An investigation into the factors constraining the resolution of urban environmental problems at local authority level in South Africa
type: CreativeWork
description: 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…
abstract: 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…
author: Weinronk, Eileen
language: eng
date published: 1992
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:22:41Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Environmental and Geographical Science

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15961