Oh, Romantic, Rundown Platteland?

You are romanticising the platteland. This is a complaint we sometimes hear when readers return from a weekend getaway at a“once well-maintained and spotless” town, which is now “shockingly dirty and neglected”. But, as Johan van Zyl heard at this year’sWoordfees in Stellenbosch, decay occurs everywhere in the world – and the“romantic” picture painted in glossy magazines is not so much a problem as it is a solution.

- Johan van Zyl

“Depopulation of the platteland is a reality; people are suffering. Poor municipal management, a lack of employment opportunities and a crippling drought are all contributing to the rapid decline of numerous platteland towns. How can we reverse this trend? Why are some towns successful and others not? What does the platteland still have to offer?”

These three questions, under the title “O, wye en droewe land” in the discourse series listed in the festival guide for this year’s Woordfees in early March, caught Platteland’s eye. These same questions are occasionally posed in letters we receive from readers who, for the first time in years, and prompted by nostalgia and fond memories, had visited the town in which they'd been raised…

Dr Leslie van Rooi, Senior Director: Social Impact and Transformation at Stellenbosch University, led the conversation. One of the speakers, Professor Ronnie Donaldson of the Department of Geography, said that as recently as the 2015–2016 tax year, the 10 best-performing municipalities in South Africa were all in the platteland (nine in the Western Cape and one – De Aar – in the Northern Cape).

But when you read the latest report about the state of local government, published in July by outgoing auditor-general Kimi Makwetu, you want to tear your hair out over what is happening in so many platteland towns. Only 20 municipalities – most of them under DA control – received a clean audit this year; 76 municipalities had deteriorated over the past three years (and only 31 had improved); and the books of 28 were in such a shambles that they were not able to submit financial statements.