Shifting geographies of social inclusion and exclusion: Secondary education in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Abstract

The urgency of South Africa's political transformation provides social scientists with an opportunity to monitor an encounter between idealism and reality in post-apartheid policy-making. Education policy appears to derive from political symbolism divorced from the material realities of macroeconomic policy. The extent and nature of desegregation and redistribution on the ground are investigated in 18 secondary schools in Pietermaritzburg, supplemented by interviews in the Provincial Education Department and the Pietermaritzburg Regional Office. Considerable desegregation has occurred, especially in the state sector, but only at the upper end of the traditional racial hierarchy. Provincial resources allow minimal capital spending and limited non-salary expenditure, whilst differential fees in state schools preserve apartheid inequalities of provision. Parents of all races keenly seek the best education they can afford for their children. Radical change requires changes in...