AFRICANUS Vol 30 No 2 ISSN 0304-615X - University of South Africa

Editorial
As globalisation is making its importance increasingly felt on the development
debate, local issues become more important within this increasingly complex
and diverse debate. The articles in this edition of Africanus focus on these
relevant issues and give the development practitioner and the academic food
for thought.
Michelle McLean's paper is based on her personal observations of the appearance
and subsequent increase of informal collectors in the residential area
of Glenwood/Berea, Durban. The aim of the study was to gather information
from the collectors and their activities in order to help find solutions to a growing
informal sector that needs to be accommodated.
The article by David Mmakola explores options that could be considered in
structuring a metropolitan form of local government in South Africa, as well as
the contribution that metropolitan local government could make in the development
process. It further traces the origins of metropolitan government in
developing countries, using Asia as an example.
Jaco Vermaak in his paper evaluates indigenous financial efforts (IFEs) in rural
areas in terms of their contribution to rural community development. He argues
that IFEs are often associated and evaluated with quantitative oriteria in spite of
the profound non-economic benefits such schemes have for community development.
Evidence from successful cases of IFEs in the developing world and
fieldwork done in South Africa are presented.
In her article Tsepiso Mohapi attempts to highlight the implications of planned
development for women since the 1950s when development planning first ap-
5 Africanus 30(2)2000