INTRODUCTION

In 1991 a sustainable development document "Caring for the Earth – A Guide to Sustainable Living", was jointly published by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund (WWF). This important document sets out a broad global strategy for the changes needed to build a sustainable society and encourages each community to interpret and adapt these recommendations to local conditions. In 1997 John Yeld wrote "Caring for the Earth – South Africa", which will be used as the basis for sustainable development in Greater Johannesburg.

The most commonly used definition of ‘sustainable development’ was used by the United Nations sponsored World Commission on Environment and Development, chaired by the Norwegian prime minister Mrs. Gro Harlem Brundtland, in its influential report of 1987, "Our Common Future". It defines sustainable development as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs."

The nature of sustainable development is such that it cannot be achieved without the careful conservation of biological resources. In GJ sustainable development covers not only the ‘green’ issues but also the ‘brown issues’ - it sees "environment" in the broader sense to encompass the social, economic, political, institutional and urban dimensions of this term, not just ecological / biological. This is borne out in its environmental priorities which include issues of poverty, as it recognises the link / impact of social conditions on environmental quality. In GJ the attempt is to structure concrete and practical responses to the vague platitudes of environmental conventions. The philosophy behind sustainable development is to make the necessary changes that will allow normal ecological activities to be sustainable into the future. It further realises that irreversible environmental degradation must be prevented, because it reduces the capacity of the planet to support these ecological processes. According to "Caring for the Earth" (1991), sustainable development has three basic objectives:

• To maintain essential ecological processes and life support systems;
• To preserve biological diversity; and
• To use natural resources and ecosystems sustainably, or, where this is not possible, wisely, as in the case of non-renewable resources such as minerals.

The ultimate goal of "Caring for the Earth" is a sustainable society: a society which grows and prospers while living within the carrying capacity of its supporting ecosystems, and which is underpinned by the philosophy of caring for all living creatures. This goal can be achieved through applying the nine principles of sustainable living:

• Respecting and caring for the community of life;
• Improving the quality of life;
• Conserving the Earth’s vitality and diversity;
• Minimising the depletion of non-renewable resources;
• Keeping within the Earth’s carrying capacity;
• Changing personal attitudes and practices;
• Enabling communities to care for their own environments;
• Providing a national framework for integrating development and conservation; and
• Creating a global alliance (Yeld, 1997).

These principles will now be used to create a sustainable development policy for Greater Johannesburg.  The sustainable transition process (Steady, 1993)shows the process of transition from an unsustainable to a sustainable system that needs to be undertaken in Greater Johannesburg.

A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICY IN THE GREATER JOHANNESBURG CONTEXT

Principle 1:
RESPECT AND CARE FOR THE COMMUNITY OF LIFE
This ethical principle requires that human actions should not be taken at the expense of other human groups or later generations, and should not threaten the survival of other species. It recognises that our survival depends on the use of other species, but that we need not and should not use them wastefully of cruelly (Fuggle & Rabie, 1992).   In Greater Johannesburg, the application of this principle implies that :

• All people throughout Greater Johannesburg must have access to the basic services and right to express themselves freely, like in parks and open spaces. In the southern parts of the metropolitan area, including the Weilers Farm area, Lawley settlement and Freedom Park/Goldev areas, a lack of regular refuse removal exists. In area like Alexadra and Diepsloot, as well as many other the lack of services must be corrected.
• The same standard of services in the north must also be implemented in the south of the metropolitan area. The principle of equity is not simplistic, as it is not sustainable to provide a high level of service, e.g. waterborne sewerage, for areas that do not have the household income to pay for such services. One cannot apply this principle easily throughout the whole of GJ.
• People must be taught through environmental awareness programmes to protect other species, as they form part of the same community of life. The diverse cultural communities in Greater Johannesburg must be respected, and such diversity of beliefs and practises must be promoted. The historical and cultural sites of significance of all communities in the entire metropolitan area must therefore be preserved, as they are valuable and non-renewable heritage resources. The same interest must be given to the preservation of all ridges, rivers and other natural habitats of natural communities throughout GJ.

Principle 2:
IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF HUMAN LIFE
The underlying aim of all development is to improve the quality of human life. It is a process that enables people to lead lives of dignity and fulfillment and to realise their potential. People everywhere want to lead long and healthy lives; to have access to education and the resources needed for a decent standard of living; to attain political freedom, and freedom from violence. Development must address all these factors, and not only economic growth (Fuggle & Rabie, 1992). The application of this principle in Greater Johannesburg has the following implications:

• The quality of any community can be measured by its life expectancy; infant survival rate; literacy level; access to clean water; sanitation and refuse removal services; access to education, and the quality of the environment. The natural population growth rate in Greater Johannesburg is 2,4% with an immigration rate of 1%. This, together with the estimated 250 000 illegal immigrants in the metropolitan area places pressure on the quality and level of services that are provided. Natural and migrational population growth must be controlled through family planning and education. In settlements like Geluksdal/Unaville southeast of Ennerdale, and Lawley southwest of Lenasia, little services exist, with only unimproved pit latrines, no water borne sewers, no regular refuse removal and only gas and candles as source of lighting.
• Programmes should be initiated to improve the quality of life of people, especially the 36% (65 settlements) informal population, who are mainly located in the SMLC and the EMLC. Income levels in the south of Greater Johannesburg vary between R1-R80 000 per household per month, while households in the north earn between R55 000 and R256 000 per month. More job opportunities need to be created in the south.
• Eighteen percent of Gauteng’s residents are infected with the HIV virus, with over 200 000 people in Soweto having been infected. In a certain hospital over 50% of babies are born infected with AIDS. Better medical services and education is needed, especially in the southern and eastern parts of Greater Johannesburg, and in all informal settlements.
• Women in Greater Johannesburg have traditionally had only limited access to and control over income, credit, land, education, training, health care and information, and have suffered the most as a result of poverty and environmental degradation. Such discrimination should be eliminated as a matter of urgency through the upliftment of women, as it is mostly women who stay at home and live and work in the environment, and actually understand their own environment the best. Female-headed households in Greater Johannesburg are the poorest, surviving on less than R1 055 per month. Women can for example be given environmental projects to perform, and earn an additional income from that.

Principle 3:
CONSERVE THE EARTH’S VITALITY AND DIVERSITY
Humanity is utterly dependent upon the earth’s natural systems. Deliberate action must therefore be taken to protect the structure, functions and diversity of the world’s ecosystems. The ecological processes that govern the climate, recycle the essential elements, form soil, disperse waste, and keep the planet fit for life, must be conserved. The variety of plants and animals and other organisms, as well as the different ways these are assembled in communities must be preserved, and the human use of living resources must be within the resource’s capacity for renewal (Fuggle & Rabie, 1992). Since the physical structure of the earth is constantly changing, the capacity of ecosystems to adapt must be maintained, meaning:

• Conserving the life support systems that nature provides; the ecological processes that shape the climate; clean the air and water; regulate water flows; recycle essential elements; create and regenerate soil, and generally keep the planet fit for life;
• Conserving the diversity of all life on Earth; and
• Ensuring that all uses of renewable resources are sustainable.

The implications of implementing this principle in Greater Johannesburg is that:

• All nature reserves and protected and proclaimed areas in Greater Johannesburg, such as the Melville Koppies, Witwatersrand Botanical Gardens, the Kloofendal Reserve, the Florida Lake/Fleurhof Dam area, etc. must be preserved. They are the "green lungs" of the urban area and a source of biodiversity in Greater Johannesburg. All the ridges, the Klip and Jukskei River systems, and other natural features in this predominantly urban environment must also be protected.
• The use of the most current technologies and improved law-enforcement is needed in Greater Johannesburg to conserve our natural environment. Air pollution levels are highest around the Johannesburg CBD and the surrounding industrial areas such as Denver and Industria West. Water in the Jukskei River in the vicinity of Alexandra shows evidence of sewage pollution, while water in the Klip River around Soweto shows pollution from mining and raw sewage. Land (waste) pollution is the worst in informal settlements; at the six waste disposal sites; the mining zone and the various business nodes in Greater Johannesburg.
• Human activities are rapidly altering the ecological processes through pollution, and the destruction or modification of ecosystems. Urban environments are the most modified environments, and natural features must be preserved. The rehabilitation and grassing of mine dumps / tailings; the promotion of waste recycling; climate protection measures; catchment management, etc. are also some steps that need to be taken.

Principle 4:
MINIMISE THE DEPLETION OF NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES
Minerals and fossil fuels are non-renewable, and their continued use can not be sustained. Nevertheless, their usefulness to human beings can be extended by avoiding over-use or wasteful use, through recycling and by using renewable substitutes where possible (Fuggle & Rabie, 1992).

• Greater Johannesburg once had large reserves of gold and other minerals in the Witwatersrand ridge zone. Most of these minerals have been depleted by mining activity, which has left barren landscapes that are in need of rehabilitation. The use of new sources of renewable and non-polluting energy, such as sunlight must therefore be promoted amongst the metropolitan population. The diversification of economic activity (other than primary industry and mining) must also be promoted in the country, in order to protect the environment from further degradation, and to ensure a sustainable economy for the future.
• The alarming rate of use of fossil-fuels in Greater Johannesburg is causing serious air pollution, especially in the Inner City where incomplete combustion of fuels in vehicles causes air pollution problems, as well as in all informal settlements, the whole of Soweto, Zakariyya Park, Grasmere, Finetown, Weilers Farm, and Orange Farm in the south, where excessive amounts of coal is being used for heating, lighting and cooking. This rapid exploitation of our coal reserves may contribute significantly to global warming in the future. The use of private vehicles should therefore be actively discouraged through incentives and disincentives, and the use of the public transport system should be improved and promoted. Energy efficiency measures in terms of the Council’s operations, as well as of the metropolitan community should also be initiated and promoted.

Principle 5:
KEEP WITHIN THE EARTH’S CARRYING CAPACITY
Policies that bring human numbers and lifestyles into balance with nature’s capacity must be developed together with technologies and management practices that enhance that capacity (Fuggle & Rabie, 1992). The implications of the application of this principle for Greater Johannesburg is that:

• Human impact on the environment depends on two things, the total number of people and the amount of energy and other resources they use and discard as waste. The more affluent northern suburbs of Greater Johannesburg display a very high consumption of resources and a correspondingly high production of waste despite the relatively lower population density in these areas. In the south there are very high residential densities of the population, but which consume relatively less resources than communities in the north. The total production of waste is however still too high, and waste minimisation and pollution prevention measures must be applied to the whole of the metropolitan area. The natural resources of Greater Johannesburg relative to its size can only support a certain amount of people, and an awareness of the need to minimise population growth (2,4%) and resource use is needed in the city. The vicious cycle of malnutrition, lack of health care, education and services, needs to be changed to break the cycle of poverty. Approximately 19,2% of the population of Greater Johannesburg have no education, with female Africans heading the list.
• The six landfill sites in Greater Johannesburg and the sewer systems can also only carry a certain amount of refuse and less waste must therefore be produced through the active promotion of waste reduction measures such as recycling.
• Efficient reduction in waste production and resource use can only be reached by reducing population growth and educating people about the environment. Clinics are being held in Soweto to enhance family planning, but these are needed throughout the whole metropole.

Principle 6:
CHANGE PERSONAL ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES
Through educational programmes and the dissemination of information individuals must be encouraged to re-examine their values and to alter their behaviour to accord with the ethic of living sustainably (Fuggle & Rabie, 1992). In Greater Johannesburg this implies that :

• The 36% informal population of the metropolitan area needs not only environmental education, but also the incentives and tools to be able to live sustainably. Environmental projects as well as a certain income for maintaining them, can serve as incentives in these communities. Poverty usually forces people to act unsustainably.
• The large amounts of businesses located mainly in and around the Inner City of Johannesburg, and in the western and northern suburbs, need to change their practices and recycle more and waste less. Affluent communities usually accept the need for lower consumption, but mostly do not take environmental issues seriously. All communities across the socio-economic spectrum need to adapt their lifestyles by conserving water; recycling; reducing waste, and valuing "environmental friendliness" above convenience when shopping in order to adopt an ethic of sustainable living, e.g. reduction of the use of plastic bags.
• Environmental education in schools, as is being carried out by the WMLC, needs to be done throughout the entire metropolitan area in order to ensure that sustainable practises become in-grained from an early age. These ideas must however also be spread to older people, especially to women who mostly work and live in the natural environment.
• Environmental awareness must be promoted to all levels of businesses, from the ground level to the managers, in order that everyone will be more environmentally aware.
• The media can play a big role in promoting more environmentally sustainable practices. Newspapers such as the Sowetan, The Star, Beeld, television and radio stations such as Radio Highveld and Radio Xhosa are powerful tools to promote the message.

Principle 7:
ENABLE COMMUNITIES TO CARE FOR THEIR OWN ENVIRONMENTS
Authorities and governments may not always be able to constantly intervene to protect the environment from human actions. Communities must therefore empower themselves to contribute to and enforce decisions that affect their environment. To care for the environment is the responsibility of all communities and must not be made to appear the predominant responsibility of government and conservation agencies (Fuggle & Rabie, 1992).

• A sustainable community cares for its own environment; recycles; minimises waste, and has the tools and incentives to be environmentally friendly. There is a great need for this to be promoted and supported in Greater Johannesburg, but especially to those in the informal settlements that are subject to the highest levels of environmental degradation.
• Every community must be given responsibility for their own environment. People are most inclined to take responsibility if there is a sense of ownership and therefore accountability, including for their own environments.
• The dissemination of information for education and awareness raising; the use of appropriate technology; targeted funding and skills training are therefore needed to facilitate sustainable community practises.

Principle 8:
PROVIDE A NATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR INTEGRATING CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT

To ensure that conservation and development actions are harmonised, all countries need an acceptable framework of law and institutions which are consistent with economic realities and social norms. Such programmes must be adaptive and responsive to changing national circumstances. What will work in one country will be different from another (Fuggle & Rabie, 1992).

• The entire metropolitan area needs an integrated approach to urban development and environmental planning, with sustainability as the main goal.
• Greater Johannesburg must also develop, interpret and implement its own sustainable principles in accordance with the national and provincial principles.
• A holistic monitoring programme is needed to create a balance between development and conserfvation, which can be used as an example for the province and the whole of South Africa.It must place equal importance on both issues and not neglect conservation for development purposes.

Principle 9:
CREATE A GLOBAL ALLIANCE
All nations of the world are interdependent in the economic, social, political, environmental and other senses. Pollution and other environmental impacts are not bound by political or administrative boundaries. Therefore, in order for sustainable living to be achieved, all nations of the world must act in accord, as neither the developed nor the developing countries will be able to proceed towards sustainability without the co-operation of the other (Fuggle & Rabie, 1992).

CONCLUSION

Greater Johannesburg has a very diverse community and a very dense urbanised population that is growing at a rate of 2,4% per year. The only way forward, in order to assure that resources and environmental systems will keep sustaining life in this urban environment, is through sustainable development. This includes compliance to the nine principles and a change in people’s way of living and thinking.

REFERENCES

Fuggle, R.F. & M.A. Rabie 1992: Environmental Management in South Africa. Juta: Cape Town.

Steady, F.C. 1993: Women and Children First: Environment, Poverty and Sustainable Development. Schenkman: Vermont.