The South African Cities Network: Towards championing the urban agenda of South Africa

Introduction

Africa’s rate of urbanisation is widely recognised as being the most rapid in the world. One recent United Nations report offers the prediction that by 2034, 50 percent of Africa’s population will be living as ‘urban’ dwellers (United Nations, 2012). For the past 50 years Africa has experienced the world’s most rapid rate of urban population growth and is likely to continue to do so for the next century (Turok, 2013). This escalating pace of urbanisation translates into mushrooming growth, both in the size and number of urban spaces. By 2020, it is predicted that Africa will host 11 mega-cities with 5 million inhabitants or more and almost 3000 cities with populations of more than 20,000 (SACN, 2012). The critical agenda of sustainability challenges for Africa requires policy attention to address several key questions around building resilient cities, local economic development, service delivery, food security, informal livelihoods and environmental change (Beall et al., 2010; Grant, 2015; Rogerson and Rogerson, 2010, 2012).

South Africa’s urban challenges are sometimes considered as distinctive and separate to those of the rest of Africa because of apartheid and its legacy of a fragmented and racially splintered urban landscape (Rogerson et al., 2014). Indeed, 20 years after the country’s democratic transition many of the challenges facing South Africa’s cities remain tainted by the apartheid past. This said, the issues that confront urban policy-makers include sustainability challenges akin to those of other fast-growing African cities. South Africa is already among the most urbanised countries in Africa. On current estimates the share of the national population living in cities is 62 percent and expected to reach 71 percent by 2020 (Turok, 2013). The United Nations estimates this urban share will expand to nearly 80% by 2050 (City Support Programme (CSP), 2014). Arguably, South Africa’s cities are the engines for national economic development as well as major hubs for enterprise development which necessarily situates urban development and management firmly on the agenda of policy makers and practitioners (Centre for Development and Enterprises (CDE), 2014; Rogerson, 2014; Rogerson et al., 2014). The country’s cities continue to face significant development challenges, despite the progress made since 1994 in expanding access to basic services. Indeed, South Africa’s cities are highly visible inequitable environments that exclude poor people from social and economic participation (CSP, 2014).

Notwithstanding that economic activity is disproportionately concentrated in the South Africa’s large urban areas and in particular its metropolitan areas it has been suggested that South Africa’s “relationship with urbanisation is complicated and ambiguous, if not outright hostile” because of government’s traditional focus on rural development (CDE, 2014). However, Turok (2013: 170) maintains that until recently the underlying approach of the national government to the space economy was broadly neutral, albeit with rural development a stated priority. This ambivalence towards the role of cities appears to be shifting. The new urban emphasis in the budget vote by National Treasury in February 2015 signals government’s explicit support for the urban agenda and for supporting metropolitan areas (Turok, 2015). The National Treasury has indicated the proposed launch of several initiatives to assist cities, in particular emphasizing the upgrade of urban infrastructure to improve how cities function (Turok, 2015). Turok (2015) identifies the unique ‘triple challenge’ that South African metropolitan areas are burdened with, namely the need to accommodate an ever-growing urban population; to transform apartheid spatial planning and to provide energy, water and other services.

With rapid rates of urbanisation and an imperative to address the challenges of urban South Africa, the need has been fuelled for policy makers and planners to gather policy-relevant information, experiences and knowledge resources on urban development in general and more specifically with an African focus. This context underpins the emergence and activities of the South African Cities Network (SACN), which is an organisation that, since 2002, has played an important role in defining and framing the urban agenda in South Africa. The objective in this article is to examine the establishment, the form, functions, role and practice of the SACN and to highlight the supportive role it has assumed in driving and championing the urban agenda in South Africa. The material draws from key stakeholder interviewers conducted with the leadership of SACN and an analysis of the policy reports and outputs generated by the organisation.

The origins and directions of SACN

The SACN represents a grouping of South African cities which was established in 2002 by the Minister for Provincial and Local Government (now called the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (DCOGTA)), in collaboration with the mayors of the country’s nine largest nine cities, namely Buffalo City – East London, Cape Town, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini – Durban, Johannesburg, Mangaung-Bloemfontein, Msunduzi-Pietermaritzburg, Nelson Mandela Bay-Port Elizabeth, and Tshwane-Pretoria and the South African Local Government Association (SALGA). The SACN is an independent company with the mandate to promote good governance and management in South African cities; analyse strategic challenges facing South African cities, particularly in the context of global economic integration and national development challenges; collect, collate, analyse, assess, disseminate and apply the experience of large city governments in a South African context; and, to promote shared-learning partnerships between different spheres of Government to support the management of South African cities (SACN, 2012a). Overall, the vision of the SACN is to be “an established network of South African cities and partners that encourages the exchange of information, experience and best practices on urban development and city management” (SACN, 2012a: 5). The SACN is not a statutory body and plays more of an advisory role to cities and is a key knowledge sharing network. It does not engage in any implementation activities in cities.

The SACN was birthed largely out of a need for policy guidance to newly formed local government structures in the early 2000s and the growing need for peer-based learning between the various municipalities (Mbanga, 2014). The White Paper on Department of Provincial and Local Government (1999) already indicated that knowledge-sharing would be an essential ingredient for conscious growth and the studying of failures and successes of the local government system (Sithole, 2014). The SACN encourages the exchange of information, experience and best practices in urban development and city management. The SACN has evolved over time from being driven out of the political need and technical administrative input required by cities during the early days of the new local government system to a network that now has lobbying and strong knowledge management capabilities. Since its inception the SACN has worked toward establishing platforms for knowledge sharing to assist cities in learning from their own experience and the experience of their peers. They have done this through interpersonal engagements and the codification of knowledge and producing knowledge products (Black Earth Consulting, 2014). Arguably, the production of the State of the Cities Report (SOCR), a knowledge management and benchmarking tool, has been one of the core outputs for the SACN over the years and one which is used to inform their strategic planning and focus areas.

In the most recent 2011–2016 strategic plan, the SACN identified their role as that of enabling South African cities’ understanding of, preparedness for, and performance in playing their respective roles in driving local and national development (SACN, 2012b). Based on this outlook, the SACN identified the following strategic priorities for the 2011–2016 period, viz., to enable cities to act with a better understanding by enhancing their supporting policy; support planning and data infrastructure; to transform the built environment function in cities, in particular by enabling effective strategies and systems for addressing spatial planning and land use, sustainable human settlements, and public transport; and to deal decisively with key vulnerabilities facing cities, in particular around the issues of natural resources, municipal finances, human capacity and socio-political stability (SACN, 2012b). The overarching goal is to have South African cities as effective drivers of local and national development, enabled by SACN activities through its activist board, focused programme and strong secretariat (SACN, 2012). This kind of visioning and goal-setting makes the SACN a key roleplayer and champion in driving South Africa’s urban agenda. In addition, the SACN has been instrumental in the spatial transformation discussions in South Africa, hosting a conference in March 2014, where key space–economy transformation issues were highlighted and in particular of the key urban challenges facing the country’s major cities. These include inter alia, settlement planning in terms of location and investment decisions by public and private sector; land ownership and land investments for development interventions that integrate the apartheid city structure; issues around different thinking around mobility and access that will include environmental and social costs of this for urban resident; and the kind of enablers needed in the urban context that will both facilitate spatial transformation of the South African cities as a longer term horizon for urban growth and change (SACN et al., 2014).

Structure, implementation and activities

According to the current CEO, Sithole Mbanga, it is essential for the SACN to stay small in terms of its structure as this can facilitate its agility and responsiveness to key urban issues (Mbanga, 2014). Organisationally, the SACN has a board comprised of mayors, and or members of the mayoral committees’ (MMC), and/or City Managers. Each member city is allocated two seats on the Board. The Board is strategic in its activities with conversations characterised by policy discussions centred around challenges facing cities rather than about administrative matters (Mbanga, 2014). The SACN itself operates with a small secretariat, which started with six people in 2002, reaching a total of 17 staff by 2015 (Karuri-Sebina, 2015). The stated aim was to have a periodic turnover of staff every five years (Mbanga, 2014). The rationale behind this was that when staff stayed for long periods of time in an organisation their innovation became stifled (Mbanga, 2014). Hence, the SACN was created and conceptualized as a ‘space for innovation’ in urban development for South Africa. This said, it is acknowledged the need exists for continuity and an institutional memory within the organisation. Over time therefore the SACN has seen the value of retaining organisational memory and capacity (Mbanga, 2014). The current CEO has been in the SACN longer than the periodic five year cycle and this is described as a strength in terms of ensuring continuity. Indeed, it has further facilitated the work of SACN because of the type of leadership the CEO provides (Karuri-Sebina, 2015). Overall the leadership of the SACN is one that can be characterised as ‘politically savvy’, a targeted response and a strong belief in what can be (re)created in the country’s cities. One additional reason for the expansion of the organisation’s secretariat was to afford opportunities for young graduates coming into the field of urban development and urban management. This intake of fresh graduates has also assisted as providing a catalyst for continued innovation as well as for managing the growth of programmes with urban matters regaining prominence on the national policy (Mbanga, 2014).

The City Managers, Mayors, Councillors and local government officials, who form the core membership of the SACN, vocalise the organisations’ role to drive their interests, not least because they pay membership fees to the organisation (Mbanga, 2014). This said, the SACN needs to look at how it functions as the local municipalities that constitute its network are markedly different in size and the types of challenges that they experience. Accordingly, the SACN necessarily has had to consider all these factors in its organisational design and in articulating an urban agenda. The development of a commonly agreed on urban agenda has become the common denominator for the local municipalities working together under the SACN umbrella (Mbanga, 2014).

During South Africa’s early years of democracy post-1994, various international agencies, such as the World Bank, USAID and DFID were eager to support the establishment of learning networks that could assist the country’s local governments. It was argued that the activities of these international agencies have influenced, to some degree, the conceptualisation of many of the SACN’s programme areas (Mbanga, 2014). Despite these influences, the SACN was conscious of not merely adapting and accepting international lessons and applying international ‘best practices’ to the South African context. The urban agenda for the SACN was structured initially around five key programme areas termed the Productive City; the Inclusive City; the Well Governed City; the Sustainable City and City Development Strategy (CDS). These programme areas aligned to the type of urban language used by the various international agencies at the time. The SACN had opted to conceptualise its programme areas using the same language (Mbanga, 2014). Nevertheless, the SACN differed from the international agencies, particularly in their approach to implementation. It was explained that one of the main differences was anchored on the fact that SACN was initiated from a political context rather than from an educational context as was the case with several international cases (Mbanga, 2014).

The SACN introduced the SOCR as a tool within which “to tell its story” and of the work undertaken by the network. The SOCR came about due to the need to reflect on the “hindsight, insight and foresight” in thinking about the progress of South African cities and municipalities (Mbanga, 2014). The first report appeared in 2004 and was mainly a descriptive narrative around the state and problems of the country’s cities. Subsequent SOCR outputs are more technical and illustrative in nature. It was explained by key stakeholders that this change in the style of reporting had been influenced by the UN Habitat’s State of Cities Reports. The SACN adjusted its reporting style in the SOCR to also reflect the unique South African political context (Mbanga, 2014). The first report in 2004 was acknowledged as a complement to the National Government 10 Year Review Report, which at the time lacked much information on the role of local governments and cities in building the country (Mbanga, 2014). The SOCR in 2004 was therefore a powerful knowledge management resource that highlighted the important but little acknowledged role of cities and local government in the South African context. In this way the SACN assured the acknowledgement of cities and their role as well as the significance of evolving an appropriate urban agenda for the country.

A particular strength of the SACN is its ability to assist cities in framing questions about the challenges they face. The SACN serves as a source of information for leadership of South Africa’s largest cities, a role which in turn enhances the decision-making ability of city leaders. Further, the SACN served also as an occasional vehicle for debate on urban matters through hosting various conferences and through its commissioning of independent research (SACN, 2012b). In South Africa’s dynamic political and legislative environment ensures that multiple influences impact on the administration of cities. The SACN has been able to identify these critical issues and to disseminate information to inform cities in learning from the experience of others and thereby to strive to efficiently use resources for building sustainable cities (SACN, 2012b). During the past 13 years the SACN has accumulated experience and considerable knowledge on how best to share and manage this information.

The SACN organises its work into five programme areas. The first is the CDS Programme in which the focus is upon cross-cutting issues with a strategic impact on long-range aspects of city management (SACN, 2012a). The second programme area is of Inclusive Cities which concentrates on the introducing new housing typologies and strategies to redress spatial inequalities and hopefully not to create new patterns of inequality (SACN, 2012a). The third programme area is the Sustainable Cities Programme that highlights the need for the capacity to plan and create cities incorporating a complex combination of finite natural resources, climate change impacts, the quality of life and cost of living in urban centres; and the financial and institutional sustainability of cities (SACN, 2012a). The fourth focus is the Well-Governed Cities Programme, where the primary attention is on governance and on developing tools and frameworks for the measurement of city performance. The final programme area is the Productive Cities Programme, where the focus is on key factors required for increased economic growth for local development and global competitiveness. The work in these five different programme areas culminates in input into the periodic SOCR that the SACN produces and which is an exercise in stock-taking of the performance, best practices and binding constraints of governance in the country’s cities (SACN, 2012a). In preparing the State of Cities Report 2006, the SACN initiated a National Urban Conference during September 2005 and this practice now continues where a conference is held to aid with the framework, content and focus of an upcoming SOCR. The theme for the upcoming 2016 SOCR is spatial transformation.

The State of South African Cities Report has become established as the franchise product of the network (SACN, 2007). Its influence has been significant in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, several other African countries are compiling parallel ‘State of Cities Reports’, having been convinced of the need to engage in critical reflections of future challenges and how these should be approached and addressed (SACN, 2007). The SACN has been recognised as a catalyst in the field in terms of this reporting, especially given the fact that the development of a SOCR now is supported by organisations such as the United Cities and Local Government of Africa (UCLGA) (SACN, 2007).

During its early years SACN initiated a series of reference groups with the mandate of agenda-determining which would then result in key research being conducted on specific urban aspects. It was planned that once the results were provided each reference group would be dismantled (Mbanga, 2014). The performance of these groups has been uneven with some being unsuccessful and others becoming permanent (Mbanga, 2014). The main reason for the success of some of the reference groups is ascribed to the level of enthusiasm of the reference group and the presence of key champions within them who were able to mobilise colleagues and emphasise the importance of sharing practices with each other. Some reference groups have invested in themselves, and hence their permanency; one example is the Water Managers Forum (Mbanga, 2014). Reference groups were meant to guide the research process and serve as a first platform for knowledge and information sharing, generation and dissemination. In addition, they functioned as a nodal point where practitioners could meet and chat about issues of professional interest. In a mid-term evaluation, the respondents noted that the reference groups have been excellent in providing technical expertise as sometimes the absence of technical expertise in-house was a drawback for the SACN (Singh, 2012). In addition it was observed that whilst SACN had been able to respond to new challenges facing cities, as the urban space policy was highly dynamic and in constant flux (Singh, 2012).

The SACN has functioned as a leader in facilitating the kinds of discussions that cities have been having over the years. The organisation has provided forms around which different thinking around cities can evolve, for example that cities are spaces for social cohesion and economic development, and that this kind of strategic thinking needs to infuse into the planning regime (SACN, 2007). According to Singh (2012), the SACN’s focus mostly has been around the issues of ‘city administration’ which was attributed to the fact that its membership is the large metropolitan cities. This said, SACN has also played a significant role in terms of engaging with a range of stakeholders involved in the development of cities, including, national and provincial government departments and the private sector. Stakeholder management and engagement are important to the urban agenda as the different groupings involved in a city often have very specific expertise and specialisations, Singh (2012) describes this as not being part of the ‘core business’ of municipalities and cities but there is a benefit derived from pooling these resources, their information and knowledge that will improve the ways of doing within cities. Singh (2012) argues that this would free up city administrations to focus on the core business for which they exist.

One theme that emerges is the relationship between SACN and the SALGA. The SACN assumes a markedly different role to that of SALGA. As an autonomous association of municipalities SALGA’s mandate derives from the national Constitution and the organisation interfaces with parliament, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), cabinet as well as provincial legislatures. SALGA’s role is inter alia: to provide advice and support through policy analysis, research and monitoring, knowledge exchange and support to their members; representation and stakeholder engagement; lobbying on behalf of local government in relation to national policies and legislation; to act as an employer body in collective bargaining on behalf of our members, capacity building and municipal human resources; strategic profiling of the image of local government locally and internationally (SALGA, 2015 www.salga.org.za). Over the years there has been improved harmonisation of the activities of SACN and SALGA with both lending greater support to the urban agenda. Nevertheless, as Singh (2012) points out in some quarters there is still confusion about the difference of the roles played by the two organisations with calls for the SACN to take a more ‘lobbying’ approach to the urban issues that it focuses on (Singh, 2012). However, while it is important to acknowledge some of the challenges that SALGA has experienced in the past, Singh (2012) contends it would be wise for the SACN, given its mandate, to ‘stick to its knitting’ and stay on the course with regard to its vital knowledge support role to South African cities. It appears that the SACN would face distinct challenges if decided to play a more lobbying role which it is argued would ‘muddy the waters’ with regard to the mandated role of SALGA, which the SACN is advised to try and avoid at all costs (Singh, 2012).

The SACN manages an average annual budget of R7-8 million (SACN, 2006). The revenue is sourced from subscriptions paid by member cities as well as from operational and programmatic grants made by the DCOGTA, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), the Cities Alliance, and international funders such DANIDA-Danish, SIDA-Swedish, GIZ-German and Swiss Partners. In absolute terms, the subscriptions have grown since 2002/03, while grant funding has been variable. This situation is because grant allocations are determined by programmes and projects, such as the SOCR, with variable delivery timeframes (SACN 2006). The SACN is reliant on its membership fees which range between R300,000 to R700,000 with the larger metropolitan cities paying the upper range fees. However, this logic no longer holds and there has been a recent call by member cities that fees be standardised in order to ensure an equal voice and equal benefit to members within the network (Karuri-Sebina, 2015).

One area of SACN operations has been to facilitate several international collaborations as a learning platform for cities. One example is collaboration with the International City/County Managers Association (ICMA), an economic development knowledge exchange programme with the City of Virginia Beach (CVB) in the United States. The knowledge exchange programme began with representatives of the City of Virginia Beach and ICMA visiting South Africa to participate in a productive cities reference group meeting which was followed by individual discussions with selected SACN cities. An outcome was the identification of areas where the South African Cities could learn from experiences of the City of Virginia Beach. Representatives of three SACN cities (Mangaung, Msunduzi and Buffalo City) visited the City of Virginia Beach and Washington DC with the American counterparts paying return visits to engage and share experiences with a range of role players. This exchange programme culminated in an LED symposium that took place held in Buffalo City in April 2006 where the lessons learnt were shared (SACN, 2006).

Beyond international collaborations, SACN functions as a key policy driver around certain specific matters such as HIV/AIDSs and the Expanded Public Works Programme. SACN conducted research on the impact of HIV/Aids and prioritised the implementation of a national strategy designed to both build capacity to manage HIV/AIDS over the long term and deliver effective educational and support resources to municipal employees (SACN, 2006). In terms of support for the South African government’s Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), the SACN established reference group meetings with the Department of Public Works and local government officials on how best to implement EPWP in a holistic manner and to achieve the intended impacts (SACN, 2006). The reference group discussions led to the development of a framework on a set of interventions that needed to be in place for successful EPWP implementation. The SACN has also been at the forefront of issues around sustainable development and what this translates into for cities considering that cities will have a significant role to play in implementing government’s National Sustainable Development Strategy. Other SACN interventions and knowledge products include sector reports on the State of City Finances and State of EPWP in cities (Singh, 2012). These publications impacted greatly on perception of the SACN as a valued thought leader in urban development. This said, given the ‘success’ of these publications there is an increasing need to create a direct impact on the practice and improvement within the cities. According to Singh (2012), despite the fact that the SACN is yet to establish how to measure the impact of its knowledge products, its audience is already using impact as a measure for assessing the knowledge generation efforts of the organisation.

A champion for urban policy

In South Africa, cities are rising on the national government agenda as indicated by the new importance attached to urban issues and an urban agenda by several national departments. Prominent examples include the DCOGTA (2009, 2014), Local Government turnaround strategy and ‘Back to Basics’ Programme and the establishment of several units at national government level to deal with urban matters (Karuri-Sebina, 2015). Among these national government city support initiatives are the Cities Support Programme of National Treasury, which has an inter-government relations focus, is funded by the World Bank and targeted to empower cities; the Neighbourhood Development Programme (NDPG) and the Government Technical Advisory Unit, which too has a dedicated urban focus (National Treasury, 2011). The DCOGTA leads the policy discussions in national government on the development of Integrated Urban Development Framework (IUDF). The IUDF was approved in 2014 and the draft is currently out for public consultation. The IUDF addresses the need outlined in the President’s State of the Nation Address in 2012, where it was noted that National and Provincial governments need to work with cities around spatial transformation and interrogate the linkages between the ‘rural’ and the ‘urban’. It has become increasingly important to understand the nuances of rural–urban interdependences because in this way, South African cities can also become a (part of the) solution to rural development (SACN, 2007). The SACN has always been at the forefront of leading discussions and knowledge development around such issues.

Prior to the emergence of the IUDF, the SACN positively pushed for adoption of an earlier Urban Development policy, a document which was disregarded by role-players in government as rural development emerged as a key priority for national government from 2009. In 2012, at the World Urban Forum in Naples, the SACN took the opportunity to facilitate discussions between national departments such as COGTA, the National Treasury through the Cities Support Programme and funders (such as GIZ) to reinstate the importance of urban issues on the table of national government. Achieving political buy-in was key for this urban agenda to surface as a priority. The SACN leadership through its political astuteness, and in understanding the political landscape and the growing urban debates, was able to successfully lobby key players to a point where the IUDF is now out for public consultation and will soon serve before Cabinet as an official urban policy with an implementation plan (Karuri-Sebina, 2015). The IUDF deals with issues of inclusive cities, good governance, spatial transformation and economic growth. This closely mirrors the programme areas that the SACN has been working on for the past decade. The IUDF addresses issues such as access, use and control of land; ‘brownfield versus greenfield developments, alignment between national, provincial and local government and the impact of their work on urban spaces; a shift from housing to human settlements and the urban edge in cities (DCOGTA, 2014). The SACN facilitated critical discussions with stakeholders around the IUDF at its recent conference held in March 2015 on the state of cities in preparation for the next SOCR.

Conclusion

Overall, it must be concluded that in its 13 years of operations SACN has evolved in focus, matured as an organisation in the policy landscape and critically it has been instrumental in driving and influencing the urban agenda in South Africa. Since its inception, this small information and knowledge management organisation has been at the forefront of many issues impacting on urban spaces in South Africa. There is consensus that the SACN has performed positively in fulfilling a role of knowledge generation and knowledge sharing (Singh, 2012). With this success certain stakeholders have started a conversation for the SACN to consider increasing the scope of its work to the extent that it becomes the ‘flag-bearer’ for the country’s cities (Singh, 2012). Such a lobbying and advocacy role on behalf of cities would be a risk for the SACN as it would lead to confusion in terms of the role it performs in relation to that of SALGA (Singh, 2012).

As the SACN embarks on its next five year cycle of operations it has to reflect on key questions around its role, function and form. The SACN is about to undergo a review to look at the organisation’s tacit value, its impact upon the functioning of local government in South Africa and whether the country’s cities have become stronger over the years of its operations (Karuri-Sebina, 2015). The SACN is looking at performance measures that will distinguish it as a thought-leader and research management focused organisation. Indicators such as citations of its publications, Board value-add, cities asking for assistance, championed policy directions, national departments looking at urban development content are a few of the indicators they wish to be evaluated upon (Karuri-Sebina, 2015). In the final analysis whilst SACN has achieved much in keeping cities informed on emerging urban trends and policy it is acknowledged that its impact on action within cities is not yet clear (SACN, 2009). This said, it can be argued the organisation has grown in influence to the extent that it is no longer only responding to issues in the local government sphere, but now influencing and setting the urban policy agenda in South Africa.