The probable effects of the introduction of Free Settlement Areas in Johannesburg

Conclusion

This paper has attempted to show that the Group Areas Act in its present guise is very much a dead letter. The introduction of FSAs is the state's latest attempt to contain and to channel the process of residential desegregation. This Act, which in reality is no doubt little more than an inadequate attempt at crisis management, is however likely to unleash a whole new set of urban processes. These new challenges and opportunities which will confront communities, local governments, the state and urban planners, will require creative responses from all the actors in this process if the present and future problems confronting South Africa's cities are to be successfully overcome.

It is therefore essential that the state use the present period productively by making land available in order to ease the way for the eventual total repeal of the Act. The Act is therefore in reality a subordinate sideshow to access to land, which is the fundamental concern for the majority of those moving into the city.

This paper has also attempted to show that the pattern of residential desegregation in South Africa is dictated to by a whole host of specific factors which, firstly, militates against the pure repetition of the experience of other countries and cities and, secondly, is in need of very careful further investigation into the intricate processes at play in different areas and communities. There will be no overall law governing the process of residential desegregation, with any predictions being both ill informed and premature. There is therefore an urgent need for micro-studies of the dynamics of individual areas before one is able to establish any overall trend. This is a priority for further investigation.