Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-91). / The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the changes that have occurred in the economy of CapeTown, South Africa over the last half of the 20th century and what the possible effects of this change have been on social inequality. Literature on economic restructuring in cities all over the world provided the framework of ideas within which this analysis was conducted. These works focused on how in many cities. progressive deindustrialisation has led to the loss of middle-income jobs, while growth in the service sector has resulted in greater numbers of high- and low-skill and income jobs. Others argued that most cities economies' were becoming increasingly organised around professional, managerial and technical skills only, and that increased polarisation occurred solely in those cities that were subject to large-scale immigration. The overriding question that emerged from this body of work then was whether the occupational distribution of employment in cities was becoming increasingly polarised or professionalised. Careful examination of population census data on sectoral and occupational changes in the economy of Cape Town showed that the city's working population was becoming increasingly professionalised, and not more polarised. Survey data were also used to dispute the contention that a large unskilled migrant population was a sufficient condition for social polarisation. Theories about the impacts of deindustrialisation and the decline in blue-collar work on unskilledethnic urban minority groups were also discussed. Again, using population census data, it wasshown that the Coloured population had dominated manufacturing employment. Therefore, it wasconcluded that the decline in manufacturing employment would most likely have the greatestnegative impact on Coloured employment levels. This would most likely affect Coloured men most though, as Coloured women were gaining more employment in all the other types of occupations that were growing while blue-collar employment, on which men seemed to rely that much more, was declining. The argument was also made that service sector growth, while leading to increased feminisation of the workforce, also causes women to be segregated into low-skill, low-pay service jobs. However, the data for Cape Town concurred with other author's data that showed that the occupational distributions of both women and men are becoming increasingly professionalised. Some authors argued that the decline in manufacturing jobs and growth in low-skill service sector work favours unskilled women over unskilled men, as the manufacturing sector tended to hire more men and the service sector tends to employ more women. This was shown to be true in the case of Cape Town, with African women dominating unskilled labour by 2001.

Bibliography: leaves 108-112. / In this dissertation, it is proposed that the level of satisfaction experienced by the beneficiaries of subsidy-based housing is strongly dependent on the degree of involvement by the beneficiaries in the decision-making process associated with housing development initiatives. A comparative case study analysis of three subsidy-based housing developments in the Cape Metropolitan Area (CMA) has been undertaken. One of the case studies was a housing project in Philippi East that forms part of the Integrated Serviced Land Project (iSLP), while another was a cross-subsidised housing project that forms part of an integrated development initiative at Westlake. The third case study was a People's Housing Process (PHP) project in Ocean View. The major obstacles to effective beneficiary participation in the three case study projects have been identified and discussed in this dissertation. It is suggested that many of these obstacles would be applicable to other subsidy-based housing developments in the CMA. Key lessons have been drawn as to how these common obstacles to participation in subsidy-based housing development could be overcome. The key lessons that emerged are as follows: * It is important that the housing development process is effectively facilitated. * There is a need for capacity building to form an integral component of all subsidy-based housing development projects. * Beneficiary control over the finances for subsidy-based housing development projects should be promoted. It is proposed that, if these suggestions are taken into account in subsidy-based housing developments, a relatively high degree of beneficiary participation should be realised and, subsequently, increased levels of satisfaction should be experienced amongst beneficiaries. This dissertation also proposes that subsidy-based housing projects implemented by means of the PHP (as opposed to the conventional developer-built route) should be characterised by effective process facilitation, relatively high levels of capacity building and a high degree of beneficiary control over development finances if they are carried out properly. Consequently, many of the common obstacles to beneficiary participation in subsidy-based housing development in South Africa could be overcome by effectively following-the inherently participatory PHP route to housing delivery.

Bibliography: pages 71-72. / The World Commission on Dams (WCD) has completed a global survey of the performance, impacts and decision-making aspects of 125 large dam projects - th Cross-Check Survey. The primary aim of the Survey was to determine broad patterns and trends indicative of past performance, impacts and decision-making aspects of a selection of large dams that reflect the global population. Consequently, the findings of the Survey provided a link between the broad patterns and trends emerging at a global and regional level and the more in-depth findings provided by the other components of the WCD knowledge base. Thus, the Survey provided an entry point to "cross-check" the collective evidence to the WCD knowledge base - comprised of over 900 topic-related written submission, four regional consultations and workshops, 17 thematic reviews, 11 case studies and three country studies. The Cross-Check Survey sought to inform the WCD knowledge base on large dams in a responsible and consequential way but without any claims for being necessarily complete.

Includes bibliographical references. / To establish an understanding of the long-term community dynamics of the Knysan forests, and gain a better understanding of the impacts of colonial exploitation of the forests agains a background of environmental change, sediments were extracted from the lake shore of Groenvlei, an endorheic coastal vlei in the Wilderness Lake system on the southern Cape coast, some 10 km from the present-day forest core. These sediments were described, dated by radiocarbon means and subsampled for the analysis of fossil pollen and charcoal particles, environmental proxies used respectively to infer a vegetation and fire history for the region.

Bibliography: leaves 117-125. / This research is focused on determining the most significant constraints hindering the implementation of the EIA regulations in South Africa by the Relevant Environmental Authorities (REAs). The impetus for this research was provided by a literature search, information obtained at an International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) workshop held in 1999 and personal discussions with the main participants in the EIA process. This study adopts a broad approach to obtain the perceptions of the main participants in the EIA process (Regulatory Authorities, Consultants and Interested and Affected Parties), in order to identify the most significant constraints hindering EIA implementation in South Africa. The research was conducted in six of the nine provinces. Although many criteria were considered, the three main criteria used for selecting the six provinces include the research budget, geographical location and the economic characteristics of each province.

Includes bibliographical references. / Table Mountain is an inherently physical and natural landscape that also holds deep cultural meaning, symbolism and value for generations of Capetonians, past and present. The first detailed accounts and artistic representations of Table Mountain come from the early European discoverers, sailors and colonists who travelled to the Cape. These visitors, prejudiced by imperial rhetoric, were polarised in their perceptions of the Mountain between those who viewed it as a heavenly paradise and others who considered it a hellish purgatory. When science and logic eventually subdued the myths and mysteries associated with the ‘Dark Continent’ of Africa the polarised conception of Table Mountain’s cultural landscape was transformed into one of savagery and opportunity. indeed, from the sixteenth to eighteenth century, Table Mountain was effectively a microcosm for European attitudes, assumptions and evaluations of Africa. In the 1990’s Table Mountain's cultural meaning is still divided between those who seek to conserve and preserve its natural and spiritual integrity and those who believe that utilising the Mountain’s landscape as a material asset is the best means for ensuring and justifying its survival. A post-modern perspective highlights the broad range of economic, spiritual, ecological and community based values the Mountain holds for Capetonians and South Africans in general. Set against this viewpoint, Table Mountain, under the structured management of South Africa National Parks, is increasingly becoming a modernist cultural landscape governed by principles of universality, order and control. The ideological clashes that arise from these contrasting interpretations of the Mountain result in the defining characteristic of Table Mountain’s cultural landscape in the 1990’s being one of conflict and reproach. Ultimately by marrying the local and nationalised concepts within the South African landscape tradition to the broader frameworks of landscape study in wider geography, this thesis formulates an eclectic approach to studying a deeply meaningful and complex cultural landscape.

This dissertation outlines the results of a study undertaken to describe the environmental history of Vankervelsvlei, a schwingmoor-type bog near Knysna on the south coast of South Africa. The study relies heavily on the use of fossil pollen as an indicator of vegetation change from which environmental conditions are inferred. Several additional lines of evidence including sedimentological and geochemical data are used to corroborate pollen findings. The narrative of environmental change at the site has been compared with findings from other palaeoecological studies undertaken in the area. Particular reference has been made to the expansion and contraction of afromontane forest vegetation over time to add to existing knowledge of forest history in Southern Africa.

The study examines sedimentation changes on the flood tide delta in the Breede River estuary since 1942, and relates these changes in sedimentation to changes in the hydrology of the river, as a consequence of damming the river and its tributaries. Sequential aerial photography is used to determine changes in the extent of the Zostera beds on the flood delta, this being indicative of changes in the substrate sediments. Four cores were taken from the flood delta, and standard grainsize analysis techniques employed to establish the composition and characteristics of the sediments. Together with survey work and other ancillary information, these twci techniques enable description of the sedimentation changes and the present sediment dynamics on the flood tide delta. Virgin catchment runoff was simulated using two models, having rainfall data as the primary input. Simulated and actual runoff, as determined from gauge plate data, were qualitatively compared in terms of mean monthly runoff and cumulative annual runoff. This, together with an examination of temporal increases in the total volume of water impounded in the catchment, enables the impact of dams on the hydrology of the river to be determined. It is found that there has been a virtually complete annihilation of the mudflat the Zostera beds, a concomitant loss of the areas, and that the sediments presently occurring on the flood delta are almost wholly of marine origin. Temporally, these changes correlate well with increased impoundment of runoff in the catchment. It is concluded that there has been an increase in marine sedimentation on the flood tide delta, and that this change in sedimentation is directly related to and consequent upon changes in the hydrology of the river as a result of impounding catchment runoff.

The purpose of this document is to set out a comparison of the environmental impacts of the two alternative access roads to the Mohale Dam, Lesotho: the Least Cost Alternative Route (LCAR) and the Western Access Route (WAR), and to recommend a preferred alternative for construction. The analysis and comparison is couched in a theoretical framework with regard to the process, nature and function of Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) and the problems associated with implementation of the IEM process. In this report I1 set out some of the limitations and problems associated with the EIA on the access road to the Mohale Dam (LHDA Contract No 1000). I then discuss the criteria on which a selection of a preferred alternative should be made, focussing on concepts of sustainability (including ecological sustainability), provision of basic human needs, equity and social justice, and cultural diversity and self-realisation. Within the context framed by the limitations of this EIA, the report then compares the LCAR and the WAR, and makes recommendations with regard to a preferred alternative, based on this comparison. The report also provides comments and discussion on a management and monitoring plan for Phase lB of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP).

Nutrient loading is negatively affecting South Africa’s freshwater resources and ecosystems. Anthropogenic activities are the leading causes of continuous nutrient loading in the country’s water resources. This study examines the dynamics of nutrient loading in the Vaal River. The objectives are to explore nutrient loading in the Vaal River over the past two decades and to compare the differences between the two decades. Water quality data were obtained from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) Water Resource Quality Information Services (RQIS) database. Elevated nutrients of NH4+, N03, P04 3- and chlorophyll-a were observed at selected sites at various times during the 20 year period under analysis. Nutrients concentration are elevated alongside agricultural and industrial activities, and urban areas. Student t-tests investigated the difference between the two decades and in most cases showed significant differences between these decades. The last decade showed elevated nutrient levels for N03, NH4+ and chlorophyll-a in most of the DWS monitoring sites. Only P04 3- at some sites showed a reduction from the previous decade. The study concludes that upper and middle sections of Vaal River are eutrophic and hypertrophic and a trend toward a permanent state of these conditions is likely without a long-term solution to address the problem of excessive nutrient loading entering the Vaal River system.