Chris Hani District Municipality

Geographical Location

The Chris Hani District is a land-locked district situated in the center of the Eastern Cape hinterland, between the Eastern Cape coastline and the Drakensberg mountains. the district incorporates both former CPA areas of the Karoo in the west, as well as former Transkei areas in the east, making for a district of varied physical conditions.

Chris Hani district incorporates, the former towns such as; Cradock and Middelburg (Inxuba Yethemba), Hofmeyer, Tarkastad and Sterkstroom (Tsolwana), Molteno, (Inkwanca), Queenstown and Whittlesea (Lukanji), Cofimvaba and Tsomo (Intsika Yethu), Lady Frere. Indwe, and Wodehouse (Emalahleni), Engcobo and Elliot and Cala (Sakhisizwe).

OVERVIEW OF THE NODE

The Chris Hani node is one of the four ISRDS nodes in the Eastern Cape Province. It is comprised of 8 Local Municipalities, a combination of the former Transkei, Ciskei and RSA areas. It covers approximately 37 294 km, with a total population of approximately 822 291 people. The total number of household is estimated at 170 605 with average family size of 4.8. The amalgamated Local Authorities as recommended by the Municipal Demarcation Board are as follows:

The settlement pattern is characterised by small and medium urban centres with commercial & small scale farming mainly in the urban periphery of the former RSA . The former homelands have rural towns with villages and communal farms in the outskirts of towns.

The Emalahleni, Engcobo, Intsika Yethu, Sakhisizwe and part of Lukhanji (Ezibeleni, Ilinge Townships) forms part of the erstwhile Transkei, whilst Inkwanca, Inxuba Yethemba, Lukhanji and Tsolwana form part of the former RSA. A small portion of Lukhanji (Whittlesea), Tsolwana (Thornhill) and Ntabethemba used to be part of the former Ciskei.

The Intsika Yethu Municipality is highly populated, followed by Lukhanji, Engcobo and Emalahleni , with youth being the majority. In this regard, the District has identified a need for programmes or projects that will create sustainable jobs and food security to poor communities in the node.

The survey that has been undertaken in the node during June 2003 revealed death rate especially to youth is escalating and this is associated with HIV/AIDS. There are other common diseases such as Cholera and Diarrhea which are associated with unavailability of purified water and proper sanitation especially in rural areas.

The Lukhanji Municipality , Queenstown in particular used to be the major industrial centre although a number of factories have closed down for a number of reasons, such as the withdrawal of incentives on labour cost and accommodation that used to be there. Queenstown is still the major service centre, where many Regional Departmental offices, Private and public hospitals, District Municipal offices , main seat of Lukhanji Municipality, consulting firms & NGO, churches and chain stores are located. It also remains the major educational centre, providing formal and higher level educational opportunities to the neighbouring Districts and Provinces.

The issue of housing shortage throughout the District is becoming critical as a result of push factors such as urbanisation, relocation and restructuring of government departments or decentralisation for effective service delivery.

Agriculture is regarded as the backbone of the economy of the District as the largest portion of land is utilised for agricultural purposes, and a need to exploit the available resources in a sustainable manner is regarded as a priority. Hence the node has identified a need for the revitalisation of irrigation schemes through out the district. In this regard, the Agricultural Research Council and the node are undertaking a comprehensive agricultural development plan / strategy for the district. This will form an integral part of the LED strategy that is in course of preparation.

Population

The population density of Chris Hani is 22 people per square kilometer. Intsika Yethu has the highest number of people in this district followed by Lukanji. Tsolwana has the lowest number of population.

The Chris Hani district is comparatively poor district in terms of poverty measures such as HDI (0.49), poverty gap (425 million) and number of people living in poverty (75.4%).

The population is predominantly African (94.1%). The coloured population makes 3.9% of the population.

The Chris Hani district, like most other districts shows a significant child dependency. About 39% of population are below 15 years of age. More than half of the population is below 20 years. This is an indication of economic under development of this district.

Women outnumber men in the Chris Hani district municipality.:46% of the population are males and 54% are females.

Population Pyramid:

Area Information:
Square km – 37,111
Total Population - 810,300
Male – 374,548 (46.2%)
Female – 435,752 (53.8%)
Africans - 762,314 (94.1)
Coloured – 31,546 (3.9%)
Indian - 517 (0.1%)
White – 15,923 (2.0%)
0-4 Years - 81,374 (10.0%)
0-9 Years - 190,369 (23.5%)
0-14 years – 314,904 (38.9%)
0-19 Years – 425,848 (52.6%)
15-34 Years – 252,154 (31.1%)
35-59 Years - 156,803 (19.4%)
Females 60+ - 54,840
Males 65+ - 21,520
Number of disabled(Estimate) – 61,956 (7.6%)
Human Development Index (HDI) – 0.49
Persons in poverty - 75.4%
Poverty Gap – R461 million
Literacy rate – 47.1%
HIV/AID Prevalence – N/A
Prominent occupation – Elementary (33.1%)
Biggest Employer – Public/Govt Sector (32.5%)
Unemployment rate – 58.9%
Not economically active – 62.1%
Number of households – 187,515
Annual Household Income 0-R6000 – 59%
Annual Household Income 0-R18000 – 85%
Annual Household Income 0-R42000 – 94%

KEY NODAL CHALLENGES
The survey that was undertaken throughout the district (status quo analysis report, June 03 ) revealed the following :-

  1. The majority of people are living in rural areas, Townships and informal settlements with high levels of poverty. The income figures for this district indicates that 75% of the households have an income of R12 000/annum or less than R1000/month. Greater than 75% of the economically active age groups are unemployed. Matriculants (are unable to further their studies due to lack of finances) and youth with higher education are unemployed
  2. More than 75% of the households in this district do not have access to clean water supply. The district has high levels of infrastructure backlogs (water & sanitation in particular that has resulted in cholera and other associated diseases)
  3. Furthermore 75% of the households do not have proper and safe forms of sanitation.
  4. Majority of rural community do not have access to social infrastructure: people living with HIV/AIDS, Old age people, disabled, children, do not have easy access to necessary facilities or services such as trained community health workers, community social workers and secured pay points for social grants. High death rate especially to young people, which is associated with HIV/AIDS
  5. Electricity connection is poor as 75% of the household do not have electricity.
  6. Stagnant economy due to lack of government incentives , collapsed irrigation schemes,
  7. Limited access to agricultural land in that large portion of land is privately owned (commercial farm)
  8. High rate of crime especially stock theft
  9. There is poor transportation system especially in rural areas
  10. Environmental degradation especially soil erosion is creeping into constructed roads and agricultural land. This is also resulting in silting of dams that are used for irrigation purposes.
  11. Wide spread of noxious plants which is posing a threat to both livestock production and the environment
  12. Factories lying dormant mainly in Lukhanji, Inkwanca
  13. Government programmes that are designed to solve these problems are not known and not accessible to both Municipalities and the general public

Local Municipalities