Apartheid policies were instrumental in displacing black urbanisation away from key urban areas. Botshabelo, 55 km east of Bloemfontein, is an example of this. This paper uses asset-building theory to argue that post-apartheid policy for Botshabelo has largely reinforced apartheid spatial planning patterns and locked in a significant percentage of the Botshabelo population. Population growth is slow, with evidence of the working age population leaving Botshabelo. At the same time, substantial investment in infrastructure services has increased investment in housing in the past 20 years.