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| Title: | Racism and space: the endeavour to remove Reagile township |
| Author: | Morris, Alan |
| Year: | 1991 |
| Periodical: | Urban Forum |
| Volume: | 2 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Pages: | 45-61 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | South Africa |
| Subjects: | segregation townships |
| External link: | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF03036678 |
| Abstract: | In a small township called Reagile, adjoining the white town of Koster, 170 km west of Johannesburg, South Africa, a long struggle against the removal to a new township, a mere 700 metres up the road, has recently played itself out. A central element in the plans of most white-controlled local authorities and of the central government, especially since 1948, has been to situate black and white residential areas as far apart as possible. This paper examines the history of the local Koster government's efforts and the struggle of Reagile's residents to resist removal. The author argues that to explain the white council's desire to remove the township one ultimately has to rely on race and, possibly overlapping with this, class attitudes. In the second half of the 1980s the methods employed by local authorities and the central State to undermine the resistance of those residents living in townships earmarked for removal became more sophisticated. The emphasis shifted to persuading residents to move rather than using brutal force. Inducements to move included, amongst others, the availability of cheap housing in the new area, the payment of compensation, constant intimidation, and a freeze on maintenance and renovation. In conclusion, attention is paid to the role of the Koster Residents' Association (KRA) in the fight against removal. Bibliogr. |