Naledi Ramontja
The National Development Plan and other development trajectories clearly state South Africa’s ambitions to become a developmental state. But little has been done to develop the rural areas.
Rural areas remain largely marginalised, with little or no infrastructure development and high levels of pervasive poverty. For many rural people, access to necessities such as food, education, healthcare, clean running water, and sanitation is a struggle.
When people in urban areas complain about 11 hours of load shedding and fear a total collapse of the grid, some rural areas do not even have the infrastructure for electricity. More often than not, when we think of rural areas, we think of safe communities with no crime.
But, the truth is that crime is rife in rural areas. People living in rural areas are victimised at rates similar to those of their urban counterparts. With many cases going unreported and crimes swept under the carpet. You will find that a police station is 70 km away from the community, has no adequate resources, and subsequently cannot assist the community when criminal activities are reported. In such communities, the struggle to receive emergency services, social services, and other provisions has become normalised.
Lately, there has been a new trend in rural areas where schools are either permanently closed or merged with other schools. These are schools that have been operating but have been starved of State resources and are now considered unviable to operate and should be closed.
The consequence of this practice is classroom overcrowding and school dropouts, as pupils are now forced to travel and, in some cases, walk long distances to attend schools in other areas.
Parents are also affected, as they have to struggle to reach their children’s educational facilities.
The Department of Basic Education in its defence alluded that it is focusing on closing schools that are uneconomic to maintain, and schools where the quality of teaching and learning is affected, but the quality of rural education has always been poor, and questionable in rural areas.
Education has proven to be a route out of poverty and the news of schools being closed because of budgetary issues can only point to no future for the poor rural children.
In terms of opportunities, many young people in rural areas are faced with the challenge of a lack of opportunities due to a lack of infrastructure and services. Because the rural economy is reliant on agriculture and natural resource extraction, which do not offer diverse and stable employment, As a result, many young people struggle to find meaningful, sustainable jobs in the local area. Youth in rural areas should be afforded employment and opportunities to further their studies without having to relocate to urban areas. Investing in human capital is crucial to both meeting labour market demands and providing people with economic opportunities to secure their livelihoods and well-being.
Addressing rural marginalisation requires comprehensive and targeted efforts from government, organisations, and communities. This could involve investments in rural infrastructure, improving access to education and healthcare, promoting economic diversification, and empowering rural communities to participate in decision-making processes that directly affect their lives. Boosting investment in rural areas is equally important. Investment in rural areas will create millions of needed jobs as well as food security.
The ‘rural’ areas should become a pivotal part of the national development agenda, and it is time that the government place the issue of rural development at the centre of its action plan to fight extreme poverty, unemployment, and inequalities. Technological innovation and technological transfer should also be put at the centre of processes to transform rural areas. In addition, we need better approaches to designing programmes and projects to support growth and development in rural areas. The rural area has a potential for transformation. However, with current approaches, such a transformation is difficult to achieve.
* Naledi Ramontja is a Research Assistant at the Institute of Pan African Thought and Conversation
** The views expressed are not necessarily the views of Independent Media or IOL