Pressures in the Social
Environment
The social changes which are currently exerting pressure on the environment can be
summarised in the following 3 categories:
- Population & demographic
change
- Social & economic
development
- Changing values and
beliefs
Population and Demographic Change: .gif)
Over the past century, the South
African population has changed in a number of ways.
Firstly, the population has grown substantially.
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| More waste is generated with an increase in population size; exerting pressure on the environment |
The
first national census was held in 1904, when the total
population amounted to 5.17 million people. The
population has since increased to the official figure of
40.58 million (Central Statistical Services,1996), and
is growing by roughly 2% each year. A larger population means greater demand for
natural resources and environmental services, as well as
increased waste generation and pollution.
Rapid population growth is
a global phenomenon, and is due to a reduction in
mortality rates,
which is not matched by an
equivalent decline in fertility rates.
Improved health care, improved nutrition and better
living conditions are accepted as the most important
factors contributing to the decline in infant mortality
(Lötter, 1990).
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| Improved population growth due to better health care |
In South Africa the fertility rate
is declining in both urban and rural areas, although the
overall fertility rate is still high. Reduced fertility
rates are coincident with increased development,
industrialisation, economic growth and urbanisation,
changing social structures and social mobility. However,
the exact relationship between development and fertility
is not clear (Lötter, 1990).
Secondly, the composition of the
South African population has changed. Declining infant
mortality rates and increasing life
expectancy (both through improved health
care) means that both the younger and the older sections
of the population have grown relative to the middle age
group. The size of the middle age group of the
population is important, as a proportionately smaller
middle-age group means fewer productive workers, and
hence reduced national productivity. This results in
stagnation or reduction in
GDP
.
The greater proportion of the population not contributing to
production may act as a drain on resources such as health
care, education and service provision, although in many cases the elderly perform services in the household such as child care.
Thirdly, the population has
become more mobile. Improved communication and transport
infrastructure has facilitated the movement of
people. In South Africa, as elsewhere in the world, the major trend has
been movement from rural to urban areas. In 1904, more
than 75% of the South African population were living in
rural areas, whereas in 1996 the rural population was
estimated to be 46.3%, although given the increase in
population, this was a significantly greater number of
people. Growth of urban areas puts pressure on the immediate environment
by concentrating the demand for resources and the generation of waste products.
Many urban areas are experiencing problems such a lack of suitable landfill sites.
Where migration is towards informal settlements or unplanned developments
(where there are inadequate sanitation and waste disposal facilities),
problems of pollution threaten environmental integrity and human health.
Figure 5.1 below illustrates the extent of urbanisation in South Africa.
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| Figure 5.1 Major conurbations in South Africa. |
A further dimension of population mobility is cross-border migration.
Since the transition to a democratic government in 1994, illegal
immigration has intensified. Not only migrants from
neighbouring countries such as Mozambique and Zimbabwe,
but also people from more remote African countries have
been impacting on South African society and directly or
indirectly on the environment. As no accurate record can be compiled
on people crossing the border illegally, it is difficult to estimate the number of undocumented migrants
in the country. However, statistics of people without
proper documentation who are repatriated each year,
gives an indication of the numbers involved. During 1997,
176 351 immigrants were repatriated, 83% of these to
Mozambique, 12% to Zimbabwe and 2% to Lesotho.
Quantifying the impact of illegal migration to the
country is equally difficult. Anecdotal evidence of the
impact on social services is provided by health workers
in border areas, who estimate that up to 50% of patients
in certain health districts are foreigners, although
these may include refugees who have been granted amnesty
(personal communications by health workers in the
Malelane, Nelspruit and Barberton district in
Mpumalanga).
Various factors influence the
movement of people, including pressure on available
land, climatic and other environmental factors,
infrastructure, services, education, and economic
opportunities and employment. These factors pertain
specifically to rural-urban migration, but are also
applicable to migration between countries and between
different urban or rural areas. As more people move to
specific localities, the pressure on the immediate
environment increases.
Box 5.2 PovertyPoverty has various manifestations, including
lack of income and productive resources
sufficient to ensure sustainable livelihoods;
hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or
lack of access to education and other basic
services; increased morbidity and mortality from
illness; homelessness and inadequate housing;
unsafe environments; and social discrimination
and exclusion. It is also characterised by lack
of participation in decision-making and in
civil, social and cultural life. World Summit for Social Development in
Copenhagen, 1995.
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The alleviation of poverty is one of the national and international priorities for achieving sustainable development.
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| Poverty contributes to environmental degradation |
However, equally if not more important in reducing environmental degradation is changing the lifestyles of the affluent to become
less consumer oreintated and less wasteful. This will ensure resources are used sustainably so that future generations may have
adequate resources.
Among all population groups,
urbanisation has lead to the decline in the importance
of the extended family and the emergence of the
nuclear
family. A
number of South African sociological studies have investigated the existence of
a great variation in family structures and the term
household is usually preferred as the unit for
social analysis. A further development is the growing
number of single parent families among all population
groups (Steyn, 1994). With a growing population, the
emergence of smaller households means that the number of
households must be increasing, which in turn will increase consumption.
Migrant labour is a
further factor in the social and environmental pressures in South Africa.
Labour for the South African mines and industries were
mostly drawn from remote rural areas. As workers were
previously not allowed to settle permanently in
white areas, their families remained in the
homelands
(areas designated to them). This resulted in the
existence of de facto single parent families in rural
areas and in a predominance of older people, children
and women. These households were usually dependent on
the natural environment to secure a livelihood, as
income was limited and irregular.
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| The poor, relying on natural resources for building materials |
Sociologists agree that socio-economic status increases as societies move towards
industrialisation. Social mobility goes hand in hand
with changing occupational structures, better education
and, in South Africa, political transformation. The
individualism associated with an urbanised society also
plays a role. The significance of this trend for the
environment is that greater upward social mobility implies a greater demand for consumer goods, services
and infrastructure. There is a lack of data about the
extent of socio-economic development in South Africa, however, and
the nature of the impact on the environment is therefore
difficult to determine.
Of particular importance for the
success of the Reconstruction and Development Programme
is land reform. Since 1913, non-white South Africans
were increasingly deprived of the right to own land in
the so-called white areas, although this
trend actually started in the nineteenth century. This
process was intensified by the unfolding of the policy
of separate development since 1948, and the concurrent
removal of several thousand people from their land to
the so-called homelands or areas that were
designated to them. The South African agricultural
sector was progressively characterised by extensive
farms in the possession of a limited number of private
and company ownership. In contrast, about 8 million
people were concentrated on 13 percent of South Africa's
surface, mainly in the former homelands (see
Van Zyl et al., 1996). This had detrimental effects on
small-scale farming and put severe pressure on the
environment. From the early 1990s, this distribution of
ownership of agricultural land was recognised as
politically, economically and socially unacceptable.
With the passing of the Restitution of Land Rights Act
in November 1994, the restoration of the land rights of
disadvantaged South Africans was started in earnest. The
ideal was, amongst others, to create 1.5 million net
livelihoods by redistributing land from the commercial
agricultural sector. The results of the reforms for the
environment are still largely unknown. A major part of
the reforms will occur on marginal agricultural land
(particularly in the former homelands), which has
already been negatively affected by intensive
agriculture and human residence, as evidenced by
overgrazing, soil deterioration, overutilization of
water sources and erosion.
In the behavioural and social sciences the term
"values" indicates the underlying system
according to which people judge what behaviour is
acceptable and distinguish between what is right and
what is wrong.
Whereas the majority of people were historically based in the rural areas where they were in
close contact with the natural environment, many came to
lose continuous and even intermittent contact with
nature. The "new" life, working environment
and ethic which has developed, have resulted
in most people not having
contact with the natural environment and therefore not realising
that environmental integrity is necessary for
their own survival.
One of the results of the
progress initiated by the Industrial Revolution is
the development of a consumer culture in which a
progressive need for goods that can be utilised and
consumed has been cultivated. The raw materials and
natural resources required for the maintenance of
the consumer culture place great pressure on the
environment; so do the outputs of the consumer
culture, such as waste and pollution.
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There is also information about the Social Environment in the following reports:
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Metropolitan reports:
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Copyright © 1999 Department of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism. All Rights Reserved.
Site maintained by the Directorate Environmental Information and Reporting
Last update: October 1999
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