Spatial and organisational complexity in the Dwars River Valley, Western Cape

Abstract

Access to land and housing in South Africa is of great importance to a range of actors, leading to contested processes and complex organisational interactions. Using the anthropology of organisations and a process ethnographic approach, the spatial and organisational complexity in the Dwars River Valley is investigated. The different actors identified include white farm owners, a range of organisations in four villages with different histories, mainly inhabited by a coloured population (Pniel, Kylemore, Lanquedoc and Johannesdal) and organisations that influence events from outside the valley, including government bodies and NGOs. The contested spatial transformation of a part of the valley indicates how new forms of land use lead to conflict between farm workers and developers and how the quest for heritage conservation impacts on the development of luxury properties. The case study reveals how spatial and organisational complexity is based on processes that contain both continuity and transformation.