Reflections on the impact of Kembali Consulting’s work and what the future has in store for us

Because we believe in the power of reflection, this week we take a pause and give you a glimpse of the impact of Kembali Consulting’s work and what the future has in store for us.

For many, the intersection of cities and communities can often be reduced to simply truncated solutions around mobility, infrastructure, energy, sanitation, human settlements, or governance. At Kembali Consulting, we are proud of leveraging a deep understanding of the intersection between private actors, the public sector as well as how this integrates within communities.

The framework wherein our cities and communities exist requires an important rethink, leveraging a narrative of “building back better” but also meaningfully acknowledging that the systemic issues cannot simply be overcome through singular projects but rather a holistic offering that seeks to create sustainable cities and communities. We have reflected on the notion of the Global Goals previously, and in particular how this interacts with notions of participatory and democratic governance processes, and acknowledge that a crucial element confronting the Global South will continue to be an impaired capacity to implement and govern.

Over the past few months, we have been fortunate to work on interesting and diverse projects initiated by public sector partners as well as the private sector on a range of issues that get to the heart of how sustainable cities and communities can be carved out in the Global South. The connectivity of our communities has been drastically impaired not only due to COVID-19, but also because of shifting economic trends, which can be witnessed on the West Rand of Gauteng, South Africa’s economic centre. The shifting dynamics within the mining sector, which has often been referred to as South Africa’s sunset industry, has required a reimagined outlook concerning how communities are reskilled and reshaped — and the urgency of such transitions to not just secure livelihoods but to meet the needs of shifting demands within our cities and communities.

At its heart, the project on Gauteng’s West Rand is not simply about development, infrastructure, or mobility. It’s about how cities and communities exist, how they transition and what mechanisms they use to achieve a fairer and more equitable outcome.

At Kembali, our approach is about confronting social injustice, and this is the lens and politic of our approach that seeks to facilitate and deliver on the transformative agenda of enabling sustainable cities and communities. However, this broader approach and philosophy applies to all public policy interventions, and our focus is on ensuring that participatory processes enable more equitable and fairer policy both within the public square as well as in the private sector.

The spatial development of the West Rand and the cityscape within the Gauteng province of South Africa has been shaped by historical and current mining activities, and critically this legacy continues to influence spatial, economic, and social spheres. The environmental landscape, development, urban form and infrastructure, and patterns of movement in Rand West City, together with its neighbours such as Krugersdorp (Mogale City) and the City of Johannesburg, have been heavily influenced by the Witwatersrand Mining Belt. The socio-spatial and economic legacy of these goldfields — stretching from the East Rand to the West Rand — manifests in the present day to create productive post-mining landscapes and economies through development and diversification. Our cities and communities are not simply shaped by industries like mining, but in South Africa or the Global South also by pervasive colonial or Apartheid spatial planning that continues to haunt our communities — dispossessing and degrading their agency.

Our work in this context was about convening and working with various actors from the private sector and public sector, including the local municipality, the district municipality, the provincial government, national government, as well as community and civic stakeholders. The driving force of this project — aligned with our broader vision of contributing meaningfully to achieving sustainable communities and cities, has allowed us to provide institutional, regulatory, project management and strategic advice that has enabled and supported the framing of the vehicles that would implement the transformation. This successful partnering, collaborating and convening has enabled the bedrock and foundations to be formed, which will enable the reskilling of former mineworkers — reimagining the West Rand from a mining site to an industrial and manufacturing hub that will seek to improve living conditions and spatial realities within various communities on the West Rand.

Kembali is proud to participate in projects that seek to implement alternative solutions and just transitions that shift cities and communities towards more equitable, fairer and participatory models. Importantly, the work undertaken in this region lays the foundation for work that will confront South Africa’s just transition from coal-based power generation to renewable options, how our communities need to be engaged, onboarded, and how our responses should never be narrow, but rather far more integrated and guided by the triple-bottom-line of sustainability.

Over the coming months, Kembali will share more of its work within the public policy arena to showcase alternative models for conceptualisation, participation, ideation, engagement as well as implementation. The models will lean on practical and implementable projects that can be used to harness lessons learnt from the Global South, and how we are best placed to develop alternative models that confront us both in the public square but also on a very deeply personal level. Our focus on sustainable cities and communities is not through the narrow lens of mobility, but rather through the broad frame of public policy and how various pressure points across our cities and communities can be confronted. In many instances, our work and our reflections here will touch on large-scale mobility projects, interventions that are framed within urban acupuncture, participatory governance and public policy reform.

- Andrew Ihsaan Gasnolar