Opinion pieces
From time to time the Alexandra Renewal Project receives comment
on its progress, some positive and some negative. The following
opinions come from three people with first hand knowledge of different
aspects of this multi-faceted undertaking and who believe that it's on
track:
* Prof. Dan Smit is a development consultant who has
been active in development for nearly 30 years. He has led the
implementation of several major development initiatives both in
South Africa and abroad. He was a Professor of Architecture and
Allied disciplines at the University of KZN for many years and most
recently spent five years with the Institute for Social Studies in
The Hague.
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The Star:
Alex residents know the truth
"The Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) is in shambles and no amount
of spin-doctoring or opportunistic swiping at its many critics can
hide this."
This is the lead-in for an article by Dale T McKinley, which was published
on 8 December 2005, but which unfortunately is only available
online to newspaper subscribers. |
Dale McKinley's December 8 2005 article ‘Alex Residents know the
truth” is a highly manipulative piece of journalism. The manipulation
is very apparent in the photograph placed centre stage in the article.
The photograph, significantly, is called “real picture” and shows two
kids on a trash heap. The annotation under the photograph reads “the
highly praised Alexandra Urban Renewal Project has not benefited these
kids”. Clearly the picture is meant to represent the real situation in
Alex. This is cynical manipulation and it is so much hogwash. I felt
particularly manipulated by this picture because I had recently been
to see what in my view was a “world class” and very large child play
facility that has been built for children on the banks of the Jukskei
river. Here there were perhaps a thousand children thoroughly enjoying
an innovative water facility, or trying their luck at rock-climbing,
or using the many other outstanding facilities available here.
Moreover the park is artistically and architecturally stunning -
sporting wonderful sculptures and other artworks by Alex residents.
And all of the work in producing the park has been done by Alex
residents. So why didn’t the Star and McKinley show us a picture of
this? Moreover it is worth adding that I recently saw the results of a
social survey undertaken in Alex. This survey reveals that 92% of the
youth in Alex feel that the ARP has had a positive impact on their
lives. And just for the record, when I visited the park I also took a
tour through Alex and was struck by the fact that I saw very little
litter - certainly much much less that I had seen when I last visited
Alex---nearly four years ago.
I should make it clear that I am not writing this response in
defense of the Alex project, or of the ANC, or of CoJ or of the
Province. I have had nothing to do with this project and I have no
mandate to speak for or on its behalf - except as a citizen. Nor am I
a so-called ANC hack or a spin-doctor. I do vote for the ANC but I am
not active in its political structures and I am at times highly
critical of directions that it takes. Above all else I am writing this
because I think that McKinley’s article is unfair. It is also
potentially very damaging. The future of Alex depends in large part on
the development of sufficient confidence in it to promote au inflow of
investment. Things do not have to be perfect in Alex, but the public
and the investment community do need to know that things are moving in
a positive direction. My reading of Julian Baskin's article was that
he was being honest about the fact that things had moved too slowly in
Alex (Baskin himself -it should be noted---has been in the Alex job
less than a year). What he was trying to do was indicate that much has
been achieved and things are indeed beginning to move in the right
direction. To call him a liar, as McKinley does, is almost actionably
reckless.
The way in which McKinley is presented and the way he presents
himself is pernicious. He is presented as “an independent political
and economic analyst” who is close to the community in Alex. Moreover
he writes the article as if he is technocrat of urban development and
the public interest. For example he goes on at length about the
original “Urban Development Framework” as if he--Dr Dale
McKinley--knows for sure that if the plan was in fact pursued
everything would have been different. But perhaps we should ask
McKinley what qualifies him to make these claims about development
plans. Perhaps we should ask him what experience he has had in urban
development projects. It seems from some of his comments as if has an
axe to grind to with the ANC. Perhaps we should ask him if there is a
political agenda underpinning his article and his particular “take” on
Alex. And we should ask him if has any idea how hugely difficult it is
to make progress in developing an area as complex as Alex. Perhaps we
should ask him if he has ever implemented anything at all? I don’t
know if he has or not. But his article resonates with the kind of
naiveté that suggests that he hasn’t.
For me an obvious example of this naiveté is McKinley’s claim that the
ARP is a classic example of how not to go about a state-led programme
of basic service delivery and infrastructural upgrading in a poor
community. He says that as if he knows, as if he is qualified to
comment. I thought he might say that the ARP was too physical in its
conception - too infrastructure driven and that it needed to focus
much more on local economic development and social development. This
might have been a valid critique. Instead he goes on to champion a
plan which in my assessment is extraordinarily physical in its
conception. In my view the original plan that McKinley seems to swear
by conjures up images of the kind of physical determinism that early
utopian physical planning was associated with and which has long since
been left behind by the development community.
And McKinley is just silly when he asks, “what good is the delivery
of another police station, a better sports stadium, and a CCTV System
if most Alex residents don’t have the most basic necessities of life”.
To think for example that security is irrelevant to the basic needs of
the Alex resident is to be totally out of touch. It may come as a
surprise to McKinley, but crime rates in poor areas are often ten
times higher than in rich areas. And this makes life very hard for
poor people. It should also be noted that in my own experience in
areas like Alex (e.g. Cato Manor in Durban) dealing with criminality
eventually became a sine qua non for any kind of development
progress. So unlike McKinley I am impressed when I hear that the
construction and staffing of a state-of-the-art police station has
occurred in Alex. And I am impressed and consider it highly relevant
when I am told that crime has been reduced in Alex by nearly 40%. When
I visited Alex 5 years ago, the sense of siege by crime was almost
palpable. When I returned a few days ago, the impression I got was
that citizens had won back the streets. Good for them. And good for
those who have helped make it happen.
McKinley goes on at length about the R600 million that has been spent
in Alex-apparently with little to show for it. Perhaps McKinley can
tell us whether he thinks that this is a lot or a little in relation
to the size of the challenge at hand? What does McKinley think can be
realistically achieved for this kind of money? Does he expect that
Alex will look like Hyde Park when R600 million is spent? R600 million
is indeed a lot of money - certainly enough to make an impact - but
way short of what is ultimately needed to turn it around decisively
(and we need to be very clear about defining this - its not Hyde Park-
its about achieving an almost irreversible momentum towards ongoing
improvement). The experience of the urban development nodes in South
Africa is that even when government tries to concentrate its resources
in a few areas the amount of capital required is just so large that
the state’s efforts seem to be miniscule. Increasingly there is
recognition that there will have to be much greater reliance on
private sector investment in future. Government money will have to be
used to create conditions to leverage in private sector capital at
scale. But McKinley is right to demand accountability on the part of
the authorities regarding the money that has been spent. And they
should do so. Given the infrastructural investment I was shown - I
have no doubt that they will have little difficulty doing so. And
there is of course a serious debate (that needs to be embarked on)
about the relationship between outputs and outcomes. In layman’s terms
this is about the relationship between what you choose to spend your
money on and whether this achieves the “vision” you had of what such
expenditure would achieve.
Perspective is also required on two other issues. The first is
development and time. Whether or not the Alex project has been a
success can't be evaluated over a few years. Development processes
(particularly urban renewal initiatives at scale) unfold over long
periods of time - and 20 years is a much more realistic time frame for
making an assessment. Of course in the meantime we can check whether
measurable progress is being made. We can question whether current
outputs are likely to achieve desired outcomes. It is desirable and in
the public interest that we do so. But we can’t expect an instant fix.
And we need to be clear about what the fix looks like and how we
measure progress towards achieving it.
The second area in which we need perspective is on the issue of how
we are doing in South Africa versus elsewhere in the developing world.
In the last five years I worked on many development projects in vastly
different contexts. I worked in Russia, in Vietnam, in Mozambique, in
the Middle East, in India, in Korea and in South America. Nowhere did
I see the kind of development ambition and degree of state
interventionism that I see (and have seen) in South Africa. This
country is right up there when it comes to identifying places that
have the balls and the commitment to trying to turn places like Alex
around.
On the basis of my recent visit to Alex and what I was shown, it is
fair to say that much has been achieved in Alex. It is I think also
fair to say that more could have been achieved. Most importantly
however I am quite sure that it is fair to say that things are on an
upward curve - that momentum is building. And in Julian Baskin Alex
has a driver who is highly respected in development. He delivered
measurable results in the almost hopeless circumstances of the shack
settlements of Bangladesh. He has delivered results in war ravaged
Angola. He has worked in Mozambique and delivered on many development
projects there. For several years he built more than 10000 houses a
year in Durban. He has a real development track record and one which
shows real commitment to the poor. I would bet on Baskin in Alex.
TO: EDITOR
FROM: ADF Secretary
SUBJECT: Response to the article titled ‘Alex residents know the
truth’
DATE: 08-12-05
The Editor,
This letter is the response to the article titled “Alex residents
know the truth,” which was published in your paper on the 08-12-05. I
agree with the author of the article, indeed Alex residents know the
truth. But unfortunately we are referring to different ‘Alex
residents’, I refer to people living in squatter settlements in Ulundi,
Mandela, behind Helen Joseph, along Juskei tributaries, old council
houses, backyards, Far Eastbank, Eastbank, Tsutsumani etc, I can count
many areas that are represented in the ADF monthly meetings which
deals with development issues.
But the author when he is referring to Alex people, he refers to
people who illegally invaded factories in Marlboro, Wynberg and Far
Eastbank flats. These people invaded these places as a way of jumping
the queue, so that when development has to take place in those areas
that they have occupied, they have to be given an alternative
accommodation which in most cases is a proper housing. This trend has
been identified by the people of Alex and they are putting government
under pressure not to accommodate these people anymore at the expense
of law abiding citizens. Now that their tricks are backfiring, they
are now importing an expert in organising anarchy, Dr Dale McKinley.
Who is Dr McKinley? This is the same guy that was expelled from SACP
together with Trevor Ngwane for being ill-discipline, I am not
surprised that they are in communication with a bunch of anarchist in
Alexandra who think they will jump all honest residents of Alex who
have been on the waiting lists as far back as 1992, by resorting to
anarchy to find their way into the new houses. I challenge Dr McKinley
to a public debate in Alexandra in front of the people that he is
claiming to represent, and I think he will not have a problem with
that because he is sure of the support he have in Alexandra. This
challenge will also benefit his party APF since it is campaigning for
local government election in Alex. They have posters all over
Alexandra and they are making noise under the disguise of being
concern when they are infact campaigning. The APF must tell the people
about the alternative way of consultation other than the one that is
applied by ARP, they must not lie and say people are not consulted,
and Dale must ask Makgoka Lekganyane( their election candidate) to
tell him the name of the person who refused him participation in ADF
because he has been attending ADF meeting until he decided to stand as
ward councillor and felt that the ADF ground is no longer big enough
for his mission and went to every media houses in the country using
ARP as his campaigning tool. Dale must also ask Gideon Nomnanzi and
Dandala some of the APF leaders who have been participating in the ADF
that Dale is referring to as the ‘front for the political and business
aspirations of ANC councillors’.
Dr Dale McKinley, out of your
desperation you have decided to reduce yourself into a liar and your
mind seems to be selective, Frankenwald development is going ahead, Limbro Park, Allendale next to the new
cemetery, is being negotiated
for development, Marlboro where your supporters invaded, will be
developed as soon as you remove them out of those factories. There are
many other pieces of land identified around neighbouring suburbs. The
answer to your concern that we intend to develop Alexandra within its
existing boundaries, is no, we are going to utilise land that is
available around Alexandra. To conclude my letter to you Dr McKinley,
I will advise you to get facts about this project from relevant people
and analyse from facts rather than making your analysis based on wrong
information that you get from your team that seems to live in a
different Alexandra from the one I live in. Remember that we can speak
for ourself, stop thinking that because you are white therefore you
can speak for us better than ourselves, we do not need a white Messiah
to save us, we are capable of engaging government on issues that will
affect us, that is why I talk a lot about Alex but not about Ferndale
or Yeoville because that is where I was born. You are being referred
to as independent analyst when you work openly with APF (a political
party) only in Alexandra where there are more than 200 organisations.
There is nothing independent about you.
Thank you Editor for this opportunity.
Yours truly,
Linda Memela (ADF Secretary)
Attn: The Editor
Subject: ARP is changing Alexandra
Date: 13 December 2005
Dear Sir
There has been much criticism of the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP)
in recent weeks. As the head of the Pan Africa Development Co. (PADC),
a 100% BEE professional consortium, I must speak out in defence of the
ARP.
This consortium was appointed by the previous ARP management team in
2003 to develop three specific facilities – a taxi rank, a taxi
holding facility and a shopping centre in Alexandra. Now at last,
under the ARP’s dynamic new leadership, these projects are finally
underway.
The words “measurable impact” have been bandied about in connection
with the ARP as a whole. I only speak on the PADC projects, but I can
assure you that their positive impact on the lives of the Alex
community will be visible and undeniable.
The three projects combined will form an integrated community
destination, something that has never before existed in Alexandra.
With a new taxi rank facilitating the in- and outbound movement of
1500 taxis, a taxi holding facility to reduce the chronic congestion
of Alex roads and sidewalks, and a new shopping centre, these projects
will provide an orderly focal point and hub of essential services for
the people of Alex.
With firm commitments already negotiated with a number of national
corporates, we will be providing the community with access to quality
retailers and services providers such as banks and health care
practitioners. The people of Alexandra will no longer have to travel
out of their own area to enjoy amenities that are taken for granted in
other neighbourhoods. We are bringing these services to the people.
With 70% occupancy already in place to ensure sustainability, we have
reserved 30% for Alex entrepreneurs, who will benefit from the
footfall attracted by well-known corporate names.
While the need for an organised transport hub in Alexandra is
undeniable, this versatile new development goes way beyond that. It
will be a destination within itself, giving the community direct
access to a range of shops and services not previously available in
Alex. With an open public square for live entertainment the centre
will also cater for the community’s leisure interests in a secure
environment, with 24 hour electronic surveillance.
These projects, coupled with other ARP initiatives such as the
upgrading of infrastructure, inevitably are going to impact hugely,
positively and very directly on the lives of the ordinary people of
Alexandra.
Yours sincerely
Tebogo Mogashoa
Pan African Development Co. |
