Ballast water discharged from ships is considered to be one of the four biggest threats to oceans, as alien species, detrimental to the marine ecosystems, are introduced into domestic waters via ballast. Nevertheless, eight years after its adoption, the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments of 2004 remains unenforced. In the interim, the IMO has encouraged member countries to implement national ballast water policies in order to reduce the risk of alien invasions into their waters. South Africa was chosen as one of six countries in the world to participate as a pilot country for the GloBallast programme which was conducted in Saldanha Bay between 2000 and 2004. The purpose of the GloBallast programme was to assist developing countries to understand, develop and implement control measures relating to ships ballast water within their ports. The outcome of the risk assessment completed during the programme was that South Africa needed to implement a mandatory ballast water reporting system. The purpose of this study is to examine the status of ballast water management in the ports of South Africa and to determine the progress made since South Africa participated in the GloBallast programme. The methodology used in this study included questionnaires distributed to industry experts and the full population of Ships Agents that are members of the South African Association of Ship Operations and Agents. The findings show that whilst each port is reported to have a ballast water management plan; only three of the eight potential plans could be produced. Two of these plans, belonging to the ecosensitive ports of Ngqura and Saldanha Bay, were proven to be well-known amongst the agents. The other ports, however, reflected a weak 50% and lower level of awareness. It was further determined that the ships agents are largely unaware of the responsibilities placed upon them by these plans. The findings further revealed that these regulations have not been monitored or enforced and presently ballast water management would appear to be merely a paper exercise. Those ships agents who are aware and comply with the requirements report that they have never had a problem with obtaining approval to discharge ballast. Recent developments in July 2012 show that the Department of Transport has assembled a team to further develop legislation and regulations to address ballast water management in South Africa. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

This research has undertaken two key mandates. One was to develop modifications to the African Catchment Game (ACG), a role playing simulation game, in order to simulate rainfall and water management processes representative of the southern African context. The other was to understand what, if any, learning associated with water management issues had taken place as a result of playing the ACG. The modification process took the form of an action research process. The initial modifications were trialed with South African students as part of their undergraduate Geography course offered at Rhodes University, South Africa. Subsequent modifications were implemented over a five month period with three diverse participant groups, namely Finnish, American and South African participants. An interpretive research orientation was employed in order to analyse both the qualitative and quantitative data that was generated. Pre- and Post-Game Questionnaires were used in order to identify the learning and understanding which the participants constructed as a result of playing the ACG. The Chi-Square Test was also applied to each of the pre- and post- questions to establish statistical significance. Subsequent analysis of these questions identified and traced patters and trends associated with learning and understanding across the three game runs. This research study draws on social constructivism and experiential learning as the dominant education theory that underpins it. Results revealed that for all three game runs learning took place. Participants identified dominant themes and environmental dimensions both before and after playing the ACG. The analysis of these responses indicated a deeper awareness of water as a contributing factor for sustainable economic development while the game runs enabled the researcher to adjust the water availability within each game run until rainfall and water management processes representative of a southern African context were successfully simulated in the last game run.

Thesis (M. Sc. (Geography)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is the acidic water emanating from the mine tailing dams into the surrounding environment. AMD is regarded as a major environmental threat associated with mining. The lower Olifants River in the Kruger National Park (KNP) is considered an environmentally sensitive area, which exhibits high levels of aquatic ecosystems and supports a variety of terrestrial ecosystems within and around the KNP. The Phalaborwa mining industries have been discharging the acid mine drainage contaminated-water into the Ga-Selati River, a tributary to the Olifants River. Although the impacts in the upper Olifants River catchment have been well documented, it was the amount of AMD witnessed at KNP and the dying of fish within the lower Olifants River that raised issues of concerns. Hence, the study investigated the impact of acid mine drainage on water quality of the lower Olifants River, modelled the distribution of the dissolved heavy metals in the stream, and evaluated the applied mine wastewater management strategies at Phalaborwa mining industries. In this study, water samples were collected seasonally (winter, spring, and summer) from 2019 to 2020, and the analytical methods and procedures were optimized for the determination of selected elements in the water samples. During the study, ion chromatography (IC) was used to detect chloride (Cl), sulphate (SO4 - ), nitrate (NO3), and fluoride (F), Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) was used to detect pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), sodium (Na), potassium (K), aluminium (Al) and calcium (Ca). Modelling of the distribution of dissolved heavy metals was performed using the inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation technique available in ArcGIS 10.8 software. The range of pH across four sampling sites was between 7.77 and 9.11, indicating an alkaline pH. The concentration of measured parameters elevated downstream points with some exceeding the target water quality range (TWQR) for aquatic ecosystems. The elevated concentration of SO4 - at sites 3 and 4 (downstream points) showed that the acid mine drainage is still a matter of concern at the lower Olifants River catchment. However, the GIS models showed a decreasing trend of the concentration of heavy metal towards the KNP.

This study is non-empirical and is based on the conceptualisations and theoretical foundations that gave rise to the global issue of sustainable development. It also traces the evolution and meaning of sustainable development in the South African socio-cultural context, and shows how the legacies of colonialism and apartheid contributed towards the national policy of sustainable development. This study explains the reasons for the presence (or lack) of sustainable development paradigms in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa, as well as their implications for the future development of the country as a whole. There is also an analysis of the effects of the liberalisation of the water sector on the citizenry, and how this can disempower millions of poor South Africans. Finally, this study offers solutions for the lack of sustainable use of water in South Africa. Amongst the findings and conclusions are the deleterious effects of employment equity, cut-backs in municipal funding that resulted in the outsourcing of critical services such as water provision, and the deployment of party cadres to local councils. / Human Resources / M.A. (Development Studies)

This study is non-empirical and is based on the conceptualisations and theoretical foundations that gave rise to the global issue of sustainable development. It also traces the evolution and meaning of sustainable development in the South African socio-cultural context, and shows how the legacies of colonialism and apartheid contributed towards the national policy of sustainable development. This study explains the reasons for the presence (or lack) of sustainable development paradigms in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa, as well as their implications for the future development of the country as a whole. There is also an analysis of the effects of the liberalisation of the water sector on the citizenry, and how this can disempower millions of poor South Africans. Finally, this study offers solutions for the lack of sustainable use of water in South Africa. Amongst the findings and conclusions are the deleterious effects of employment equity, cut-backs in municipal funding that resulted in the outsourcing of critical services such as water provision, and the deployment of party cadres to local councils. / Human Resources / M.A. (Development Studies)