Selected Aspects of the Socio-economicCharacter of Natal TownsM. A. H. SmoutDepartment of Geography, University College of Rhodesia,Salisbury.The present study forms part of a survey con-ducted in the Natal country towns during 1965 ,and 1966 and was initiated in order to analyseselected features of their socio-economic compo-sition.1 The object of the investigation was two-fold; firstly to determine the proportion and spa-tial distribution of English and Afrikaans speakingpeople in the towns; secondly, on the basis ofoccupations, to determine whether any groupingor spatial differentiation of social class categoriesexists within the small urban areas encountered.The segregation of language and social classgroups has been clearly demonstrated in largeurban centres.2 However, few attempts have beenmade to determine whether such segregation existsin small urban settlements and the threshold popu-lation level at which one might first expect segre-gation to appear.3 Most of the theory pertainingto the socio-economic aspects of urban areas hasbeen developed in studies of large cities and itwas considered possible that the Natal townsmight prove too small to exhibit features such asstatus areas and segregation of minority groups.However. Paul Gillen in 1951 stated that the studyof occupation reflects income, education andtaste, and further that the use of occupationalcategories to distinguish ecological areas "iscapable of application to any city, regardless ofsize, location, type, age, or any other considera-tion."4The work in 1955 of Duncan and Duncan whoinvestigated residential distribution and occupa-tional stratification in Chicago was based on thehypothesis that spatial distances amongst occupa-tional groups parallel their social distances.5 Obvi-ously, residential segregation is greater for thoseoccupational groups with a clearly defined status,than for those whose status is ambiguous, for thelatter group is subjected to cross pressure fromthe determinants of residential selection. Forexample, the clerical group has an income equiva-lent to low grade manual workers but an educa-tional level of managerial workers. Davies in hisstudy of Johannesburg and Pretoria in 1966reached a similar conclusion. He notes a clearrelationship between the rank of occupationalcategory and the degree of residential segregationand that the highest degree of such segregationoccurs at the extremities of the social scale.6 TheNatal study investigates this relationship and alsothe feasibility of adopting methodology normallyapplied to large urban centres.Tn order to restrict the Natal survey to manage-able proportions, a sample of towns was selectedfor analysis. Durban and Pietermaritzburg, thetwo major centres of Natal, together with theirsatellite centres were discarded, as the survey wasnot intended to cover major city regions. The tentowns chosen for analysis are those which evolveas the most important regional centres of the35Natal urban hierarchy.7 These are: Ladysmith,Newcastle, Dundee, Vryheid, Stanger, Estcourt,Greytown, Emipangeni, Eshowe and Port Shep-stone.The main source of information was the 1965Parliamentary Voters Roll8 which includes thenames, addresses and occupations of all registeredvoters. At the time of analysis other socio-economic and demographic statistics were avail-able by Enumerator's Districts from the Directorof Census, but only at considerable cost Š wel]beyond the financial scope of the survey. Further,Enumerator's Districts are too large for usefulanalysis in small urban centres and their boun-daries bear little relation to those of ecologicalareas within the towns. As such, population statis-tics by Enumerator's Districts were not considereddesirable for the aims of the study.The language group of each voter was deter-mined on the basis of surname and although thename association with home language is not per-fect, it is considered reasonably accurate. Onlymale voters were recorded, for the majority ofwomen of working age would either be marriedand of the same language group as their husbands,or living at home and of the same language groupas their parents. It should be noted that theVoters Roll includes only South African citizensover the age of eighteen and although not a com-plete list of all adult workers forms a most useful,easily available source of information.Occupational groups were also determined fromthe Voters Roll for those persons recorded in thelanguage analysis. The number of persons in eachtype of occupation was recorded for each town. Itwas necessary to confine the survey to the Whitesector of the population as only the White groupis recorded on the Voters Roll. Other racial groupsdo not possess the freedom of choice of residentialarea, so that studies of segregation and concen-trations of occupational groups in this case wouldbe pointless.In all, 138 occupations were recorded and ofthese 56 were chosen for spatial analysis to deter-mine social class areas. Tn the highest categorieswhere fewer people were recorded, more occupa-tions were taken into account to ensure that theactual numbers plotted would be the same foreach occupational category. The occupationsrecorded are listed below according to socio-economic class categories:Category 1Professional and High AdministrativeArchitect EngineerAttorney GeologistChemist MagistrateMinister of religionSurveyorVeterinary surgeonDirectorDoctorDentistCategory 2Managerial and ExecutiveAccountant ProprietorAuctioneer PhysiotherapistBusinessman Personnel OfficerContractor ShopkeeperHotelier TeacherManager UndertakerOpticianCategory 3Non-manual higher gradeArtist DraughtsmanAgricultural officer SecretaryBook binder SalesmanBank official Stock inspectorChiropodist TechnicianCategory 4Non-manual lower grade(a) White collar: ClerkCivil servant(b) Blue collar: ElectricianForemanFitterMechanicCategory 5Routine non-manual (A) and skilled manual (B)A. Assistant B. ArtisanHairdresserStoremanCategory 6BricklayerMinerPainterSemi-skilled manualConductorGangerMachinistCategory 7OperatorShunterUnskilledRailway workerPorterThe same methodology was adopted for theanalysis of the spatial distribution and segrega-tion of the language and occupational groups.Home language and occupation of each malevoter were recorded on large scale base maps(scale 1:5,000) which showed individual lots inthe town. With the co-operation of postal authori-ties, street numbers were inserted on the maps inorder to place each voter accurately.9 To observethe spatial distribution of the two indices recorded,grids were constructed on each maps consistingof twelve sectors each of 30° rotation and a seriesof quarter mile walking zones10 extending to theedge of each town. The grid was focused on thePeak Land Value Intersection.11 Thus for eachtown a series of zone sectors evolved as units ofcensus for analysis.It was originally intended that the informationfor zone sectors should be analysed on a statisticalbasis in order to arrive at indices of segregation,centralisation and sector concentration Š anapproach commonly used in large urban areas.36However in the Natal country towns such ananalysis proved impracticable because the smallnumbers involved in each zone sector renderedstatistical analysis invalid. Frequently a zone sec-tor contained only three houses so that if two ofthese were occupied by Afrikaans speaking peoplethe unit became "dominantly Afrikaans" resultingin a false impression. Further, in such small townswhere only extremes of social distance are expec-ted to show spatial differentiation the sectors werefound too small. Even the Grouping of adjacentpairs of sectors to obtain 60° of rotation andenlargement to half mile walking zones did notprevent the possible division of important ecolo-gical areas, rendering them statistically undetec-table.The methodology finally adopted involved thedelimitation of ecological areas on the bases oflanguage groups and of occupations. A list anddescription of the ecological areas occurring ineach town was then compiled making it possibleto determine the most frequent areas and thecharacteristics that distinguished them.RESULTSThe proportion of male voters in each languagegroup in each town is shown in Table I. The meanvalues for the eight towns studied are 59.3 percent English and 40.7 per cent Afrikaans speak-ing people. Unusually high proportions of Englishspeaking people occur in Greytown (77.8 percent) and Port Shepstone (86.8 per cent). Theformer is the main regional centre for an areapioneered by English settlers and the latter on thecoast is in an area which was never attractive tothe early Afrikaner agriculturists. The only townto possess a dominantly Afrikaans community isVryheid (67.6 per cent Afrikaans speaking)although Newcastle and Ladysmith have higherthan average proportions of Afrikaans speakingpeople. Historical factors have determined that thehighest incidence of Afrikaans speaking peopleis in northern Natal, whilst that for English speak-ing people is near the coast. This distribution hasresulted largely from two different points of entryinto Natal Š the English at the coast and theAfrikaans-speaking Trekkers over the Drakens-berg in the north.The spatial distribution of the two languagegroups is surprisingly even. Tn the towns in whichneither group dominates the other heavily thereis no measurable segregation at all. In studies oflarge urban areas2 it has been established that it isonly minority groups that tend to segregate andin most of the Natal towns neither group formsa significant minority. However, in Vryheid andProportions cTABLEif English andIAfrikaans speakingpeople in (he sample townsTownLadysmithNewcastleDundeeVryheidStangerEstcourtGreytownPort ShepstoneAverages%English49.554.357.632.450.066.077.886.859.3%Afrikaans50.545.742.467.650.034.022.213.240.7Popu-latioriM196022,95517,55410,93910,7829,6169.0277,7434,366Greytown where one language group is clearlydominant there is a tendency towards segregationof the minority group. In both cases the majoritylanguage group is spread evenly throughout thetown, while the minority group is concentrated.In Port Shepstone where 87 per cent of the popu-lation is English speaking the absolute numbersof Afrikaans speaking people are too sma.ll toprovide evidence of segregation. Estcourt is theexception to the rale, for although two thirds ofits population is English speaking, there is a com-plete mix of the language groups.The ecological areas determined on the basis oflanguage are:1. A high mix area in which the proportionsof the two language groups do not deviateby more than 10 per cent from the overallvalue for the town. This area occurred inall of the towns studied covering a minimumof three-quarters of the total residential area.1. An Afrikaans enclave in which the propor-tion of Afrikaans speaking people is signifi-cantly higher than the average for the town.In the Greytown enclave this proportionrises by 30 per cent and in the Ladysmithenclave by 20 per cent.3. An English enclave in which the proportionof English speaking people is significantlyhigher than the average for the town. In thecentral area of Vryheid the proportionEnglish rises 30 per cent and in a new resi-dential extension in Dundee the proportionEnglish is 90 per cent.The distribution of the occupational groups didnot evidence any dear cut segregation and theresidential areas of the Natal towns appear toosmall to exhibit any spatial differentiation of socialclass groups. The distribution pattern of the socialclass groups is of a high mix and even extremesshow only a mild tendency to segregate. In resi-dential areas where housing is of a noticeably37higher quality than average for that town, it is notuniformly so and a wide range of occupationalcategories can be found.13 New residential extens-sions appear as the most likely areas in whichsegregation may occur for such areas are the mostattractive to live in and possess the most uniform,high quality housing. In a few cases the loweroccupational groups predominate on the outerfringes of the towns in areas characterised by poorquality dwellings often occupied by Afrikaansspeaking railway workers and road gangs.The ecological areas determined on the basis ofoccupational class groups are:1. A high mix area in which there is no segre-gation of social class groups and often bothextremes of the social scale are found adja-cent to one another. This area occurs in allof the towns covering a minimum of halfof the residential area.2. A low quality area in which more than 60per cent of the occupations recorded are inthe middle or low order occupational classes.This area occurs in six of the eight towns,and is characterised by poor quality housingoften in the lower lying and older parts ofthe towns.3. A high quality area in which more than 60per cent of the occupations recorded are inmiddle or high order occupational classes.This area occurs in six of the eight towns,usually in new residential extensions onrelatively high ground with dwellings ofmedium or high quality.CONCLUSIONA statistical analysis of the spatial distributionof the language and occupational class groupsrecorded in zone sectors of the towns was attemp-ted. However the small areas of residential landencountered and hence the low absolute numbersin each unit of census, rendered statistical analysisinvalid. Although it was not possible to determineindices of segregation, centralisation and sectorconcentration, certain general trends could beobserved and measured from the maps recordinglanguage and occupational class groups. Accor-dingly ecological areas were delimited for thesegroups within which there was a high degree ofsimilarity of the indices recorded. The ecologicalareas recorded in each town are shown in TableII.There is little evidence of segregation in theNatal towns of either language groups or occupa-TABLE IIThe ecological areas of the sample townsA.1.2.3.B.1.2.3.LANGUAGEAREASHigh mix areaAfrikaans enclaveEnglish enclaveOCCUPATIONALHigh mix areaLow quality areaHigh quality areaL. LadysmithN. NewcastleD. DundeeV. VryheidL.XXN. D. V. S. E.X X X X XX XAREASXXXS.E.G.P.X X X X XXXX XXXXStangerEstcourtGreytownPort ShepstoneG.XXXXX,p.XXX-. <Jtional class groups. Where definite majority langu-age groups exist there is a tendency for theminority group to cluster while the majority groupretains its even spread throughout the town.14However, this tendency which leads to anincrease in the proportion of the minority groupwithin a small area does little more than balancethe proportions of the two language groups sothat none of the minority enclaves described isexclusively of one language group. For example,the rise in proportion of Afrikaans speakingpeople by 30 per cent in the Afrikaans enclavein Greytown gives the two language groups equalrepresentation. Segregation of occupational classgroups occurs to a slight degree and the residenti-ally more attractive areas of the towns include amajority of the higher order occupational classes.Such areas normally possess a higher than expec-ted proportion of English speaking people. How-ever owing to the lack of uniformity of quality inresidential areas, even the extremes of social dis-tance are never clearly separated and unskilledmanual labourers often reside adjacent to profes-sional and administrative workers.The Natal country towns are in an urban senseimmature and physically too small to exhibit thecharacteristics of sooio-economic segregation thatone finds in large urban areas. Nevertheless withinthe small residential areas encountered the ele-ments of segregation of social class groups andclustering of minority language groups can be dis-tinguished. Future growth of residential areas islikely to be associated with the development ofmore distinct segregation and will render validstatistical analyses of socio-economic indices.38» *.The assistance of a student worker,tional groups is gratefully recorded.ACKNOWLEDGMENTMr. J. Wolfson, in the mapping of the language and occupa-*REFERENCES1. SMOUT, M. A. H. 1966 "Natal townsŠa comparative study in urban geography," Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis,University of Natal, Durban.2. DUNCAN, O. D. and DAVIS, B. 1953 The Chicago Urban Analysis Report. Chicago, University Press.3. The only known study which investigates socio-economic indices in Natal deals with Durban, the major centre, see:KUPER, L., WATTS, H. and DAVIES, R. 1958 Durban: A Study in Racial Ecology. London, J. Cape.4. GILLEN, P. 1951 The Distribution of Occupations as a City Yardstick. New York, Columbia University, King'sCrown Press.5. DUNCAN, O. D. and DUNCAN. B. 1955 Residential Distribution and Occupational Stratification. Am. J. Socio.,60, 493-503.6. DAVIES, R. J. 1966 Social Distance and DistributionS. Afr. geogr. ./., 46, 24-39. of Occupational Categories in Johannesburg and Pretoria.7. SMOUT, cap. 2.8. SOUTH AFRICA. 1965 Parliamentary Voters Roll. Pretoria. Government Printer.9. Unfortunately both Empangeni and Eshowe had at this stage to be excluded from the study, as it proved im-possible to obtain details of street numbers and none appeared on the Voters Roll.10. Walking zones, i.e. distances, are measured along streets and not in a straight line from the centre of the grid.Concentric zones do not take into account the rectangular system of transport and communications.11. SMOUT, cap. 9.12. SOUTH AFRICA. 1963 Population Census 6th September, 1960, Vol. !: The Geographical Distribution of thePopulation. Pretoria, Bureau of Census and Statistics, R.P. 62/1963.13. Housing quality and age were determined by field and documentary investigations as part of the major survey.14. WATTS, H. L. 1957 "Grahamstown. A socio-ecological study of a small South African town", 2 vols. Unpub-lished Ph.D. Thesis, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, II.39