MENVSC / Department of Ecology and Resource Management / This study uses lens to understand conflict over the use of land and its resources in the Mapungubwe area. The main underlying assumption of the study is that various land use activities that are not compatible with each other lead to land use conflict. The aim of the study is to assess land use conflict in the Mapungubwe area. In particular, the study intends to find out the historical and contemporary land-use conflict, compare and contrast the historical conservation objectives with the current conservation objectives in the Mapungubwe area, find out the reasons that made farmers to oppose conservation objectives now and in the 1940s and to investigate the effects of historical and contemporary land use conflict in the Mapungubwe area. In order to achieve these objectives, primary and secondary data were collected. Secondary data that was used included historical documents about Mapungubwe, Hansards or House of Assembly debates of South Africa from 1940 to 1948, newspapers articles, books and journal articles. Secondary data were used to find out the historical land use conflict that took place in the Mapungubwe area. Primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews with private game farmers, commercial irrigation farmers, farm workers (former and current), Mapungubwe National Park officials and land claimants. Field observations were used to corroborate information collected through interviews. Primary data were collected in order to find out the contemporary land use conflict taking place in the Mapungubwe area. The main findings of this study are that land use conflict in Mapungubwe area is not new; rather it started in the 1940s when the United Party government intended to establish the Dongola Wildlife Sanctuary. However, the idea of a wildlife sanctuary led to land use conflict, particularly between farmers and the ruling United Party government. In other words, land use conflict was mainly among conservationists (who were members of United Party) and farmers. Unfortunately, the idea of a wildlife sanctuary in the Mapungubwe area was caught up in political battles between the governing United Party and the opposition National Party that eventually led to its abandonment following the electoral victory of the National Party in the general elections of 1948. The study also found that the contemporary Mapungubwe is also affected by land use conflict. The conflict is mainly because of various land use activities including irrigation farming, game farming, mining, settlement, and land claims that are not compatible with conservation. Land use activities including irrigation and ii game farming, settlement and mining are happening within and around Mapungubwe National Park. This has made it difficult to consolidate the core area of Mapungubwe National Park. As a result, although Mapungubwe National Park has been established in 1995, the park remains fragmented. This study has used Mapungubwe as a case study to demonstrate that the interest over land and its resources in an area by various stakeholders create land use conflict. / NRF

MENVSC / Department of Geography and Geo-Information Sciences / This is a case study research that focuses on the assessment of the impacts of land use changes on the Duthuni wetland ecosystem in Limpopo Province using geospatial techniques and Social Survey. SPOT 4 satellite images which covered the time frame between 1999, 2005 to 2012, were used. The unit of analysis included different institutions such as the local municipality, farmers, the heads of the households and Chief of the Village. In this study, different methods of sampling were used in different context for selecting participants and for sample size determination. The different instruments for data collection included the questionnaires, interviews, focus group interviews and documents review. Socio-economic survey and review of documents were carried out to understand historical trends, collect ground truth and other secondary information required. Data collected from the survey were captured and analysed using the Statistical Package for Scientific Solutions (SPSS). For quantitative analysis, Chi-Square and cross tabulation were employed in SPSS. Analysis of satellite imagery was accomplished through integrated use of ERDAS Imagine (version 2015) and ArcGIS (version 10.1) software package. The themes were identified and analysed using the content analysis based on the main research topics. The results show that the land use/ cover changes have occurred at an unprecedented rate over the years 1999 to 2012. From the year 1999 to the year 2012, the total land use/ cover conversions equal to 299.984 ha of land. The trend and spatial extent of land use/ cover changes had undergone considerable changes over the years in the study period. The major contributing factors included population increase, expansion of agriculture and lack of space to settle. The residential area was found to be the major factor contributing to land use change over the years with an increase of (102.87ha.). People residing in Duthuni village especially along the wetland ecosystem consist of the majority of female-headed households. There is no proper facilitation and mentoring in the village by the government in order to resolve social problems when it comes to land use change. Water pollution and soil erosion were found to be the major concern by wetland users such as farmers and residents. Lack of knowledge has also been identified as one of the driving factors of environmental impacts of land use change in the area. Food was the most resources with 41% which the community gets from the wetland.