Industrial decentralisation, Bantustan policy, and the control of labour in South Africa

Abstract

During the last two decades, industrial decentralisation and growth centre policies have been widely applied throughout the world. In this paper the authors describe a rather distinct application of those policies, namely that directed to facilitating the control of labour in South Africa. We also assess the extent to which the policies have "succeeded" and can succeed. Success cannot be judged in terms of criteria that may be used when evaluating decentralisation policies elsewhere in the world. In South Africa, such policies have been explicitly designed to further the system of apartheid and thereby the control of labour. Their success or failure lies in the extent to which they are able to do that. We have stressed how the recent emphasis on industrial decentralisation reflects the current and lasting crisis in Bantustan policy (2).