban South community, as an example, has clamoured over the last 20 years for their environmental rights and health to be protected while petro-chemical and industrial plants that surround the area churn their waste into the sea and natural water course, as well as the copious amounts of toxic air pollution, culminating in thousands of cases where residents have developed illness and diseases such as cancer as a result – however government actors side more and more with the economic benefits of these conglomerates like SAPREF and Engen, and pay little to no attention to the isolated profits yet shared destruction of these areas.

Furthermore, as stated by the then Deputy Minister for Environmental Affairs, Narend Singh – fines from R5 million to R20 million for mega-developers who cross the lines of environmental law are financially insignificant for these companies and don’t solve the problem.

The idea of having communal spaces, shared resources, pools of wealth and a gateway to a multi-ethnic and shared affluence begins from the point where the unequal needs of each community are met. Without straying far from the democratic powers that fuel development and economic growth, it would be lazy social science to merely suggest that uplifting one area in wealth would automatically draw in others to participate; when massive environmental impacts are overlooked, and the grassroots needs of under-developed areas are eroded further in the same arena.

The Proposed Initiatives

The green initiatives of greater developments being implemented on the ground are admirable, to say the least, however, land-use management must be read on a deeper level than merely saving resources and energy, but on sustainable infrastructure that sets the tone for accessibility that incorporates the consistent growth of surrounding sprawling communities.

In March 2013, the Ethekwini Municipality released the FAP Scheme Recommendations for the Tongaat and Inyaninga northern suburbs, including but not exclusive to Umdloti, La Mercy and Tongaat.  The planning initiative was to create a framework on the functional planning level created by conceptual road and open space network within which development could fill in over time.

This document was to be used as a guideline and toolkit to be read against planning submissions from private developers who would inevitably rezone the grander green areas then owned by Tongaat Hulett Group into residential and multi-unit developments, including commercial developments and supporting infrastructure.

Among the various directives issued by the FAP, the policy made way for a marked cooperation between private developers and the Municipality to streamline infrastructure development, transportation planning, housing, economic development, densification and social housing, as well as strengthening public transport activity corridors.

Using the case study of Umdloti, La Mercy and Tongaat, over a decade later, these policies seem to have been mere suggestions as the fruition expected from the ongoing development since has borne little except severely damaged greater existing infrastructure, overburdened roadway networks, failed stormwater attenuation and worse so, damaged sewerage pipelines that have tainted nearby watercourses and rivers.

The Next Steps Towards a Possible Solution

In essence, the necessary steps to precaution against flood damage, effluent in riverine systems, open green spaces, and natural beauty have been overturned in favour of keeping profit margins higher than ever, effectively working backwards against the original town planning scheme.

In my experience, the hybridity that people expect to overflow into neighbouring communities results in polycrises that are most evident in environmental concerns, such as the increased sewerage load borne by the Umdloti wastewater treatment works which, together with the total collapse and destruction of the plant adjacent to the beach in 2022, resulted in highly contaminated water entering the marine environment – a problem that was carried out to sea and up the coast towards low-income areas who rely on the ocean for subsistence fishing.

In addition, the desire for increased urban improvement and upkeep in hyper-developed upper-income areas such as Ballito and Umdloti have seen Ethekwini Municipality divert more attention to these areas while neighbouring communities like La Mercy suffer from an arguably unkept and poorly maintained appearance in comparison.

It is expected that there will be a degree of disparity in rapidly urbanising contexts such as Durban, where actors build the city from below while experimenting with new methods of development, using collaborative socio-economic and political techniques to meet the unique challenges posed. The grave inaction in addressing these issues to this day, however, even in spite of the horrific weather patterns experienced, is a looming threat to the paradise-like existence Durban often markets itself out to visitors and investors as.

As I have lived most of my life in the northern suburbs of Durban, spanning Ballito to Umdloti, I have noted on several occasions (apart from the development of the Zimbali Eco Estate, where the municipal freeway was realigned and rebuilt prior to the erection of the Estate) that private developers have relegated towards intense investment into marketing and selling units off-plan to investors and homeowners, in order to facilitate a capital construction budget, tied to which are their build-by dates – meaning that the initial development begins with construction of the properties themselves, leaving infrastructure upgrades and roadway adjustments to the very last, often conducted in a rushed state to meet opening deadlines.

Notably, from the period 2015 to current, what used to be a coastal peace has been transformed into a satellite-copy of Sandton, where several large companies have based themselves and where there has been an investment into community areas such as Balwin Properties renovating the Thompson’s Bay tourist and public amenities in 2019, this type of upliftment is isolated to the area of higher-income bracket populace that make up the Ballito census.

Green spaces that have been earmarked and upgraded have been contextualized within the gated estate communities and neighbouring communities that provide the labour force for Ballito such as Shakaskraal and Tongaat suffer relentless environmental injustices with failing sewerage and stormwater systems, road networks, public transport facilities and most notably, green spaces for peace and relaxation.

The idea that all measures of community from all backgrounds regardless of status, creed or wealth is in itself a noble pursuit, but grassroots methodologies do not follow this line of thinking when it comes to expanding development. With specific regard to stormwater flow, it can be argued that infrastructure management has been, in fact, regressing backward as academic papers dating as far back as 1927 had exposed the unpredictability of storms and the potential for catastrophic damage should there not be a progressive increase in stormwater management, keeping the flow of water above the surface with culverts and not limit the carrying capacity of water within piped systems.

As environmental impacts continue to divide communities physically, we cannot be shortsighted to hallmark the opportunities that economic development provides through expanding construction in the north coast of Durban, as the social dynamics that co-exist between communities are largely misunderstood and overlooked, leading to contentious relationships between different areas.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it must be noted that communing practices that exist within the north coast of Durban are, for the most part, superficial and derive benefits only for those who have the means to have access to them.

Common areas that such as the ocean and marine environments that are de facto for the right of every individual to use for enjoyment and sustenance are suffering a trickling yet debilitating consequence of poor implementation of town-planning, engineering and management, and until the Municipal powers step up to reclaim the authority to enforce the original town-planning scheme measures and realize them for the benefit of all, the north coast will remain a prime example of the arm of power and money of community and communing.                                                                                                                                                                                  

Written By: Thrivin Naidoo

Edited by: Zaiba Abid