The exponential growth of the gambling industry in South Africa has been the consequence of liberalized gambling laws. Casinos that were previously restricted to the homeland regions of the country have now become a common urban phenomenon that is easily accessible. Casino developments are still at an early stage of development, but the wide-scale consumption and popularity of the product has generated numerous debates over the cost and benefits associated with the industry. Whilst proponents of casino developments tend to emphasize the economic benefits, the opponents highlight the inevitable social costs, generated by the industry. The aim of this study is to determine the social and economic impacts of the Sugar Mill Casino and the Golden Horse Casino on the Mount Edgecombe and Pietermaritzburg communities respectively. These impacts have been assessed by making use of both quantitative and qualitative data sources. The findings suggests that both the Golden Horse Casino and the Sugar Mill Casino have afforded their respective communities economic benefits and growth opportunities in the form of firstly, the initial capital investment of the casinos, and secondly, by the subsequent revenues generated by the industry. However, the industry has also generated social costs that have been encountered mainly by those individuals who do not have control over their gambling practices, and are thus classified as problem gamblers. Problem gambling tendencies result in a host of psychological, financial and physical repercussions that are manifested at a personal and interpersonal level. If the casino gambling industry is expected to be of any benefit to the Pietermaritzburg and Mount Edgecombe regions, the economic gains of the industry have to be maximized whilst ensuring that the negative social cost remain minimal. Balancing these impacts remains imperative to the mutual sustainability of the casinos and their respective communities. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Tourism is widely perceived as an easy access, low-impact means to achieving economic growth and development. In South Africa, community-based tourism has been promoted as a way of delivering resources and services to historically marginalised areas, and as a means by which rural communities can begin to exercise more control over the decisions and resources that directly affect the quality of their lives. A history of deliberate underdevelopment during apartheid, has left the Wild Coast region with high unemployment, widespread socio-economic poverty, limited infrastructure; and a pristine coastline of 'untapped' tourism potential. Given its incompatibility to other forms of development, tourism has been identified by government as a key sector for driving economic development and poverty alleviation along the Wild Coast. This study reviews four tourism enterprises in operation along the Pondoland Wild Coast in terms of their 'pro-poor' credentials (net benefits to local communities), socio-economic impact, participation and ownership by local communities, institutional establishment, and environmental sustainability. The selected operations exemplify different models of community and private sector involvement in tourism development on communal land. A wide range of investigative methodologies from primary and secondary data analysis, interviews, structured questionnaires, surveys, and quantitative assessment criteria, were employed in this study. The key findings and recommendations from the case studies are then considered in light of the developmental opportunities and constraints pertaining to the region. This study revealed that the Pondoland Wild Coast is faced with numerous socio-economic and environmental challenges. The principal limitations to sustainable tourism development include lack of basic infrastructure and services, prevailing tenure insecurity, unclear legislation and overlapping jurisdictional mandates, direct environmental threats such as a proposed toll road and mining, haphazard/illegal developments, and a poorly defined spatial planning framework. Whilst all four tourism enterprises appeared to be underpinned by sustainable development principles, they differed widely in the nature and size of benefits they provided, and their degree of institutional, economic and environmental sustainability. The findings and conclusions drawn from this study are intended to contribute towards the theory, practice and sustainability of 'pro-poor,' 'community-based', and 'responsible' tourism development, and assist future tourism development planning in the region. / Thesis(M.Sc.)-University of Kwazulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

The past centuries have been marked with massive land conversions from one land use category, usually natural vegetation, to another. The forces that drive these land use changes are complex and poorly understood. However, the study of land has been revolutionised by the introduction of spatial tools such as remote sensing and GIS that automate these complex issues and assist in the solutions of these geographic problems. Land use identification and classification techniques were used in conjunction with GIS to consistently and accurately extract and incorporate land use data from a series of remotely sensed images of Richards Bay Mineral's Zulti South Mineral lease. Eight land use types from Zulti South were identified and mapped from six different remotely sensed images taken at different time periods between the 21 st of September 1990 and the 1st of June 2001. This mapping technique was shown to have an accuracy of 87.6%. The data collated from this study enabled the monitoring and representation of the temporal and spatial differences in land use within a GIS. From the analysis carried in the GIS the land use dynamics within the lease could be quantified and modelled. The time series of the land use datasets indicated how much of the landscape is changing, what changes have occurred and where these changes are taking place. Accurate and timely mapping of land use provides vital information on the state of the mineral lease area and its environment, and facilitates the development of spatial trends from which predictions of land use and land use change can be made. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

Hazelmere Dam situated on the Mdloti River in KwaZulu-Natal has, since its completion in 1977, lost 25 % of its original design capacity through sedimentation. This storage loss has brought about an environmental concern as well as a socio -economic threat to the region. The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of land use change on the sedimentation rate in the catchment. This was undertaken to obtain a better understanding of the processes and leads towards an integrated catchment management strategy. Geographical information systems afforded the opportunity to determine land use change from a number of sequential land use maps and to run statistical analyses and overlays. It was determined that a large change in land use had taken place between subsistence cultivation/small-scale agriculture and subsistence grazing. The rainfall, soil and slope conditions cause the catchment to have a naturally high erosion potential. As a result of the interrelated nature of all these factors in the catchment the most effective manner in which to deal with the sedimentation problem is through a multidisciplinary approach such as is afforded by integrated catchment management strategies. In terms of controlling the sedimentation problem in the Hazelmere Dam recommendations concerning conservation practices necessary in minimising the impact of the land use practices and changes are made for inclusion in such a management approach. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

Wetlands are now recognized as being an integral component of the physical landscape. Geomorphology has recently been recognised by wetland scientists as being of fundamental importance in wetland genesis, maintenance and evolution, thereby providing the context for informed, effective wetland management and conservation. At present there exists a paucity of geomorphological wetland research in South Africa. A hydro-geomorphic approach was adopted to attain an understanding of wetland genesis, distribution and functioning of a range of different palustrine wetland systems in the upper Mooi-River Catchment of KwaZulu-Natal. The physical, chemical and landscape-morphological characteristics of wetland soils were investigated to interpret the processes operating within those wetland systems. Both field and laboratory work suggest that wetland creation and maintenance in the upper Mooi River catchment may be attributed primarily to climatic factors, landscape position, landform and geological characteristics. These factors were found to cumulatively control the hydrological characteristics of wetlands, which impart an important influence on internal wetland conditions. While soil properties do not appear to be a primary factor in the establishment of these wetlands, they are nevertheless found to be important in the regulation of the hydrological dynamics of wetland systems. The close interdependence between wetlands and the surrounding landscape and the hydrological cycle is evident in the wetland systems investigated. Geomorphic processes within wetlands such as overbank flooding, overland flow, sedimentation, piping, leaching, soil swelling, shrinkage and cracking and channel incision and dynamics were found to be important variables in determining the nature and internal characteristics of wetland systems. In several of the systems investigated, all of the above mentioned processes were operative, while in other systems, a number of these processes were either insignificant or absent. Canonical Variate Analysis indicated that while commonalities exist between the palustrine wetland systems investigated in this study, significant differences were found between different groups. This supports the argument that a subclassification of the palustrine system into five different palustrine wetland types is warranted. While the scope of the present research did not allow for an extensive investigation of suitable methods of rehabilitation, the study suggests that an understanding of geomorphic process and wetland dynamics will be beneficial to wetland management and conservation as a whole. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

Inanda Dam situated near Durban in the Mngeni River, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal was completed in the late 1980s. As a typical large dam of the modern era, one major impact of the dam was the displacement and resettlement of over 1300 rural households living under communal ("tribal") tenure. Households were relocated to different places some kilometres away from their original places. These new relocation areas, where different tenure and other arrangements prevailed, then became their permanent residential location. This study was initiated to investigate two key issues. It sought to understand how the relocation altered the quality of life of removed families. It also sought to explore adaptation strategies adopted by the settlers and constraints to effective adaptation. Primary data were collected by means of in-depth interviews and direct observation of certain indicators of quality of life in the study area, over a period of five months. Fourteen households participated in the study. Simple quantitative methods were used to supplement the overall qualitative research design. Because of the small sample that was used, the study is perhaps not widely generalizable. However the study does provide insights into the long-term impacts of this inadequately mitigated displacement. It is also a case study of the nature of long-term environmental injustice and disruption associated with the construction of large dams. This is an injustice made worse by the political system of apartheid prevailing when the dam was planned and built. The general findings are that the dam did impact negatively on the quality of life of the displaced families. Thirteen years after compulsory relocation, the quality of life of several families has deteriorated instead of slowly improving. While the process of adaptation for some families has been easy, other families are still battling to reconstruct their livelihoods and quality of life. Where benefits of access to services such as potable piped water and electricity are enjoyed, these benefits are overshadowed by inability to pay and lack of access to other goods such as proper housing and adequate land. Loss of access to common property resources has meant a shift towards more money-based livelihood generation strategies. Constraints to adaptation are both internal and external. Low levels of socioeconomic status, poor access to environmental resources and the unfavourable political conditions in the relocation areas are some of the major constraints to effective adaptation. While the individual and group coping strategies employed have assisted families in the adaptation process, it is argued that the inadequacy of state support mechanisms significantly retarded the ability of households to adapt to life in the relocation areas. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Land degradation in communal rangelands is one of the problems that lowers land / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.

Geographic information systems and remotely sensed information provide an analytical platform for linking habitat features and animal distribution in a spatial context. The spatial culmination of such data using geographic information systems technologies is an important step towards providing information to decision makers on habitat suitability and the mapping thereof. Through the use of such techniques, environmental factors indicative of suitable habitat of the endangered oribi antelope were mapped within the extent of KwaZulu-Natal. The factors and individual weights were identified through multi criteria evaluation using analytical hierarchical process and expert knowledge. The resultant suitability indexed model provided a basis for cost distance procedures and was used to identify potential habitat corridors. An oribi conservation area network was created using these potential corridors and further cost distance functions. The Karkloof and Chelmsford conservation area networks reported the greatest concentrations of highly suitable habitat and therefore with reference to oribi specific habitat recommendations, draft management recommendations were collated. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.