Rural Development Strategy

1. Introduction

1.1 The Purpose of this Rural Development Strategy

Policies on aspects of rural development are being drawn up by different departments of government. These will not be repeated here. Instead, this paper describes the instruments for more efficient, speedy and accountable rural development, where priorities have been set by rural people.

Rural development is a provincial competence in the transitional Constitution. However, there are strong economic and ethical arguments for a major investment programme in infrastructure and social services in rural areas. Rural development is, therefore, one of the main objectives of the RDP, for it is a major plank in the attack on poverty. Successful rural development will be the outcome of the joint actions of rural people, their local governments and many provincial and national agencies. This document will therefore be about how rural communities can access and use resources, including government funds and those that can be leveraged by government funds.

To do this well, rural people need good information, increased capacity to evaluate, and access to planning, implementation and monitoring support. To support these efforts, rural people have a right to demand assistance from their government. We set out to clarify the role of government, what assistance exists, and how it can be obtained by people in rural areas. There is a general lack of clarity on these issues, but there is also a diversity of opinion that is healthy. This document sets out a framework for implementing rural development and describes the rules for accessing state support.

1.2 The Definition of Rural Areas

If potential subsidies or institutional arrangements, such as the housing subsidy and the proposed land reform Settlement Grant, or the type of local authority, differ between 'urban' and 'rural' areas, a legal definition is required. A formal definition is also required to ensure consistency in data used by the different actors in rural areas. This issue will be given serious attention under the National Information Project. However, historical complexities, cultural perceptions and modem needs for service delivery, cannot easily be simplified into a definition that suits South African purposes.

As an interim measure, we argue for a continuum of population sizes and densities that affect service provision. Rural areas, then, are those areas that have the lowest level of services, and the greatest average distance to the nearest service points. They include large scale farming areas, much - but not all - of the ex-bantustan areas, and small municipalities with little potential to raise taxes sufficient to meet the costs of services. Peri-urban squatter camps, being tied to the economies of contiguous urban areas, do not count as rural, except in the context of sometimes being part of rural municipalities.

1.3 The Goals of Rural Development

Goals of rural development Some major goals of rural development can then be defined as: Helping rural people set the priorities for development in their communities, and supporting their access to government non-government funding in promoting local economic development; Creating greater equality in resource use in the rural areas, especially land, through better security of tenure, restitution and reform programmes, and farmer support to all producers water, through extension of services, extension of rights, and charges in the Water Act financial services, for production inputs, infrastructure development, and access to land, through extension of services, and through appropriate policy development following the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Provision of Rural Financial Services management, through training and capacity building. Increasing access to services through the provision of physical infrastructure and social services such as water and sanitation, transport, health services, and schooling; Increasing farm and non-farm production in poor rural areas, and increasing the incomes of poor rural men and women; Improving the spatial economy of rural South Africa, including through coordination ans co-operation with the southern African region; Ensuring the safety and security of rural people.

1.4 Strategies for Rural Development

• We will create the structures of local government and local coordination that will allow rural people to set the local development agenda, influence development in the district and province, influence the infrastructure investment programme and maintain the assets created, and access and control service delivery.
• We will use the states commitment to rural infrastructure development and the improvement of rural services as the spur to developing local government through national and provincial departments' insistence on involving communities in planning and managing projects and their budgets, and maintaining the assets created.
• We will use the capacity building programmes that are available through various government departments and the Transitional National Development Trust to assist local government and community organisations in the development process.
• We will create access to information for planning and implementing development projects and programmes at local level. This will allow communities to set priorities, measure progress and ensure that they meet the requirements of government programming.
• We will appoint Community Development Facilitators with skills in mediation, participation, facilitation, project management, bookkeeping, and in gender issues to be employed by rural councils. They will be responsible for carrying out the state's commitment to local level facilitation and meditation, and to bringing the concerns of the poorest, less organised groups in the community on to the policy agenda.
• We will ensure fair and equitable access to social welfare, especially for those who have rights to pensions, but have so far not obtained access to the system.

A vision for the next twenty five years By the year 2020 in the South African countryside, we would like to see: Freedom from poverty Full and productive employment that enriches the lives of rural people. A more diverse agriculture, with farms of many sizes providing incomes (or part incomes) to many more people. More diverse commercial and service sectors in country towns and the countryside, and greater integration between towns and the rural areas, especially on market days. Much greater access by rural people to government support and information, and to commercial services, with a more logical spatial network of towns, services, roads and transport systems. Close availability to water and sanitation and to fuel sources, giving everyone more time and more health for economic productivity. Local government structures to which everyone has easy access, and within which women play an equal and active role. Close links of local government with organs of civil society and business through which are expressed the needs and priorities of different groups of rural people. Dignity, safety, and security of access for all, including women, to useful employment, housing, and land, with people able to exercise control over their society, community and personal lives, and to plan for the future. Fewer, healthier, safe, well-nourished children, with access to well-resourced schools. A healthy and productive environment capable of sustaining the biological components upon which the many agricultural, social and cultural activities depend.