Dondo Mogajane’s summary of the Treasury’s thinking concerning metropolitan areas in SA is encouraging in the sense that the government has a purposeful view of the significance of, and problems with, urbanisation (Integrate townships with growth centres, April 23). A recent column by Neva Makgetla covered similar ground with more specifics (SA must cater for new settlement patterns around cities, March 13). The reality is that the government has been fully aware of the issues Mogajane raises for the past 40 years or more. As far back as the early 1980s, progressive thinking, notably at the University of Cape Town Planning School under professors Roelof Uytenbogaart and Dave Dewar, was analysing and actively promoting the integration of townships into the mainstream of adjacent city economies. They highlighted the extraordinary injustice of locating poorly paid working people furthest from job, cultural, educational and social opportunities, with poor transport. They illustrated the...
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