Two of the challenges facing Africa in the 21st Century are effective use of restricted water resources and ensuring food security especially for poor communities. In line with these aims, the eThekwini municipality has introduced a multi-tier system of water supply ranging from full pressure reticulated systems along with flush toilets to standpipes and dry toilet systems. In the latter case, it was soon recognized that the disposal of greywater presented a problem. Bearing in mind that South Africa is already a water scarce region, research was initiated into finding means of using this water as a resource rather than as a waste. Initial on-site trials using the greywater to irrigate crops proved popular and it was then regarded as necessary to test the possible health effects on the communities of such a system. A controlled field trial using pot plantings of a selected range of edible vegetables was initiated at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Crops were tested both internally and externally for a range of indicator and potentially pathogenic organisms. Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) techniques were used to assess the health risk to communities from growing and eating the greywater- irrigated vegetables. Although there was a health risk related to most of the activities, especially the handling of the greywater itself, the risks could be brought within the World Health Organisation guidelines of less than one case of disease per 10 000 people per year by the implementation of simple barrier interventions. The greywater irrigated crops themselves, did not present a statistically higher risk of infection than the crops irrigated with either hydroponic solution or tap water. These findings show the importance of applying QMRA to each case to determine health risk. This would allow the productive use of greywater and other water sources in the correct circumstances, thus providing food sustainability for people who currently do not have access to the levels of high purity water currently recommended for agriculture. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

The need for housing developments in South Africa has grown significantly over that last 12 years. On the one end of the scale there is the desperate need for housing by the homeless and on the other end there is substantial growth of the middleclass indicating better buying power and the explosion of the property market that made investment in housing very attractive. Examples of these two parallel levels of housing are the Sipumulele low cost housing development that is situated in the eThekwini Municipality and was developed by government. On the other side of the scale is the upmarket Koelwaters residential development situated on the South Coast of KwaZulu Natal in the Hibiscus Municipality and was developed by a private developer. In conjunction with this demand for housing there is also international pressure to comply with sustainable develop guidelines and approaches. Both these developments are situated on ecological sensitive land. As legal requirements both these developments were required to do scoping reports to assess their environmental impacts. In South African, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for various new developments has been formally required in terms of Legislation for the last 8 years, although the legislation has been in place for the last 16 years. Is this legislation assisting in securing more sustainable development? It is agued that sustainable development should be founded on ecological justice principles. This research explores the concept of ecological justice and how it is linked with sustainable development. It identifies ecological justice principles that should be used in the compilation and assessment of EIAs. The field research explored how decision makers in practise are using the current legislation and if they are at all considering ecological justice in their decision making. This is done though a serious of interviews with the critical decision makers with regard to EIA's and key role players in the development process of specifically the two above mentioned housing projects. During the interviews qualitative questions were asked relating to the developments, the EIA process and ecological justice. There was a focus on interpreting the awareness of decision makers regarding development and layout and on improving developments to determine to what level they follow ecological justice principles. In the broader sense this research is contributing to the understanding of ecological justice and the clarifications of ecological justice principles. It also contributes to understanding the South African housing development context and the movement of South African Developments towards sustainability. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006

This collection of papers represents the author's maturing reflection on systemic engagements with three different organizations within the latter half of the first decade in post-Apartheid South Africa. The first two papers deal with two different systemic engagements: the first with a rural community development organization in a rural area of KwaZulu-Natal south of Durban and the second with the implementation of a district health system by a provincial health authority, also in KwaZulu-Natal. The last three are concerned with the theoretical and practical aspects of a single critical systems intervention (CSI) for policy development within the KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service, a parastatal nature conservation organization. The first paper, Designing a Management System for a Rural community Development Organization Using a Systemic Action Research Process describes the use of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) for the development of a Human Activity System (HAS) Model, that is, a conceptual model of purposeful human activities, to facilitate debate regarding a 'problem situation' faced by the community development organization. A Critical Systems Intervention to Improve the Implementation of a District Health System in KwaZulu-Natal is the second paper. As the title suggests, this paper describes a Critical Systems Intervention in a district health system implementation process. By using Concept Maps and Sign-Graph diagrams with SSM this paper contributes theoretically to the growing body of literature on methodological pluralism. Paper 3, Towards a critical systems approach to policy formulation in organizations contributes to the literature on organizational policy. It is noted in this paper that whilst there is a substantial body of literature on organizational strategy as well as on public policy, there is a dearth of literature on organizational policy. The thrust of the paper is twofold. Firstly, it draws a distinction and shows the relationship between organizational policy and organizational strategy. Secondly, building on this distinction, it develops a critical systems approach to policy formulation. Paper 4, Environmental Paradigms, Biodiversity Conservation and Critical Systems Thinking develops a framework of environmental paradigms which may be used for any CSI in nature management as a tool for values clarification. The collection concludes with Paper 5, A Critical Systems Intervention for Policy Development within a Nature Conservation Organization. It discusses the process undertaken in the nature conservation organization - Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife - intervention and shows how the approach to policy formulation (developed in Paper 3) and the framework for environmental paradigms (developed in Paper 4) were used in the intervention. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

As neoliberalism has risen into ascendancy, cities have shifted their development approach, often in ways that produce problematic and heavily critiqued outcomes (Bond, 2005a; Leitner et al, 2007). In many instances, cities have taken on a development agenda characterised by the prioritisation of economic growth and improving the quality of life in cities (Pieterse, 2008). Thus, cities, often with limited resources and skills, face the challenge of negotiating between these imperatives. In this context, public private partnerships (PPPs) have emerged as a development mechanism through which local, redistributive, and global, economic, urban imperatives can be negotiated. Building on the theorisation of neoliberalism and urban development in the contemporary city, this thesis draws on the concepts of the ‘ordinary city’ (Amin and Graham, 1996; Robinson, 2002; 2006) and ‘entanglement’ (Sharp et al, 2000; Nuttall, 2009). The adoption of this theoretical approach facilitates an understanding of the relationship between neoliberalism and the negotiation of competing urban development imperatives in public private partnerships. This understanding is relational and freed from the constraints of developmentalist or global cities approaches, which have come to dominate theorisations of urban development. The empirical research concentrates on two public private partnerships in Durban, South Africa, namely; the Durban Growth Coalition and the eThekwini Municipality-Moreland Developments Joint Venture. These partnerships have produced significant interventions in the urban landscape since their inception in 1999 and 2002, respectively. In addition, the empirical investigation includes the Riverhorse Valley Business Estate and the Bridge City mixed use development. These projects have been implemented through the eThekwini Municipality-Moreland Developments Joint Venture. The empirical study predominantly relies on a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders involved in these partnerships, their projects, and within the broader urban development arena of Durban. Documentary evidence and observation has further contributed to the empirical material examined in the research. The research findings reveal how actors in Durban enmesh and co-constitute the competing priorities of economic growth and post apartheid redress through a range of discourses. This discursive inter-relating of the imperatives produces their entanglement. In turn, this entanglement produces an ‘actually existing neoliberalism’ (Brenner and Theodore, 2002a). The form of this local version of neoliberalism is shown to be strongly shaped by the contingent conditions in Durban and the broader context of transition in South Africa. Furthermore, the examination of the two PPP projects brings to light the nuanced character of the ‘actually existing neoliberalism’ and how variably it is materialised within urban development. Through these findings, the thesis gives evidence of the active agency of places in the production of neoliberalism, and thereby challenges the assumption that cities, especially in the developing world, are simply passively responding to the global impulse of neoliberalism (Hart, 2002). As such, it responds to the need for new insight into how neoliberalism is produced at the local level, and addresses concerns for the lack of agency ascribed to cities in theorisations of neoliberalism (Larner, 2000, 2003; Brenner and Theodore, 2002a; Castree, 2005; 2006; Hart, 2002; 2006). Finally, conceptualisations of the binary relationship between the global and the local, and between competing urban development imperatives, are challenged (Hart, 2002). / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

Since 1992 the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), now the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), acknowledged that pollution and waste management governance was inadequate in dealing with South Africa’s changing social and industrial context. This triggered an extensive legislative revision, with the new National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (No. 39 of 2004) (AQA) being partially implemented on 11 September 2005 and full implementation expected by 1 April 2010. The goal of this research was to develop a methodology for the delineation of the boundaries of air quality management areas in South Africa. The preliminary objective of the research was to identify the specific criteria that should be considered when developing the methodology. A review of the methodologies used internationally was undertaken, looking specifically at regions and countries with similar effects-based air quality legislation. The review concluded that the international practice regarding boundary determination was data intensive, relying heavily on the results of ambient air quality monitoring and the results of dispersion modelling based on comprehensive emissions inventories. Another commonality between the methodologies was the use of administrative boundaries as the borders of air quality management areas. South Africa has limited ambient air quality monitoring and there is no national emissions inventory for criteria pollutants. In the absence of this information an alternative approach was required. The next objective of the research was to identify or develop a proxy methodology for assessing the impact of each of these criteria to be used in the boundary determination. The criteria assessed as part of this research included, population density, emission criteria (industrial, mining and domestic), topography and administrative boundaries. A further objective of the research was to combine all the criteria to produce a single indicator or value as to the air pollution impact potential of the area under consideration. This methodology was then applied in the South African context. The final objective of the research was to assess the results of the application of the methodology on the regulatory framework proposed by the AQA, at the national, provincial and local government levels. The methodology has proved successful in the identification of areas with high air pollution impact potential in South Africa. This has allowed for a review of the boundaries proclaimed for the Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area and the Highveld Priority Area. In both cases significant revisions of the boundaries are recommended, however due to the controversial nature of these recommendations, it is proposed that these revisions are deferred until the five- yearly review phase of the priority area management plan. The results also recommended the proclamation of two additional national priority areas. The first was the proposed Magaliesberg Priority Area, which covers the north-western areas of Gauteng and the eastern areas of the North-West. This area combines the high density residential, commercial and industrial areas of Gauteng with the high density mining and industrial areas of the North-West. However, it is recommended that further ambient air quality monitoring and research is required prior to the proclamation of this national priority area. The second new national priority area proposed is the Waterberg Priority Area. This proclamation is a proactive declaration based on the proposed industrial developments earmarked for this area. Due to extensive coal reserves in the area, the development of additional coal-fired power generation, a coal to liquid facility and other coal beneficiation projects are currently under consideration. The research has identified five potential provincial priority areas. The provincial priority areas are associated with the major metropolitan centres in the country and their adjacent district municipalities. All of the proposed provincial priority areas, with the exception of the one proposed in Gauteng, require further ambient air quality monitoring and research prior to their proclamation. It is recommended that the City of Johannesburg / City of Tshwane provincial priority area be considered for immediate declaration. The review of the district and local municipalities identified in Table 24 of the National Framework highlighted the conservative nature of the initial assessment. The review amended the classification of 33 of the local municipalities, with 32 being reclassified downwards and only one being reclassified upwards. This also highlighted the subjective nature of the initial assessment. It is recommended that the local municipalities identified as having “Poor” or “Potentially Poor” air quality rating, be prioritised as potential sites in the national ambient air quality monitoring network and receive assistance in the development of their air quality management plans. This ensures that the limited financial and human resources assigned to air quality management in South Africa are deployed in those areas with the greatest need. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

In recent years there has been considerable advancement in our scientific understanding of the linkages and interactions between climate change and air quality. A warmer, evolving climate is likely to have severe consequences for air quality due to impacts on pollution sources and meteorology. The issues of poor air quality and anthropogenic induced climate change further share common sources of pollutants and thus options for control. The possibility to include these complex linkages to climate change in South Africa’s air quality policy, the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (Act No.39 of 2004) (the AQA), includes the use of local air quality management plans (AQMPs). The extent to which South African cities are currently incorporating climate change concerns into existing AQMPs and the opportunities for improved integration of these two issues was investigated using the eThekwini Municipality or the city of Durban as a case study. Climate change and air quality issues are currently dealt with separately in Durban, overlooking an opportunity to derive multiple benefits from integrative policies. This case study primarily focused on understanding the role that the AQMP could play in support of creating a low carbon resilient city through its influence on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Emission inventories focusing on both air pollutants and GHG emissions were developed for two of the areas for intervention prioritised in Durban’s AQMP, namely the road transportation and industrial sectors. The emissions inventories were used as a basis to explore air pollution interventions that are likely to result in trade-offs or synergies (or co-benefits) for GHG mitigation. For the industrial sector it was found that the implementation of industrial energy efficiency and fuel switching measures would be favourable for co-benefits. In the case of road transport, reducing the vehicle kilometres travelled by privately owned motor vehicles and improving the efficiency of road freight transport offers the greatest potential for achieving co-benefits. The case study further illustrates that in the short-to medium-term air quality management (AQM) planning may help to promote climate change awareness and action toward climate change mitigation through improved co-ordination of industrial, energy and transport plans. The introduction of voluntary programmes, municipal by-laws and or regulatory guidance from the AQA, that support strategies with co-benefits is critical to ensure that local AQMPs can be used to promote reductions or avoidance of GHG emissions. In the long-term, climate change impacts on meteorological factors that influence air quality also need to be considered in AQMPs so that the most effective interventions can be selected to support the local government’s climate change adaptation goals. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

An Environmental Management Plan (EMP) details mitigation measures and monitoring thereof as well management of the whole project implementation. As a management tool, the concept of an EMP was developed to ensure proper environmental management throughout the life-cycle of a development project. Despite EMPs having been in existence for quite some considerable period, environmental damage still persists. Furthermore, the environmental legislation of different countries and in particular South Africa does not use/make development of an EMP a specific requirement. This has implications on a number of issues such as EMP purpose, EMP implementation and the whole rationale behind an EMP. The motivation to investigate EMPs stemmed from a discussion I had with Dr Quinn, my supervisor, about my research proposal. He mentioned EMPs and encouraged me to investigate further. A review of literature about EMPs revealed the importance of EMPs in Integrated Environmental Management (IEM). A lot of questions arose as I was reading: • Are the provincial departments actually doing what is said in the literature? • Does the current use of EMPs achieve its purpose? • What is the whole rationale behind EMPs? • How are they implemented internationally and nationally? • What are the problems affecting EMP implementation? • How can the current situation be improved? As these questions came into my mind I thought the best way of discovering problems and solutions with respect to EMP implementation is to actually work with people whom I thought are knowledgeable about the subject. I then chose environmental authorities as the professionals who review EMPs and environmental consultants as the professionals who prepare EMPs as respondents. I hope some of the strategies suggested here will be implemented by the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs (DAEA) as the relevant authority in terms of section 22 of Environment Conservation Act (ECA) No. 73 of 1989. DAEA requests EMPs to be submitted as part of the conditions of approval when authorizing projects in terms of the ECA of 1989. If submitted, DAEA is also responsible for assessing and authorizing EMPs. I also hope that in the future there will be a study to investigate any improvements in the EMP implementation. This dissertation is presented in two parts, Component A and Component B. Component A includes the theoretical underpinnings for the results and Component B includes the analysis. Component A consists of the three chapters which are; the introduction, the literature review and the methods and conceptual framework used for the study. The referencing system used in this component complies with the Harvard System. Component B is written in preparation for submission to the Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal Journal but the format is in keeping with Component A. However, the referencing system used in this component complies with the journal requirements. The abstract has been placed at the beginning of component B as per the requirements of the journal. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004

The Ministry of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation of Namibia is responsible for all land issues. The resettlement of landless farmers, of the previous disadvantaged groups, is one of the issues. The Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act (Act 6 of 1995) applies to the commercial land parts of the country. Under this act the government of Namibia has the first option on the purchase of commercial farms when these are offered for sale. These purchased farms will then be used to resettle the landless farmers from the communal areas. These applicants may obtain a long-term lease over the purchased commercial farms. Long-term leases are legally required to be registered in the Deeds Office. A cadastral lease diagram is required for registration. The government, through the Ministry of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, has bought approximately 130 farms for resettlement purposes. On June 2003 approximately 13 of these resettlement farms were surveyed and cadastral lease diagrams prepared for registration in the Deeds Office. The author argues that many factors have affected the slow progress of the resettlement in Namibia including the time required for the preparation of the cadastral lease diagram. The current field survey techniques, Total Stations or/and GPS, are very reliable, but are slow. The use of digital orthophotos has been shown to shorten the time to prepare the cadastral lease diagrams. The Author further argues that because digital orthophotos are available at the Surveyor-General's Office means, there are no cost implications. The cost of the cadastral lease diagrams by using digital orthophotos is only a third of the cost of using the current field survey techniques. Replacing current survey techniques with digital orthophotos or including the use of digital orthophotos, as a surveying technique would require the revision of the Land Survey Act (Act 33 of 1993) and the Survey Regulations, under section 5 of the said Land Survey Act - Government Notice No. 58 of 2002. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

The current study contributes to the science of biology in that it describes different methods of measuring stress in animals and distinguishes between different types of stress that animals are exposed to. The main aim of this type of research is to obtain as much information as possible on what more specifically elephants require from their environment in order to create a more suitable habitat under conditions that vary considerably from the environment in which the elephant evolved in. Two types of possible stress for elephants on small reserves were investigated: social stress and stress caused by direct human disturbances (for example tourists on game drive vehicles in fenced reserves without wilderness areas). The study group of elephants which were introduced to the study reserve ten years earlier as a group of unrelated juveniles from culling operations differed significantly according to social role play and behaviour from normal elephant societies as described by literature. None of the adult elephants from the study group initiated change of activity more than the other adult elephants on the reserve and although one of the female cows was dominant over all the other adult female cows she was dominated by the twenty-year-old bull on the reserve. The twenty-year-old bull was with the cowherd for most of the time and was aggressive towards other cowherd members when present. All the stress parameters used to monitor the influence of direct human disturbances also changed significantly in the presence and absence of game drive vehicles in the elephant's environment. The group of elephants moved more and clustered together more, individual elephants showed more behaviours associated with stress and vocalized more and adult female elephants secreted more from their temporal glands in the presence of game drive vehicles compared to periods when game drive vehicles were absent. Stress hormone metabolite levels in the dung of elephant differed significantly among individuals being highest for the twenty-year-old bull on the reserve. One section area on the reserve with the highest load of human activity also produced the highest levels of stress for elephants when group mobility, group spacing and faecal stress hormone metabolite levels were used as stress parameters. Social stress for the study group of elephants may have enhanced stress response of elephants towards direct human disturbances. Small fenced reserves hosting elephants should monit.or and control game drive vehicle activity around elephants and should consider expanding their property in order to first of all provide wilderness areas to where animals can escape to when stressed by direct human disturbances and secondly to be able to introduce older female and male elephants to control and lead young animals if not present. Implementation of stress monitoring programs as part of the elephant management plan of a reserve may reduce and possibly prevent any future incidences of aggression from elephants towards humans and other species. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

With the purpose of improving the conservation management of Ithala Game Reserve and other similar reserves, the aims of this study were to determine the reserve's large mammalian herbivores' habitat occupancy, numbers and demographics, to investigate the feasibility of road strip counts as a census method for the same herbivores and to establish what environmental factors influence their habitat occupancy, numbers and demographics. Four years of demographic data were collected by vehicle transects on giraffe, kudu, wildebeest and impala. During the final two years additional positional data, using GPS, were collected on these and the reserve's other large herbivores. Sightings were recorded on the basis of habitat type occupied, a GIS was then used to define area sampled and hence derive habitat occupancy densities. GIS was further used to determine both absolute population sizes and, by over-laying other available GIS data, the relevance of distance to surface water, soil type and degree of slope to species' habitat preferences. Species showed non-random, significant habitat selections broadly in line with established preferences. Deterioration in habitat quality in winter generally lead to changes in habitat selection and the extent and nature of these changes related to the severity of resource pressure for individual species. This in turn was influenced by the species digestive strategy i.e. ruminant versus non-ruminant, grazer versus browser. Generally species showed a dry season move down the slope, moving, in some cases, onto heavier soils. Hartebeest, warthog, wildebeest and impala were strongly attracted to winter grass flushes. Lack of predation may be influencing the habitat selection decisions of impala and giraffe and kudu females, as well as allowing giraffe, wildebeest and impala to attain comparatively high densities. Giraffe density (effectively 1.8 km - 2) was abnormally high and their habitat quality poor, leading to a decline in numbers and low fecundity-related demographics. Wildebeest density (6 km -2) was also abnormally high and this may be instrumental in the poor performance of the rare tsessebe population, which is in decline and shows low fecundity-related demo graphics, increased dry season pressure on other grazers in general and impala 111 unexpectedly preferring browse habitats, rather than grasslands, in the wet season. Wildebeest fecundity declined in response to lower rainfall over the early period of lactation. Herbivores with an open social structure generally showed a dry season decrease in group size, although wildebeest and hartebeest showed, atypically, an Increase. Giraffe, zebra and impala adult sex ratios were comparatively less female biased, probably due to minimal predation. Territorial behaviour, virtually year round by wildebeest bulls and over the rut by impala bulls, imposed spatial sexual segregation between breeding and bachelor herds in these species. Outside of these periods, and generally in species not exhibiting territoriality, social sexual segregation was maintained and appeared to relate to differing activity budgets. Areas of concern for management are highlighted. Numbers results were generally acceptable and the method is proposed as a cost effective alternative in reserves with diverse topography. Underlying environmental determinants of habitat occupancy, numbers and demographics, together with associated annual or seasonal changes, were habitat quality, competition and predation. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.