NATIONAL STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT PROJECT
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Background Research Paper produced for the South Africa
Environment Outlook report on behalf of the Department of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Original Text and Research By: Darryll Kilian
SRK Consulting &
Hazel Fiehn, Jarrod Ball Jarrod Ball and Associates
&
Dr Mark Howells
Energy Research Centre, University of Cape Town Original Peer Review:
Dr Owen Crankshaw University of Cape Town
& Sharon Lewis National Treasury
Additional Research, Editing and Integrative Writing: Dr Rudi Pretorius
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism &
Donald Gibson, Dr Caroline Henderson SRK Consulting
Disclaimer
This specialist study was commissioned by SRK Consulting (SRK) on behalf of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) as part of the National State
of the Environment Reporting Programme. The material has been used in the compilation of the South Africa Environment Outlook report. The views it contains are
not necessarily the views of DEAT or SRK. The DEAT and SRK do not accept responsibility in respect of any information or advice given in relation to or as a
9
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
9 HUMAN SETTLEMENTS ...3
9.1.1 Types of settlement ...5
9.1.2 Population and settlement...7
9.1.3 International migration ...10
9.2 SETTLEMENT INSPACE ...11
9.2.1 Patterns of settlement ...11
9.2.2 Urban form and structure ...12
9.2.3 Heritage and the built environment ...13
9.2.4 Transport ...13
9.2.5 Social services: health and education...14
9.2.6 Employment ...17
9.2.7 Shelter and service provision ...19
9.3 THE INTERACTION BETWEEN SETTLEMENT AND ENVIRONMENT...28
9.3.1 Ecological footprints ...28
9.3.2 The use of natural resources ...29
9.3.3 Pollution and waste ...30
9.4 CONCLUSION ...33
SOUTH AFRICA’S SETTLEMENTS AT A GLANCE What are the main issues?
• Integrating rural and urban settlement economies and servicing
• Integrating urban settlements to remove the distortions of apartheid planning
• Delivery of basic services and needs including housing, water, sanitation, electricity and waste removal
What is the condition of our settlements?
• Settlements are still socially and economically divided
• There has been a rapid expansion of informal settlements around urban centres and peri-urban areas
• Nearly 58% of South Africa’s population lives in urban areas
• Housing backlogs in cities have increased dramatically
• There has been some success in service delivery, most notably with clean water and electricity
• Many poorer households still lack access to basic needs, notably adequate sanitation facilities
• Local municipalities are faced with a severe shortage of capacity and resources, and increased levels of corruption
• Access to adequate health care and quality schooling is varied across the country, and particularly poor in rural areas
• Many known waste disposal sites are not permitted, and there are many illegal communal dumping sites across the country. Many waste sites do not meet the required environmental health standards
• Many settlements are located near to unhealthy areas, which poses health risks to the people living there. Notable areas are mining areas, waste sites, polluted water courses and industrial areas
What are the main causes of change in settlements?
• Urbanization (and its rate) due to migration from within and outside the country
• Capacity of government to deliver services
• Economic activities and conditions
What consequences does this have?
• Reduced quality of life for urban dwellers, especially the poor and those without access to basic services
• South Africa has an ecological footprint of 5.2 hectares per person, way higher than the global average
• Unsustainable settlements lead to the degradation of ecosystems through consumption patterns and production of wastes and pollutants
• Expanding settlements and urban sprawl leads to the destruction of natural habitat and the loss of high potential agricultural land
Are there opportunities?
• Enterprise development around waste management (re-use and recycling)
• Increased pace of delivery of water supplies and sanitation services, waste collection and housing
How is South Africa responding to issues of concern?
• Project Consolidate which aims to enhance the capacity of local government
• Expanded public works programme
• Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme
• Urban Renewal Programme
• The development of a Sustainable Settlements Strategy
• Renewable energy policy for South Africa
• Development of a National Heritage Register by SAHRA
• Development of Energy Strategies by South African cities
Key emerging issues
• The effects of climate change, in particular sea level rise on coastal settlements
INTRODUCTION
Human settlements define people’s existence. They are places – large and small, urban and rural, formal and informal - where people live, learn, work and create. The world has witnessed a dramatic increase in the movement of people to urban areas, especially in developing countries. Opportunities for employment, education
and access to health care are some of the principal factors that attract people to urban settlementsa. This has resulted in more urban settlements with bigger populations, and the dramatic expansion of existing urban centres. In 2000 over 40% of the global population lived in urban centres compared to 27% in 19721. It projected that the world will soon cross the 50% mark, reaching 60%, some 5 billion people, by 2030. The urban population in the developing world is growing at 2.4% per year – double the global growth rate. Rural-urban migration is most pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has an urbanizationb rate of 3.5% per year. Presently about 300 million Africans live in urban areas, a figure which is estimated to rise to 1405 million by 20302.
South Africa is experiencing a similar trend. Close to 58% of the population is urbanized, up from 53% in 1996. This is a great deal higher than the average for Sub-Saharan Africa, which stands at 34%1. Like in the rest of the developing world, this rapid urban growth has placed significant pressure on natural and human systems that underpin and maintain settlements.
As the locus human-environment interactions, human settlements lie at the centre of global efforts to address the multiplicity of challenges facing sustainable development. It is within this context that that the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation was formulated. In line with the principles contained in Agenda 21 and the Habitat Agendac, Millennium Development Goal 7 set important targets relating to human settlement. Whereas Target 10 aims to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without safe drinking water, Target 11 commits countries to collectively improving the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.
Against this background, and with the socio-political overlay of settlement engineering, the pattern of human settlement in contemporary South Africa is complex and multi-faceted. It is useful to establish a picture of the different types of settlement that characterize our landscape.
9.1.1 Types of settlement
Human settlements are differentiated by a multitude of factors such as topography, location, size, proximity and management structures. As a result, it is not always easy to identify and distinguish between different types of settlements. South Africa is no exception. It has a settlement hierarchy that comprises settlements of varying sizes and geographic locations; places that are urban and rural, planned and unplanned.
a The definition of what constitutes an urban area differs across the world. For example, Uganda classifies a
settlement with over 100 people as urban whereas in Nigeria an urban area has more than 20 000. Large cities are generally those of over a million and mega-cities over 10 million people.
b
Urbanization is the process whereby the number of people living in cities increases compared with the number of people living in rural areas. A country is considered to be urbanized when over 50% of its population lives in urban places.
c The Habitat Agenda is an agenda for the sustainable development of human settlements. It was developed at the
Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlement, Habitat II, held in Istanbul, Turkey in 1996. The Habitat Agenda includes the goals, principles and commitments to turn the vision of sustainable human settlement into reality. South Africa endorsed the Habitat Agenda in 1996.
Human settlements mean the totality of the human community – whether city, town, or village – with all the social, material, organizational, spiritual and cultural elements that sustain it
(Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlement, 1976)
9.1.1.1 The size of settlements
In 1995, the Urban Development Strategy identified four principal city size classes: large metropolitan areas (over 2 million people); large cities (500 000 to 2 million); medium sized cities/large towns (100 000 to 500 000); and medium sized towns (50 000 to 100 000). Given its urban focus this strategy did not include any rural typologies. The White Paper on Local Government (1998) officially extended the previous narrow interpretation of settlement types to include rural settlements including rural villages of varying sizes. Subsequent reports on human settlements have expanded the settlement typology as follows: small towns (less than 50 000); displaced urban or dense rural settlements (less than 50 000)3; large rural villages (between 5 000 and 50 000); and small rural villages and scattered settlements (of less than 5 000)4. Map 9.1 presents the settlement hierarchy for the country.
Although the different typologies have differentiated between urban and rural, the definition of ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ is strongly debated5. This is because it is difficult to establish the cut-off point between these settlement types. Urban areas are typically densely settled and developed, whilst rural settlements are characterized by a more scattered distribution of population. However, there are many settlements that have both urban and rural characteristics.
9.1.1.2 The geography of settlements
An understanding of South African settlement typology would be incomplete without a consideration of their geographic location and distribution. Settlements are defined by their relative location within and adjacent to urban cores as well as their economic divisions: whether located in the core of cities; on their fringe or periphery, or at some distance from cities. In addition to their spatial location, settlements can also be differentiated as planned and unplanned, formal and informal, and comprising a range of housing types.
Planned settlement has taken place within a legal land tenure framework, and is characterized by the planned provision of services and infrastructure. Under apartheid, planned townships were constructed on the fringes of towns and cities. The services were frequently basic, but in many townships these services are far superior than those in the informald residential areas that have grown within and around them. Unplanned settlements evolved as people settled in areas that are closer to employment opportunities. They occurred in a range of locations: within planned townships, on open land within an urban area, or in peri-urban areas. Peri-urban squatter settlements for instance, developed on farms or smallholdings situated on the outskirts of cities and towns.
These unplanned settlements often lack services and have a range of housing (e.g. backyard shacks, free-standing structures). Some are illegal, whilst others are on communal land, or on land where tenure has been secured following settlement. Some informal settlements have also been planned. Planned informal settlements have evolved through site-and-service schemes, which involve the identification and preparation of land before settlement takes place, including the insertion of basic infrastructural services. There has been wide application of in situ upgrading of informal settlements, which involves the provision of secure tenure and the insertion of required service infrastructure to ensure health and safety in existing settlements.
d Informal settlements are characterized by communities living and located in informal housing. These settlements
Source: Department of Housing (2002)6
Map 9.1: Types of settlements and their distribution in South Africa
Historically, South Africa has defined any settlement managed by a local authority as an ‘urban area’, which resulted in a separation of rural areas from towns and cities and deepening inequality for rural residents. This definition fell away following the promulgation of the Municipal Structures Act 17 of 1998, which initiated a process of re-demarcation of municipalities (Box 9.1). The Municipal Demarcation Board significantly improved human settlement management by placing all rural and urban land in the country under the jurisdiction of local government7. Coupled to this, Statistics South Africa in the 2001 Census categorized census enumeration areas involving a mix of criteria (e.g. structure of the built environment, land use and political institutions present). This resulted in a broadening of settlement types to incorporate more strongly informal and semi-urban aspects in urban classification from 1996 and 2001 Census.
9.1.2 Population and settlement
Settlements expand and evolve as populations grow. Population size and densities are among the criteria used to characterize a settlement as either urban or rural. Despite ongoing debate, there is broad agreement globally that settlements over 20 000 people, and a population density of over 1 000 people per km2, are urban1. This cut-off does not however reflect the functional inter-dependence of urban and rural areas, as the new municipal demarcation has recognized.
Box 9.1: New municipal structures
The Government Municipal Structures Act (1998) identifies three categories of municipalities: metropolitan, local and district municipalities. The municipalities also comprise five broad governance types, namely: collective executive systems, a mayoral executive system, a plenary executive system, a sub-council participatory system, and a ward participatory system.
Category A refers to a metropolitan municipality that is characterized as:
• A conurbation that has areas of high population density, intense movement of people, goods and services, and possess multiple business districts and industrial areas;
• A centre of economic activity with a complex and diverse economy;
• A single are for which integrated development planning is desirable.
• An area with strong interdependent social and economic linkages between its constituent elements. This category can have eight types or combinations of types of municipality.
Category B (local) and C (district) municipalities are defined as those that do not comply with category A. Six types or combinations of types are possible in local municipalities (category B) and three in district municipalities (category C). A District Council is comprised of a collection of local municipalities.
Between the 1946 and 2001, the South African population increased from over 7.36 million to over 44,81 million, an average annual growth rate of 3.34%1. Recent census data provides more detail about the demographic shifts between urban and rural areas in the country. These shifts should be viewed against the backdrop of national population densities, which are presented in Map 9.2. There is a strong relationship between population density and the nature of settlement. In 2001, 57.5% and 42.5% of South Africans lived in urban and rural settlements respectively8 (Figure 9.1).
Source: Department of Housing (2002)6
Source: Statistics South Africa (2004)9
Figure 9.1: The proportion of urban and rural dwellers by province in 2001
There is a general perception that South African cities would experience large-scale permanent rural to urban migration following the dismantling of laws that prevented many people from living in urban areas. The proportion of people moving into urban areas between 1996 and 2001 increased nationally by 2.4%8, while 7 of the 9 provinces experienced lower than average increases in urban population during this period (Figure 9.2) suggesting that rural-urban migration is not as dramatic or permanent as generally believed, nor is it only one way.
Migration is often circular and non-permanent10. Although many cities have grown in population size, there are indications of return migrations to rural areas from cities and towns. There is also inter-city migration occurring as people abandon urban centres with high unemployment in search of opportunities elsewhere. Intra-city and intra-provincial migration has also played a role. For example, 13.7% of new migrants to Johannesburg in 2001 came from Ekurhuleni and Tshwane, and a further 10.4% from the rest of Gauteng. The city lost 92 396 people (or 42,5%) to the rest of the province1. In Cape Town, 11% of the total population moved house between 1996 and 2001. In addition, the country’s nine largest cities have seen an average annual increase of 4.89% in households between 1996 and 2001, far in excess of population growth9. This increase seems to support the evidence that households resident in the cities are splitting.
Source: Statistics South Africa (2003)8
Figure 9.2: Difference (in percentage) in the population proportions living in urban areas between 1996 and 2001
An understanding of demographics
in relation to human settlements would be incomplete without touching on the impact of HIV/AIDS. The rate of growth is already declining, but the population as a whole is likely to decline after 200711. Major urban areas will be particularly hard hit, but rural areas will also be affected (Map 9.3). Refer to Chapter 2 for more information on the scale and impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Pe rc en ta ge (% ) Rural(% ) 2.8 9.6 17.3 24.2 42.5 54 58.2 58.7 61.2 86.7 Urban(% ) 97.2 90.4 82.7 75.8 57.5 46 41.8 41.3 38.8 13.3 GP WC NC FS SA KZN NW MP EC LP -1.7 0.2 0.6 1 1.7 1.8 1.8 2.4 7 7.5 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 NW GP EC WC MP KZN LP SA FS NC Province Pe rc en tage (% )
Source: Department of Housing (2005)12
Map 9.3: Estimated impact of HIV/AIDS on population numbers from 2001-2011
9.1.3 International migration
Transboundary migration has played a significant role in the South Africa’s urbanization process. South Africa has a long history of dependence on migrant workers particularly in the mining and agricultural sectors13. South Africa’s political and economic stability since the 1990s relative to that of Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries and beyond, has brought with it new streams of legal and undocumented migrants. Legal migration from SADC countries to South Africa has increased dramatically since the early 1990s14, while many Zimbabwean health professionals are immigrating to South Africa amongst other countries15.
Between the 1996 and 2001 there was an increase of 158 000 people who were born in a SADC country, whilst the number born in other African countries like Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Somalia increased by 21 8009. This growing trend in international migration to South Africa has continued since then. Authorities received 104 000 applications for asylum in 200416, more than double that in 2000.
A baseline study undertaken in 2003 among 1 500 refugees found that the average age of African refugees was 31 years, just under half were single, 82% were male, and that two-thirds possessed education of matric or higher17. However, there is a growing stream of female migrants coming to South Africa18. Whereas men migrate primarily in search of employment, women’s migration to South Africa is motivated by trade opportunities.
It is difficult to determine how many migrants are living in South Africa illegally. Approximately 600 000 people were forcibly removed from South Africa between 1994 and 199819. Stricter provisions in the new Immigration Act introduced in 2002, impose harsh penalties on anyone giving illegal immigrants work or shelter. This may have contributed to the
sharp increase in the asylum applications, since the Refugees Act states that no one who has applied for refugee status can be deported until their application has been considered.
These trends in national and international migration are spatially represented in Map 9.4 below. The Housing Atlas map shows migrants concentrated in and around the large cities, as well as in parts of Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal. These correspond with the location of displaced or dormitory urban settlements situated on the fringe of cities or in dormitory towns far from urban centres. This explains to some extent the envisaged spatial patterns of impacts of HIV/AIDS on population numbers.
Source: Department of Housing (2005)12 Map 9.4: Net migration from 2001 to 2004
9.2 SETTLEMENT IN SPACE 9.2.1 Patterns of settlement
South Africa has a fully developed settlement hierarchy, with high levels of connectivitye – by developing world standards - of roads, rail and communications networks. Historically, settlement patterns have been shaped by colonial conquest imposed on indigenous settlement patterns, then by colonial trade and minerals extraction dynamics. Many of South Africa’s large urban centres are therefore situated along the coast (Ethekwini, Nelson Mandela Metropole, Buffalo City and Cape Town) or close to major mining activities (Kimberley, Mangaung, Johannesburg, and Tshwane). Recent changes in settlement patterns are partially a legacy of apartheid spatial planning. Apartheid planning over several decades systematically designed towns and cities that spatially separated races and classes. Black residents were put into areas on the margins of the cities, which were often poorly serviced, lacked good infrastructure, possessed few work opportunities, or shopping and entertainment amenities. White residential areas were generally well laid out and well-serviced suburbs conveniently located to
e Connectivity refers to the degree to which different transport and communication nodes and modes are
employment and major urban facilities. Despite efforts to address these spatial patterns, South African cities still bear testimony to this legacy. Rural settlements are mostly unplanned and poorly serviced. A large proportion of the rural settlements are located in the former homeland areas in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and North West provinces. Some key elements of the rural landscape nonetheless remain; land under communal tenure in former homelands and large peri-urban dormitory settlements in former homelands (e.g. the complex of settlements in the former KwaNdebele, east of Pretoria).
By redrawing of municipal boundaries in 1999/2000, the Municipal Demarcation Board effectively linked towns and cities with their peri-urban and rural hinterlands with the aim of better integrating the people, communities, economic activities and infrastructure of urban and rural settlements. The extended municipal boundary of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, for example, includes within its urban fabric high-density central business and residential districts, industrial areas, a number of town centres, commercial farming, and peri-urban smallholdings and homesteads. It also includes the displaced urban settlement of Winterveldt.
Most South African cities tend to be ‘small’f. There are six large cities and no mega cities (Table 9.1). The metropolitan areas of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane form the core of the country’s industrial heartland that includes the Vereeniging-Vanderbijlpark-Vaal complex. The Gauteng cities, although defined as separate metropoles, form a ‘polycentric urban region’1. The port cities of Ethekweni, Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Metro are also base to significant economic activities.
Table 9.1: Population in the nine largest cities in South Africa
City Size of municipal area (km2) Population (2001) Population (2004)* Average density (people/km2) (2001) Johannesburg 1 644 3 225 812 3 638 715 1 962 Cape Town 2 499 2 893 247 3 111 039 1 158 Ethekwini (Durban) 2 292 3 090 122 3 313 205 1 348 Ekurhuleni 1 923 2 480 276 2 799 707 1 290 Tshwane (Pretoria) 2 198 1 985 983 2 193 596 904 Nelson Mandela (Port Elizabeth) 1 952 1 005 778 1 028 021 515 Buffalo City (East London) 2 516 701 890 713 921 279 Mangaung (Bloemfontein) 6 283 645 441 671 856 103 Msunduzi (Pietermaritzburg) 648 553 223 572 975 854 * Estimated
Source: South African Cities Network (2004)1
9.2.2 Urban form and structure
South African cities are characterized by low-density urban sprawl, where residential areas are mostly separated from places of employment, shopping and public facilities. Urban development continues to reinforce the fragmented nature of the cities through the growth of peripheral formal and informal settlements4. Cities are fragmented into relatively discrete cells of development intersected by road systems and generally separated according to land use, population and income.
In upmarket suburbs, the shift to high security, one-entrance townhouse and cluster complexes, golfing and country-estates, and walled and gated suburbs has made urban sprawl worse. Residential development accounts for a third of all development in the country’s largest cities20. In poorer suburbs, attempts at densification have been undermined by the expansion of fringe informal settlements. This sprawl is often fuelled by land invasions as old residents living in backyard dwellings of existing townships and newcomers to the city occupy open land on the outskirts of the city in the hope of securing housing in the future1. For instance, peri-urban areas in Randburg have witnessed a dramatic increase in land invasion in close proximity to the Cosmo City residential project, which is presently under development. Illegal land
f The following size categories have been used: small cities have more than 0.5 million people, large
encroachment could also be attributed to growing impatience with the land reform process, especially in urban areas21.
Due to the logistical and fiscal challenges associated with urban sprawl, cities such as Cape Town and Johannesburg are attempting to define and set the urban edge. The aim is to encourage residential and other commercial development within the existing confines of the city, with the aim of promoting more a more compact city structure.
9.2.3 Heritage and the built environment
Population growth and settlement expansion has led to an accelerated rate of change, placing many long-established built environments, rural landscapes and urban open spaces under intense pressure. As heritage is associated with interventions, manifestations and physical creations of human origin, it is vulnerable to these pressures. This has resulted in growing public concern about the loss of familiar environments, particularly historically and culturally important buildings, and urban precincts. Conservation of natural and cultural heritage is seen as essential to ensure the survival of valuable and irreplaceable resources, and constitute cultural significance for present and future generations. Culturally significant heritage may therefore include places to which oral traditions are attached, places associated with living heritage, and landscapes of natural features of cultural significance22. Heritage does not stand alone therefore, but forms an integral and indispensable part of the environment. However, an evaluation of the state of heritage resources is not possible due to the absence of a national data set. Box 9.2 provides available details of the situation.
Box 9.2: Heritage in South Africa
Heritage is the sum total of sites of geological, zoological, botanical, archaeological and historical importance. It would also include national monuments, historic buildings and structures, works of art, literature and music, oral traditions and museum collections and their documentation, which provides the basis for a shared culture and creativity.
Although heritage conservation dates back to 1911, the promulgation of the National Heritage Resources Act (25 of 1999) provided for the protection of a wider and more inclusive range of heritage resources, or ‘National Estate’. National Estate may include structures, buildings, historical settlements, landscapes, geological sites, archaeological sites, palaeontological sites, graves, burial grounds, movable objects (associated with oral traditions) and sites relating to the history of slavery in South Africa. It also emphasises the management of these resources. This richness and diversity is reflected in South Africa’s seven official world heritage sites: Robben Island, Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park, The Cradle of Humankind, uKhahlamba Drakensburg Park, Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape, Cape Floral Region and Vredefort Dome23.
Despite growing international and national interest in heritage conservation, there is no comprehensive overview of South African heritage. The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) is presently in the process of developing an inventory of the National Estate, which will form the backbone of a database of heritage resources that are worthy of conservation24. In 1998 there were over 4000 official national monuments25 and close to 3000 ‘provincial heritage sites’26.
9.2.4 Transport
Transport systems comprising road and rail networks, airports and harbours form the backbone of any country’s socio-economic activities by enabling the movement of people and products. In South Africa, transport has been used to socially and spatially separate millions of people and the resultant distortions remain.
In spite of an extensive railway and road transport infrastructure, many people do not have access to these modes of transport. Walking and cycling accounts for approximately 60% of all transport, while nearly 37% of people use road transport (Figure 9.3). The use of motorcars for passenger transport is the least efficient per passenger in terms of congestion, energy consumption and air emissions. Private vehicle transport, including cars and motorcycles, accounts for 19% of trips while minibus/taxis are used 11.5% of the time. There are, however, differences in the levels of access to transport between urban and rural areas. Many more people in rural areas travel by foot, whereas the reverse is true for private motor
cars, buses and minibuses27. The national average use of private cars and taxis is considered relatively limited compared to certain local metropolitan areas. In Johannesburg, for example, private car travel accounts for almost 50% of commuter trips with minibus travel being responsible for a further ~30% of trips.
The vast majority of South Africans are dependent on public transport, especially private minibus taxis, to commute far distances to and from employment. As the state’s transport subsidies only apply to rail and bus transport, the poor using minibus taxis to commute do not currently derive any benefit from state subsidies.
Source: Statistics South Africa (2004)9 Figure 9.3: Modes of transport used in South Africa in 2001
In 2001, South Africa had an estimated 129 vehicles for every 1 000 people, above the world average of 120 vehicles per 1000 people. Presently there are over 7 million vehicles on South African roads and this figure is growing at a rate of about 2 % per year.
There is growing acknowledgement of the challenges linked to poor transport. The Urban Development Framework of 1997, by outlining a programme that aimed to integrate cities, effectively focused attention on integrated planning including transport planning. The White Paper on National Transport and Moving South African in 1998 aimed to promote efficient transport systems that promote socio-economic integration within and between urban and rural areas. Using a range of strategic actions (e.g. densifying corridors, optimizing modal economics and service mix) the government aims to develop transport corridors in strategic sites across the country. This policy is closely linked to Spatial Development Initiatives, which aim to unlock inherent economic potential in specific spatial locations such as Pietermaritzburg-Durban-Richards Bay, Uitenhage-Port Elizabeth-Port St Johns or Pretoria-Brits-Rustenburg28.
9.2.5 Social services: health and education
9.2.5.1 Health services
Social services are important as they contribute to the health and welfare of urban and rural communities. The following statistics provide some indication of the state of health services in South Africa:
• South Africa had 143 755 beds in 749 private and public hospitals in 200229. By 2004 the number of beds had declined to 135 977 in 739 hospitals30.
• There were a total of 197 898 public health sector postsg in 2002, which included 19.30 medical practitioners per 100 000 of the population. Recent surveys have found poor availability of all kinds of key health care personnel at a national level31.
• In 1996 one third of the country’s public health care facilities needed rehabilitation32. By 2001, 282 hospitals and 2 298 of the 4 000 clinic throughout the country had been upgraded, with some 500 mobile clinics being provided between 1994 and 2001. 70% of the facilities sampled in the 2003 Facilities Survey were found to be in urgent need of repair, with only 43% having adequate toilet facilities for patients and staff33.
• Of the facilities surveyed 35% had been commissioned within the past 10 years suggesting a possible improvement in access to public health care facilities for many South Africans.
g Public health sector posts include positions for personnel such as nurses, dentists, doctors and
pharmacists. On foot 59.4% By car as a passenger 8.7% Other 0.7% By train 2.5% By bus 6.0% By minibus/taxi 11.5% By car as a driver 9.9% By bicycle 0.9% By motorcycle 0.4%
• Although most public health care facilities provided family planning and TB services at least 5 days a week, almost one third of facilities did not provide immunisation services 5 days a week. Facilities were also inadequately prepared to provide the required level and quality of care to HIV positive patients.
Like other services, access to health facilities varies distinctly across the country (Map 9.5). Low accessibility is concentrated mainly in rural settlements, although informal and displaced urban settlements, for example, Emfuleni (Gauteng), Atlantis (Western Cape) and Winterveldt (Limpopo) suffer from the same.
Source: Department of Housing (2002)6 Map 9.5: Health care accessibility index
A severe shortage of health care staff, resources and facilities in public hospitals and clinics has undermined health care provision. About 42.5% of posts in the public health care sector were vacant in 200229. Of particular concern was the decline in the number of community service professionals from 406 to 341 per 100 000 people in 200334, which has lowered the access to basic healthcare services of the rural and urban poor. The inequitable geographical distribution of health services worsens the effects of these shortages. There is an imbalance in the inter- and intra-provincial distribution of healthcare facilities, with some areas experiencing over-supply and others backlogs. The Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Limpopo in particular have major shortfalls in hospital beds35. In addition to these inequalities, the quality of many public health care facilities requires urgent attention, particularly in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and North West. This highlights the importance of continuous maintenance.
It is evident that much still needs to be done to improve the delivery of health services. The White Paper on the Transformation of the Health System (1997) and the subsequent Health Sector Strategic Framework 1999-2004 guide the activities of national and provincial health departments. It is policy to provide free health care to children at all public hospitals, and to supply medication for pregnant women that are HIV+. In practise, however, few women are receiving the medication. While there is considerable effort to contain the epidemic, to date we have few results to show36.
Programmes such as the Hospital Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Programme and Clinic Upgrading and Building Programme have had some success in providing basic healthcare facilities to poor communities, including women and children.
9.2.5.2 Education
South Africa is faced with huge challenges in the education sector. The obvious improvements since 1994 have been highly unevenly spread. The transformations of the education system include:
• the creation of a single national education department from 19 departments that were racially, ethnically and regionally divided;
• the establishment of non-discriminatory environments in the country’s 27 000 schools; • the setting up of a National Qualifications Framework and the amalgamation of 150 Further
Education and Training Colleges into 50; and • the merger of various technikons and universities32.
There has been increased delivery of basic services, which has had a positive impact on some schools. The following improvements took place between 1996 and 200037:
• a decline from 34% to 27% in the percentage of schools with running water; • a 55% to 16% decline in the percentage of learners without access to toilet facilities; • an improvement in access to electricity from 40% to 54.9%;
• schools without telephones declined from 59% to 36.4%; and, • the number of schools with computers increased from 2 241 to 6 581.
These improvements have contributed to higher enrolment rates. In 2001, more than 12 million learners (representing approximately 90% of all children between the ages of 5 and 15) attended school9. These positive developments notwithstanding, South Africa faces huge backlogs the education system with the poorest schools in the country remaining severely disadvantaged thereby impacting on literacy levels. Inequalities between urban and rural schools are evident in the facilities and resources available to them. Many households find it difficult to access quality education, mainly in the rural areas, which is needed to develop appropriate skills for the marketplace. The high percentage of un- and under-qualified teachers is a cause for concern38.
Pressure on provincial education budgets over recent years has resulted in the rationalization of teachers and an inability to develop basic infrastructure, especially in the larger and poorer provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and North West. This inefficiency has contributed to higher drop-out rates and failure rates.
In order to address the discrepancies in the education sector, the Department of Education has put in place several programmes. The National Schools Building Programme makes available grants to provinces for the development of school infrastructure. The department has adopted action strategies in order to improve the poor delivery of provinces. The Schools Register of Needs has been established to identify areas (and schools) requiring priority intervention.
9.2.5.3 Community facilities
In addition to the health and education facilities, people’s quality of life is also influenced by access to community facilities such as libraries, parks, sports fields and community halls and recreational facilities. Table 9.2 compares the number of community services per 10 000 people in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Mangaung and Msunduzi.
Table 9.2: Social services and amenities per 10 000 people
Facility Johannesburg Cape Town Mangaung Msunduzi
Libraries 0.24 0.35 0.11 0.16
Swimming pools 0.18 0.10 0.15 0.16
Sports fields 0.69 0.23 0.69 0.75 Community halls and
recreational facilities 0.29 0.37 0.31 0.02
Nursery schools 0.28 0.03 - -
Childcare 0.28 0.04 - -
Total rates per person
2002/03 R653.97 R640.24 R278.23 R405.55
Source: South African Cities Network (2004)1
Open spaces, especially in highly urbanized settlements, also enhance people’s daily existence. Increasingly cities (including Nelson Mandela, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini and Cape Town) are focusing on the impact of the built environment on valuable open spaces such as parks, greenbelts and the municipal reserves. Open Space Management Systems (OSMS) have been developed in municipalities such as Cape Town, eThekwini and Johannesburg. These frameworks attempt to balance the pressure to develop new land with the imperative to maintain environmentally sensitive land for the benefit of future generations. However, there are no comprehensive data on urban open space in the country.
9.2.6 Employment
Employment is one of the primary causes of urbanization, since cities and towns are where jobs are concentrated. Most of the new jobs (469 927) created between 1996 and 2001 were created in the nine largest cities9. During this period, absolute employment in these cities increased by 247 672 to 4 866 808. However, relative to the growth in sectors such as wholesale and retail, and manufacturing, there has been negative growth in employment. The exception to this jobless growth appears to be the financial and business sector, which has gone from the second smallest employment sector in 1960 to the fourth largest in 20011. Figure 9.4 presents the employment by economic sector for all cities in South Africa. Employment profiles (including income and skills) differ depending on the nature of a city’s economy. For instance, the growth in the wholesale and retail sector in cities such as Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Cape Town (represented by the development of large shopping centres) has been mirrored by an increase in employment of service workers. The ‘community and government’ sector is the largest employer in urban economies in the country.
Source: Statistics South Africa (2001)39
Figure 9.4: Percentage employment by economic sector
In the absence of data on unemployment in rural areas, it can be assumed that these areas experience levels of unemployment on a par with (or higher than) national figures. Research on rural development40 has indicated extreme rural poverty and deprivation, for example in
Community & government 19% Construction 6% Utilities 1% Financial 13% Manufacture 16% Mining 1% Households 9% Other 0% Agriculture 2% Wholesale & retail
17% Transport & communication 6% Undetermined 10%
KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo, with strong linkages to poor land management and environmental degradation41.
The monthly income of workers also offers some interesting insights into the distribution of employment opportunities within the country. The average monthly income of workers in the nine largest cities in 2001 was R5,927.22, compared with R2,789.26 in the rest of the country9. In the SACN cities, Tshwane and Johannesburg displayed the highest average monthly income per employed person, of R6,483.81 and R6,408.63, respectively.
A comparison of the 1996 and 2001 census data shows an increase in unemployment in the country as a whole (Figure 9.5) (Refer to Chapter 2). Using the expanded definition of unemploymenth, in 2001, unemployment in the SACN cities stood at 38.3%, against 41.5% for the country as a whole. Despite the contribution of the major urban centres to employment, job creation is insufficient to address the employment needs of the country’s population. Although the workforce across the country grew by 16.8% between 1996 and 2001, the numbers of people seeking employment in the SACN cities increased by 20.94%. This means that the country’s cities experienced a much higher increase in total unemployment, 58.80% compared to 43.90% for South Africa as a whole.
Source: South African Cities Network (2004)1
Figure 9.5: Unemployment in nine largest cities (1996 and 2001)
Although difficult to accurately quantify, it is widely acknowledged that informal economic activities are a major generator of economic value in South Africa. Small, medium and micro enterprizes (SMMEs) represented 97.5% of the total number of firms in South Africa, contributed 34.8% to the GDP, and employed 55% of the national labour force in 200242. Estimates that are more recent suggest that the informal economy employs a larger percentage of the country’s labour force. In 2004, 71.4% of economically active people earned a living in the informal sector43. Empirical investigations on the SMME economy in Johannesburg provide some insights into the characteristics of informal enterprizes:
• SMME establishment is motivated by supply-push rather than demand-pull considerations44;
• immigrant entrepreneurs, especially from sub-Saharan Africa, represent a significant component of the informal economy45;
• survivalist activities contribute to over-trading niches such as home-based spaza retailing, street trading and informal urban cultivation46; and
h The expanded measure of unemployment is defined as those people who want to work but have not taken active
steps to look for work or to start some form of self-employment in the previous four weeks. Figure 9.5: Unemployment in the 9 largest cities (1996-2001)
0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 Joha nnes burg eThe kwini Cape Town Ekurh uleni Tshw ane Nelso n Mand ela Buffa lo City Manga ung Msum duzi N o u nem pl oy ed 1996 2001
• variable entrepreneurial skills are required to be competitive47.
This research indicates that the informal sector is much more than a temporary safety net for the unemployed, but also an important provider of goods and services.
9.2.7 Shelter and service provision
South Africa has an extremely skewed pattern of access to housing and basic services. The service deprivation index, developed by the UNDP to measure progress in the delivery of seven basic services in South Africa, shows a slight increase in service deprivation between 1996 and 2001, especially among Black-headed households32. There has been an increase in the number of households that are considered deprived of access to ‘good’ quality basic services; from 5.68 million in 1996 to 7.24 million (27% increase) in 2001. Fifty percent of the total deprivation occurs in the KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo provinces (Map 9.6). A closer look at the access to housing, water, sanitation, waste management and energy shows a number of interesting trends. It also shows that the country’s progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals has been uneven (Box 9.3).
Source: Statistics South Africa (2001)48
Map 9.6: Household access to basic services: (a) piped water in the dwelling, (b) adequate sanitation (flush toilets), (c) electricity for lighting, and (d) waste removal
9.2.7.1 Shelter
Since 1994, South Africa has spent R24.22 billion supporting the building of over 1.5 million houses for poor households7. Approximately 6 million people benefited from subsidy and housing credit schemes across the country between 1994 and June 200349. Depending on the province, between 28% and 54% of all housing subsidies approved, were granted to women-headed households32. A review of the number of houses completed this period shows that
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(a)
(b)
housing delivery in provinces has been sporadic, tailing off significantly in 2003. By far the largest number of houses were constructed in Gauteng (355 556 units) and KwaZulu-Natal (256 542 units) between 1994 and 2003, whereas only 32 136 houses were built in Limpopo for the same period49.
The total proportion of traditional households decreased significantly from 18.2% to 14.8% over the period 1996 to 2001 (Figure 9.6), with female-headed households showing the largest decline. During the same period the proportion of informal households living in shacks increased by 5.8%, this despite a 7% increase in the proportion of households living in formal housing. Black households have been the primary beneficiaries of state housing policies: the proportion of formal dwellings occupied by Blacks increased by 10% to 55%, while the number of blacks occupying informal shacks declined.
Housing needs have increased due to a rapidly growing urban population. The expansion of unplanned informal settlements has resulted in an increase in the housing backlog: from 1.5 million units in 1994 to approximately 3 million units in 200032. In 2002, the rate of housing backlog was around 208 000 units per year, and can be attributed to factors including rapid urbanization, unemployment, population growth, exacerbated by corruption and lack of administrative capacity50. Surveys have shown mixed reactions from recipients of RDP houses, including dissatisfaction with the quality of housing delivery, the poor access of households living in housing projects to jobs and job-hunting opportunities, the under-spending on budget for low-income housing by responsible housing departments, and unfair allocation of housing7.
1
Others: Incl. caravan or tent and private ship/ boat
Source: Statistics South Africa (2004)9
Figure 9.6: Distribution of dwellings by type and race
9.2.7.2 Water and sanitation services
Access to potable water and sanitation is essential to the effective functioning of human settlements and integral to human health and well-being. Since 1994, there has been an improvement in access to clean water. In 2001, 9.5 million households (84.5%) had access to piped water, an increase of 2.4 million households since 1996. During the same period, the number of households reliant on water from sources including dams, rivers and streams and boreholes declined, thereby suggesting improved access to clean water among rural households. However, low cost recovery, water availability and inefficient training in maintenance of infrastructure, among others, have resulted in the variable success of rural water schemes4.
To minimize service arrears and ensure the basic needs of households are met, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) mandated in 2001 that households receive up to 6 000 litres of free water per month. The subsistence level of this free water, however, still needs to be measured in the context of larger families, those living in backyard shacks on the same property and people involved in subsistence activities.
45 89 55 92 21 2 20 3 0 20 40 60 80 100
African Others ¹ African Others ¹
1996 1996 2001 2001
Race group and year
Pe rc en ta ge (% )
Source: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (2004)51
Figure 9.7: Levels of access to water supply infrastructure
The safe disposal of human waste reduces the vectors for disease. Although there has been progress in the delivery of clean water, there are evident lags in the delivery of sanitation facilities52. Many households do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. (Figure 9.8). Although there has been a varied but small improvement in the access to flush toilets, and an increase in the number of households with access to adequate sanitation from 7.5 million to 9.2 million, the proportion of households without adequate sanitation has not changed markedly since 1993. At the time of the 1996 Census, approximately one in every eight households did not have access to sanitation. By 2001, this figure had increased to one in every seven households. In line with policy, however, there has been a decline in bucket toilets from 5.3% in 1993 to 1.9% 2003.
Source: Statistics South Africa (200153, 20049)
Figure 9.8: Access to sanitation and incidence of water-borne diseases from 1993 - 2003
The apparent lack of progress in sanitation provision is due to a combination of a growing population and number of households, as well as relatively low delivery52. Consequently, in many areas inferior forms of sanitation persist resulting in high incidences of water-borne diseases, for example cholera and typhoid. The outbreak of cholera in KwaZulu-Natal in 2001 is an example of the results of poor access to sanitation (Figure 9.8).
46.4 35.4 6.1 4.9 47.4 37.3 5.7 4.4 0 10 20 30 40 50 Census population Access to infrastructure at basic
level or higher Access to basic services - below
RDP service levels No access to infrastructure Le ve l of ac ce ss
Number of people (millions)
2003 2004 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 1993 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 P e rc e n ta g e o f ho us e h o lds ( % ) 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 Nu m b e r o f c a se s
Bucket Pit Flush/Chemical
Cholera Typhoid Not adequate
Box 9.3: South African progress in meeting Millennium Development Goals relating to human settlement
MDG 7 focuses on ensuring environmental sustainability. Targets 10 and 11 are as follows:
• Target 10: Halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation; and,
• Target 11: Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.
Reviews of South Africa’s performance in terms of target 10 and 11, suggest variable success. Despite significant improvement in the number of people with safe drinking water over the past decade, the water services in non-urban areas are still in need of improvement54. Distinguishing between adequate (piped to house of stand) and inadequate water supply (all other categories), a report by Crankshaw and Parnell55 on target 11 comes to a similar conclusion. They also indicate a decline in the access to water in urban areas, suggesting an increase in household growth. With sustained delivery, it would appear that South Africa stands a good chance of meeting the water delivery target.
Assessments report less satisfactory progress in the provision of sanitation. With over 21% of the population still without sanitation, much needs to be done if South Africa is to meet its target. The DWAF 2004 Annual Report estimates that some 17 million people are still without sanitation.
Crankshaw and Parnell indicate that South Africa had performed well in improving the conditions of slum dwellers through several initiatives, including the provision of new houses and housing subsidies. Shack settlements however increased by 5.8% between 1996 and 2001. Progress with respect to tenure security was found to be excellent, with over 2 million new households obtaining access to individual freehold housing during the review period. Tenure reform for slum dwellers living in other categories of shelter (e.g. hostels, domestic quarters, informal settlements) was found to have been slow.
9.2.7.3 Waste collection and disposal
Local authorities are mandated to collect, handle and dispose of domestic waste from all households and to ensure an equitable service to their communities. The Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces service the greatest number of households, while the Western Cape, Gauteng and Northern Cape provinces service the greatest percentage of households in their provinces (Figure 9.9). Municipal waste collection has improved countrywide by only 2.7% between 1996 and 2001, and almost 50% of the population is still not receiving a regular waste collection service. The metropolitan municipalities deliver an almost 100% service, while local municipalities in many remote rural areas deliver no service at all. Yearly assessments of the ability of local municipalities to perform their refuse removal and disposal functions, which is undertaken by the Municipal Demarcation Board56, show that there is a growing inability of municipalities (e.g. staff, capacity, budget) to deliver efficient waste collection services.
Source: Statistics South Africa (2004)9
Figure 9.9: Municipal service provision of waste collection facilities 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 WC GP NC FS KZN MP EC NW LP P e rc en tage o f h o u se h o ld s ( % ) 1996 2001
Landfill sites are currently an important aspect for implementation of the cradle to grave approach of waste management. However if not sited, engineered and operated correctly, as is the case in many parts of South Africa, negative impacts can be numerous and of long duration. Communities residing close to these landfills, can be impacted on as follows:
• Streams situated close to a site can be contaminated from leachate generated by the landfill; • Borehole water can also become contaminated if leachate percolates into the groundwater; • Burning of waste releases particulates and other gases which could be harmful to health and
could affect respiration among other things;
• Contamination of surface and groundwater resources and soil;
• Emissions and releases of contaminants into the air from incineration, illegal burning of waste and releases of volatile organic carbons (VOCs) poses human health risks;
• Poses health and safety risks;
• Attracts vermin and harbours vectors; and
• Litter and illegal dumping is aesthetically unpleasant and can lead to urban decayImproved operation can have a marked decrease in environmental impacts.
The Townlands landfill in Rustenburg shows the negative community impacts of poor landfill management.
Over the last five years, planners have ignored landfill permit conditions and have built residential areas, closer and closer to the landfill. Prior to June 2004, no access control, poor on-site operations, dust and the burning of waste and tyres by a growing informal salvager population negatively affected nearby residents. In addition to the growth in the number of informal salvagers, there was a noticeable increase in wind blown litter, odour and an increase in the fly population. Informal salvagers were in constant contact with waste and machinery, which exposed them to various health and safety risks posed by general and health care waste and condemned food stuff.
Although the site’s aesthetics, odour and operation have improved with the appointment of an on-site contractor, the planning department has given permission for low cost housing to be built five to ten metres from the toe of the landfill. This presents another set of dangers such as the migration and threats related to methane gas and the stability of the landfill. These potential hazards would persist long after the landfill is closed.
Source: Specialist Study on Waste by Jarrod Ball and Associates (2005)
Once collected, waste must be properly disposed of to protect human health (see Box 9.4). 475 general landfill sites have been granted a permit from the DWAF, while 12 new applications are in process. This represents 64% compliance with Section 20 of the Environment Conservation Act, as more than 760 sites (legal and illegal) are currently known to DWAF. There could however be up to 15 000 unrecorded communal sites in the rural areas57. In 1997, more than 300 incineration facilities were in operation in South Africa, many of which could then not meet the required emission standards for human health and environmental protection58.
Waste has direct and indirect impacts. Waste, if not removed, attracts vermin, which act as vectors for disease. The effects of waste on the environment are primarily negative, such as contamination of surface and groundwater resources and soil, with certain social and economic benefits, e.g. job creation through recycling, use of waste as a resource in terms of fuel and input raw material. Emissions from incinerators and the illegal burning of waste contribute to air pollution, thereby contributing to the release of volatile organic carbons that pose human health risks.
Box 9.4: The impact of a landfill on surrounding communities – A case study in Rustenburg
Steps taken to date to ensure environmental rights in relation to waste management include: the publication of the Environmental Management Policy for South Africa (1998); the White Paper on Integrated Pollution and Waste Management (1998); the National Water Act (1998); as well as the promulgation of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) (1998) which emphasizes the concept of waste minimization as well as environmental social and economic sustainability of developments such as landfills. The White Paper on Integrated Pollution and Waste Management (NWMS) defines government’s ‘cradle to grave’ approach to the management of waste. Currently implementation of the NWMS is being undertaken on the following selected components: the Waste Information System, Recycling, Health Care Waste and Capacity Building. These initiatives will soon be supplemented by the promulgation of an Integrated Waste Management Bill, which is scheduled for promulgation in 2006.
As a component of the NWMS, local authorities have been developing their Integrated Waste Management Plans (IWMP), to address current shortfalls in service delivery and improving on environmental compliance. By 2004, 50% of metropolitan municipalities, 31% of District Municipalities and 27.5% of local municipalities had completed an IWMP. Although this represents only 28.72% of all municipalities, another 54.55% are in the process of developing their waste plans59.
The first DEAT National Waste Summit held at Polokwane in September 2001 highlighted the need for urgent action to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste in order to protect the environment. The outcome of the Summit was the signing of the Polokwane Declaration, of which the main goal is to stabilize waste generation and reduce waste disposal by 50% by 2012 and to achieve zero waste by 2022. Box 9.5 presents the key opportunities for waste and waste management.
Box 9.5: Opportunities for waste and waste management
• Waste should be seen as a resource and the potential for various uses investigated.
• Separation at source can result in the creation of work opportunities and assists in preventing contamination of recyclables thereby improving usability.
• Alternative product packing methods could instill creative entrepreneurship and means of storage. Products such as biodegradable packaging products (e.g engineered starch) could be developed and a market could be established for these goods.
• Cleaner technology improves cost effectiveness, reduces waste, improves product development and design which could lead to reduced emissions (air and water).
• Alternative uses of waste streams as resources for other products (ash in brick making, gypsum for gypsum board, pulverized rubber waste integrated into bitumen/tar, etc.).
• Opportunities for job creation in supplying services, reuse of waste products to create usable products, art, etc..
• Opportunities can be found in the harvesting of landfill gas for heating, electricity and an alternative fuel source, which also reduces emissions of greenhouse gasses.
• Industrial waste exchange systems between industries.
• Carbon credit projects (where carbon credits could be sold as an income for local municipalities in particular).
• Diversion or reduction of the waste stream to disposal sites, reduces potential pollution problems.
• Where waste information systems are lacking, entrepreneurs/companies can design and market systems to assist local authorities in particular.
• With so many historical sites, not properly rehabilitated and closed, opportunities exist for SMMEs to reshape and rehabilitate these sites, which could have a long-term beneficial use for the local community. Pikitup (Johannesburg) are currently rehabilitating 6 sites in Soweto with end uses varying from sports fields, open spaces for communities, subsistence agricultural farming to the establishment of recycling facilities.
9.2.7.4 Energy
The South African economy is energy-intensive, using a large amount of energy for every Rand of economic output60i. South African energy is dominated by coalj, which contributes 70% of primary energy and fuels 93% of electricity production61 (Figure 9.10). As much of the coal mined is of low quality it is often beneficiated resulting in large quantities of solid waste discards. Producing 1 Kilowatt hour of electricity requires 0.5 kg of coal, 1.29 litres of water, and results in the generation of 142 g of ash and 0.9 kg of carbon dioxide. A ton of coal would therefore produce 284 kg of waste ash62. In 2003 about 6.3 million tons of waste ash was produced in the country63.
In addition to the waste ash production, energy supply in South Africa is also carbon dioxide-intensive. Approximately 209 tons of carbon is used for every international dollar of GDP produced in South Africa, compared to 164 tons for the USA64. Sulfur related emissions from power stations, though significant at about 1.5 million tons per year65, are tapered as the sulfur content of local coal is low.
Local coal is cheap and this results in low energy costs, particularly for electricityk, which is the cheapest in the world - about one US cent per kilowatt hour. In addition to being a major exporter of coal, South Africa’s access to low-cost energy has helped develop a competitive advantage by, among others, setting up energy-intensive industry such as aluminium smelting and mining. Heavy industry and mining operations are, however, a major contributor to high ambient air pollution levels in many major urban centres.
South Africa has little oil and most of its crude is imported at expense to the country. The country obtains useful amounts of energy from biomass (14%) and nuclear power (6%), with smaller amounts from hydropowerl, natural gasm, solar and wind (Box 9.6). Much of the primary energy is transformed into final energy, which is convenient to use, such as electricity and liquid fuels. The country’s final energy demand in 2005 is estimated to be 2400 PJ (excluding marine bunkers and non-energy fuel use), consisting of electricity (24%), coal (24%), liquid fuels (26%), bioma ss (15%) and with natural gas and other renewables less than 1%66.
Figure 1 illustrates the energy flows through the South African energy-economy, from supply to the end use of energy. As a result of the high reliance on fossil fuels, much carbon (.87 tons) is released per unit (1 tonne of oil equivalent) of energy consumed. The use and transformation of energy accounts for 75% of South Africa’s greenhouse gas emissions.
i
It requires 240 tons of oil (equivalent) to produce only one internationali (intl) dollar at purchasing power parityi (ppp) of GDP. Per capita consumption is still however much lower than that of the United States. Annual per capita consumption in South Africa is 2.4 tons of oil equivalent compared to 8 in the United States (WRI 2005).
j
South Africa has coal reserves of 34 billion tonnes.
k
South Africa’s electricity generating plants are special in that they burn very low-grade coal.
l
Local hydro reserves are limited.
m Local gas reserves are limited. Should gas be used on a large scale it is likely to be imported into South
Source: DME (2004)67
Figure 9.10: The structure of the South African energy sector Box 9.6: Renewable energy in South Africa
South Africa has excellent renewable energy resources. Its solar resources are known to be among the best in the world, and its wind energy, although not fully assessed, have high potential particularly in coastal areas and along the escarpment.
Solar power
The Kalahari has some of the most favourable solar radiation conditions in the world, and is an ideal siting for a large-scale solar thermal plant. There re already a number of programmes installing photovoltaics in rural areas: for homes (Solar Home Systems); rural clinics; and schools. By 2001 there was over 8MW installed capacity in South Africa, with about 2 000 systems having been installed in schools and 200 in rural clinics. As domestic water heating consumes one third of total domestic power used, Solar Water Heaters could potentially save the country 2 000MW of capacity – the equivalent of one coal-fired power station.
Wind power
Most of South Africa’s wind resource is in mountainous areas like the Drakenberg and in coastal areas. There are about 860 small-scale (500W) remote installations throughout the country. The first commercial windfarm for grid generation is due for implementation in Darling in the Western Cape. The first phase will comprise four 1.3MW turbines and yield 5.2MW at a cost price of 38c/kwh. It is envisaged that in the second phase the windfarm will expanded by a further 6 wind turbines, making a total installed capacity of 13MW. In the short-term the Darling Wind Farm will require some subsidy from the Global Environmental Facility. Eskom has announced plans to develop another 5MW windfarm.
Hydropower
In South Africa large-scale hydro energy generates only 1.7% of total energy. Current installed capacity is about 660MW, with the Lesotho Highlands Water Scheme projected to provide an additional 600MW. There is a further 1 400MW of pumped storage scheme generation capacity, most of this located in the Drakensburg and the Steenbras Dam above Cape Town.
Other options
Options such as landfill gas and wave energy are being tested in South Africa. The coastline is potentially very favourable for wave energy with an estimated 56 800MW available. A few projects using methane gas from landfills are being developed such as in eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.
