Driving Forces

The driving forces behind social change can be categorised into national and international forces. These are summarised below.

National Driving Forces in the Social Environment:  

In South Africa, the provision for human needs can be viewed as the primary driving force behind social change. Provision of human needs impacts on the environment as humankind is dependent on natural resources for providing these needs.

The concept basic needs derives from the World Employment Conference that was presented by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1976. After the elections in1994 a plan of action was launched in South Africa to provide specifically for the basic needs of people, in order to redress the social inequities of the past. The ANC's Reconstruction and Development Programme(ANC 1994) was aimed at addressing the basic needs of the whole of the South African population. The six basic principles of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) are:

• Integration and sustainability of policies and programmes between government, business and organisations within civil society
• Involvement and empowering of people
• Peace and security for all through combatting violence, respecting and upholding human rights, and political stability
• Nation building (development of a single country, with a single economy, within a Constitutional framework which is representative of all population groups)
• Meeting basic needs and building infrastructure through various programmes
• Democratisation as an active, ongoing process of public participation in decision making

These principles are to be effected through the following 5 programmes:

• Meeting basic needs (job creation, land and agrarian reform, housing, water, sanitation, energy supplies, transport, nutrition, health care, the environment, social welfare and security)
• Developing human resources (education and training, recognition of previously disregarded skills, abolishment of discrimination)
• Building the economy (reversing the distortions, reducing dissavings, reducing government consumption expenditures, redressing balance of payments, etc) (see Economic Dimensions)
• Democratising the state and society (establishment of a single, smaller public service, and increased efficiency, productivity and accountability)
• Implementing the RDP (through a range of programmes across government and social organisations and institutions)

The Bill of Rights as a whole introduced a human rights culture in South Africa. Because a large part of the population was previously not granted full and equal citizenship and had no right to lay claim to facilities and services, large backlogs in provision of these services developed. In order to erase these backlogs and fight poverty towards securing a minimum standard of living for all South Africans, reconstruction and development became the chief credo of the new government. All these developments will impact on the natural environment either directly (e.g. through increased water usage), or indirectly (e.g. through urbanisation and land transformation).

International Driving Forces in the Social Environment:  

The growing realisation that the indiscriminate exploitation of the earth's natural resources may lead to their collapse caused environmental issues to become universally dominant themes from about 1970 onwards. Consequently various initiatives at international level and by individual countries were launched in order to address environmental issues. Because of its previous political isolation, South Africa was initially excluded from participating in these international initiatives, but has since played a very active role.

In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development introduced the concept of sustainable development. sustainable development by 2002 is generally interpreted as meeting the needs of the present population, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, and aims to integrate socio-economic development and environmental management.

South Africa attended the "Earth Summit" in Rio in 1992 as an observer. The global environmental strategy which resulted from this, Agenda 21, has been adopted by South Africa, and the government is committed to anational strategy for sustainable development by 2002.

>     Social Environment: Pressures

There is also information about the Social Environment in the following reports:
Metropolitan reports:
	Cape Metropolitan Council (1998 edition)		Durban Pilot Study
	Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council (1999 edition)		Greater Pretoria Metropolitan Council (1999 edition)