An investigation into the factors constraining the resolution of urban environmental problems at local authority level in South Africa

Bibliography: p. 105-107. === The imminent promulgation of the Environment Conservation Act, No. 73 of 1989, which made provision for the devolution of responsibility for environmental matters to the third tier of government authority, was the primary motivation for this research, conducted througho...

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Main Author: Weinronk, Eileen
Other Authors: Fuggle, Richard Francis
Format: Dissertation
Language:English
Published: University of Cape Town 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15961
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spelling ndltd-netd.ac.za-oai-union.ndltd.org-uct-oai-localhost-11427-159612020-10-06T05:10:53Z An investigation into the factors constraining the resolution of urban environmental problems at local authority level in South Africa Weinronk, Eileen Fuggle, Richard Francis Environmental Science Environmental protection - Law and legislation Environmental policy - South Africa Urban ecology Bibliography: p. 105-107. The imminent promulgation of the Environment Conservation Act, No. 73 of 1989, which made provision for the devolution of responsibility for environmental matters to the third tier of government authority, was the primary motivation for this research, conducted throughout South Africa between 1988 and 1990. Local authority officials were concerned that they did not have the knowledge, manpower and infrastructural resources to accept this responsibility. This concern was reinforced by the rapid urbanization of predominantly disadvantaged communities for whom little provision had been made. A stratified selection for study purposes of urban areas from the whole of South Africa and all its population groups ensured a reasonable sample of metropolitan regions, regional centres, principle towns and smaller outlying urban areas. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of government authorities, Non-Government and Community Organizations and practitioners, either implementing or interacting with environmentally related legislation at the local level. With the permission of all participants, the interviews were recorded on audio-cassettes and later transcribed by the interviewers using a word processing programme. Out of these transcriptions, approximately 1000 problem-and-solution groupings were identified and classified. The most widely held perceptions of factors constraining the resolution of urban environmental problems at local authority level were subsequently compared to the provisions of the Environment Conservation Act. It was found that these perceptions of factors requiring attention for the resolution of urban environmental problems are strongly linked to the establishment, maintenance and improvement of environments which contribute to a generally acceptable quality of life. This accords with only one of the four explicit provisions of the Environment Conservation Act. There is a widespread perception that until human needs (Maslow, 1968) are either satisfied or at least addressed, and the whole population incorporated into a more equitable legal framework, the successful implementation of environmental conservation in South Africa will be severely impaired. Furthermore, that the South African ' Government's adherence to the political ideology of separate development constitutes an abuse and exploitation of scarce resources. Recommendations are that the human needs of the whole population of South Africa must be addressed and environmentally destructive legislation repealed in order to truly resolve urban environmental problems, that the participation of the public in matters relating to the effective protection and controlled utilization of the environment be required, that administrative, natural and functional boundaries need to be aligned, and that the structure and responsibilities of bureaucratic hierarchies responsible for environmental management in urban areas need to be set out clearly. 2015-12-28T06:02:16Z 2015-12-28T06:02:16Z 1992 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15961 eng application/pdf University of Cape Town Faculty of Science Department of Environmental and Geographical Science
collection NDLTD
language English
format Dissertation
sources NDLTD
topic Environmental Science
Environmental protection - Law and legislation
Environmental policy - South Africa
Urban ecology
spellingShingle Environmental Science
Environmental protection - Law and legislation
Environmental policy - South Africa
Urban ecology
Weinronk, Eileen
An investigation into the factors constraining the resolution of urban environmental problems at local authority level in South Africa
description Bibliography: p. 105-107. === The imminent promulgation of the Environment Conservation Act, No. 73 of 1989, which made provision for the devolution of responsibility for environmental matters to the third tier of government authority, was the primary motivation for this research, conducted throughout South Africa between 1988 and 1990. Local authority officials were concerned that they did not have the knowledge, manpower and infrastructural resources to accept this responsibility. This concern was reinforced by the rapid urbanization of predominantly disadvantaged communities for whom little provision had been made. A stratified selection for study purposes of urban areas from the whole of South Africa and all its population groups ensured a reasonable sample of metropolitan regions, regional centres, principle towns and smaller outlying urban areas. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of government authorities, Non-Government and Community Organizations and practitioners, either implementing or interacting with environmentally related legislation at the local level. With the permission of all participants, the interviews were recorded on audio-cassettes and later transcribed by the interviewers using a word processing programme. Out of these transcriptions, approximately 1000 problem-and-solution groupings were identified and classified. The most widely held perceptions of factors constraining the resolution of urban environmental problems at local authority level were subsequently compared to the provisions of the Environment Conservation Act. It was found that these perceptions of factors requiring attention for the resolution of urban environmental problems are strongly linked to the establishment, maintenance and improvement of environments which contribute to a generally acceptable quality of life. This accords with only one of the four explicit provisions of the Environment Conservation Act. There is a widespread perception that until human needs (Maslow, 1968) are either satisfied or at least addressed, and the whole population incorporated into a more equitable legal framework, the successful implementation of environmental conservation in South Africa will be severely impaired. Furthermore, that the South African ' Government's adherence to the political ideology of separate development constitutes an abuse and exploitation of scarce resources. Recommendations are that the human needs of the whole population of South Africa must be addressed and environmentally destructive legislation repealed in order to truly resolve urban environmental problems, that the participation of the public in matters relating to the effective protection and controlled utilization of the environment be required, that administrative, natural and functional boundaries need to be aligned, and that the structure and responsibilities of bureaucratic hierarchies responsible for environmental management in urban areas need to be set out clearly.
author2 Fuggle, Richard Francis
author_facet Fuggle, Richard Francis
Weinronk, Eileen
author Weinronk, Eileen
author_sort Weinronk, Eileen
title An investigation into the factors constraining the resolution of urban environmental problems at local authority level in South Africa
title_short An investigation into the factors constraining the resolution of urban environmental problems at local authority level in South Africa
title_full An investigation into the factors constraining the resolution of urban environmental problems at local authority level in South Africa
title_fullStr An investigation into the factors constraining the resolution of urban environmental problems at local authority level in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed An investigation into the factors constraining the resolution of urban environmental problems at local authority level in South Africa
title_sort investigation into the factors constraining the resolution of urban environmental problems at local authority level in south africa
publisher University of Cape Town
publishDate 2015
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15961
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