Victims, villains and fixers: the urban environment and Johannesburg's poor

Urban water supply, sanitation and electricity have been identified as basi c needs by the post-apartheid government and the Greater Johannesburg Metro politan Council (GJMC). This article explores the relationship of Johannesb urg's poor to the urban environment and, in particular, these three key urb an services. On the basis of survey data, case studies, textual analysis an d in-depth interviews with policy makers and planners, it reviews how poore r citizens were, for a long time, seen as victims under apartheid urban pla nning. During the rent boycotts that characterised urban struggle politics during the era of late apartheid in Johannesburg, they were often represent ed as villains. This perception persisted well into the post-apartheid peri od, where refusing to pay for services was seen as tantamount to a lack of patriotism. Today, Johannesburg's poorer citizens are increasingly being se en as Frets. The GJMC in its policy document, iGoli 2002, is committed to e stablishing the commercial viability of service delivery. Cost recovery is seen as important for solving the tension that exists between maintaining e stablished service levels (in historically white areas) and extending servi ces to new and historically under-serviced (mainly black) areas. We conclud e that there are opportunities to address urban poverty, inequality and env ironmental management in an integrated way. However, these are predicated o n the GJMC and its advisers understanding the ways in which pro-poor and so cial justice strategies interface with urban services and the urban environ ment.