'Welbedacht is a beautiful place': Community insights on placemaking and social transformation in a state resettlement programme in eThekwini, Durban, South Africa.

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Welbedacht East (Welbedacht hereafter), situated in the margins of Durban's peripheral south, was a resettlement area for one of eThekwini Municipality's largest slum clearance projects in history. With long work commutes, few income opportunities, and minimal state-provided social facilities, the project is considered to be badly located (Sokhela 2006). The authors entered Welbedacht to profile this almost forgotten space, documenting its emergent practices of community care, integration, and resilience. Initiated after the July 2021 social unrest in KwaZulu Natal, this research explores the impact of the rioting in a racially and culturally diverse township. As engaged scholars, we sought first-hand knowledge of Welbedacht's unique social fabric, connecting its residents to government actors and to the wider public. Over nearly two years, we observed how residents of state-provided housing make sense of place and belonging, and how social networks counter deficits in infrastructure and state-delivered services. Wise local governance, we argue, requires the provision of infrastructure in collaboration with local residents who we contend are the most crucial resource. The intention of co-created infrastructure is to reduce community marginalisation and promote upward mobility, recognising that people are infrastructure and have agency. Through government partnership, small changes can impact massively in meeting such a community's needs. This accompaniment as a governance practice reduces harm and optimises emergent coping capacities.