Wentworth - History and Environmental Problems
(Extended Version)
Wentworth was designated as
"Coloured" during the apartheid era, and it came to house approximately 40 percent
of the Coloured population of Durban. Estimates of the population of Wentworth
(and the non-contiguous Treasure Beach that is considered part of Wentworth)
vary widely from 35,000 estimated by community leaders to approximately 18,000
estimated from occupancy rates by the City Urban Strategy Department (1996).
Wentworth is very diverse in religion, ethnicity, and origins. The community includes Mauritians and St. Helenians, as well as Afrikaans- and English-speaking peoples; it includes Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Muslims. The community provides Durban with many skilled and semi-skilled workers as well as a number of professionals and university and technikon graduates. Indeed, South Africa's second petroleum industry at Sasolburg was built on a foundation of skilled men from Wentworth. Even though the community is surrounded by industry, three-fourths of Wentworth's household heads do not work in the area but commute - largely by taxi - to more distant jobs.
Beginning in 1961, Coloured people were formally moved to Wentworth, at first housed in army barracks that had been built by the British Admiralty that had housed White ex-servicemen after the war. In 1963, the area, then called Austerville, was proclaimed a Coloured Group Area and was the destination for people removed from various communities in Durban, and later from throughout Natal, the Transkei, and the Transvaal.
According to a survey in 1990, Wentworth is poorer than the nearby Indian communities of Merebank and Isipingo, with three-fourths of the households earning less than R 2 000 per month. This poverty is a reflection of a high incidence of female-headed families. Also, because of the historical low levels of education and the colour bar in employment, approximately half of Wentworth's heads of household are artisans or industrial workers, and only five percent are professional, semi-professional, or technical workers. Many of the semi-skilled and skilled fitters and heavy construction workers are in itinerant occupations, which provide only short-term jobs.
From the outset until today, severe overcrowding and deplorable housing conditions have often defined the community and its perceptions of itself. During the 1970s when people were moving in largest numbers, people sometimes lived in tents, tin shacks, garages, and outhouses. The largest number of housing units are publicly-owned flats which are generally in terrible condition. For example, some tiny and barely habitable units, known locally as the "Rainbow Chickens," were built in 1974 as "sub-economic" units for temporary use but still are occupied today in spite of their primitive facilities, extreme density, rooms without doors, flooding in rainy seasons, and their immediate proximity to two industrial truck corridors and the Engen Refinery.
More than any other South Durban communities, Wentworth is plagued by the frequently dirty industrial plants that demarcate much of its perimeter and even penetrate neighbourhoods with noisy and odourous plants for manufacturing and refining a variety of chemical, petrochemical, and industrial products. Along the south border, the heavily traveled four-lane industrial transport corridor of Duranta Street and the walled flank of Merebank create a virtually impassable border. Chemical and goods trucks using Tara and Duranta Roads and Quality Street bring spillages and vehicle accidents to the community. The Engen Refinery, "the ship that never sails," looms above Wentworth on the east, and the long belt of dirty Jacobs industries encloses the entire western boundary. The more attractive and wealthier Coloured housing of Treasure Beach on the ocean is separated from the rest of Wentworth by the Engen facilities.
Wentworth's municipal officers are old and ill-equipped, and there are almost no developed community facilities (except a central community hall for meetings) and only remedial recreation spaces.
Overcrowding, social cleavages, unemployment, and the destablisation of the removals of the 1960s and 1970s have resulted in social conflicts within the community. This has been reflected in alcoholism, drug-use, and - especially in the 1970s and 1980s - youth gangs.
After a long period of poor community morale, the post-apartheid years have witnessed a broad stirring of community consciousness and spirit and the organising of strong and active civic associations. Many environmental initiative have originated in South Durban in the past several years, with a particular emphasis on the air pollution from the Engen refinery and problems caused by the many other industries in the immediate area.
- Adapted from Negotiating Environment and Development in Durban's South Basin: Communities, Industries, and Authorities, a 1996 report from the Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Durban-Westville to the City of Durban as part of a project on Local Agenda 21. By David Wiley, Christine E. Root, Sven Peek, and Seyathie Ramurath.