A study of public consultation in the environmental management framework (EMF) process : a case study of the rural voice in the iLembe EMF.
Loading...
Date
2015
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
With South Africa’s democracy came the introduction of developmental local government,
however, shortfalls of democracy in public engagement do exist despite the role of civil
society (as advocated by the South African Constitution) being vital to check on the exercise
of state power. Many municipal and metropolitan municipalities in South Africa lack the
institutional capacity to carry out effective environmental planning. Various cases in the
history of South Africa display attempts by government to extend the grid of formalised or
regulated development over areas termed ‘informal.’ These cases pay testament to the biased
nature of planning toward urban communities. In instances where these informal sector
groups are able to put across their views, those of the urban elites are often prioritized. In
South Africa the consultative process often takes the “decide and defend” approach rather
than an open and participatory one. The extent thereof forms the motivation for this study,
particularly with regard to the prevalent dismissal of the knowledge of the rural communities
in the consultative process. The study focuses on the gap in the public consultation process in
South African environmental planning through the case study of the iLembe Environmental
Management Framework (EMF), located in KwaZulu-Natal. The aim of the research is to
examine the public consultation undertaken in the EMF process, with particular focus on
rural concerns and perspectives using the iLembe EMF as a case study. The objectives of the
research were to examine the mechanisms of public consultation of the EMF using the
iLembe EMF case study; to analyse to what extent rural communities of the geographical
area applicable to the EMF are given the opportunity to voice their concerns or opinions or
local knowledge, to examine to which extent community needs and concerns are reflected in
the EMF, to interpret local awareness and views of environmental planning with a specific
focus on the EMF tool and to forward recommendations for improved public participation in
rural areas in relation to the EMF. The study undertakes a case study approach of the EMF
for the iLembe District Municipality (IDM), with a focus on the processes for creating
awareness and public participation in a community within the Ndwedwe Local Municipality
(NLM). The case study communities were selected as being a representative of rural
communities of the iLembe district. Household questionnaires were completed by 400
respondents. KIIs were conducted with relevant stakeholders such as the officials in the
iLembe district, interested and affected parties who partook in the EMF process and the team
of professionals involved in the roll out of the EMF, with the objective of ascertaining the
strategic process followed in public consultation and the methods commonly used. Both
quantitative and qualitative methods were used in data collection for this study. The key
finding of the research is that the level of public consultation as reflected in that of the
iLembe EMF is insufficient for environmental planning through the application of the EMF
tool in South Africa. It is difficult to state whether modernist planning approaches leads to
sustainability from the outcomes of this study, but it is evident that despite the modernist
planning approaches aiming to move from technocratic stance to a more inclusive and
consultative one, the theory does not seem to meet practice. This study recommends tasks to
be undertaken to overcome language barriers, to overcome the barrier posed by use of jargon,
to increase transparency and information sharing, to rectify the absence of key personnel at
meetings, to rectify poor attendance at public meetings and to undertake a strategic approach
to public participation. While this research explains the mechanisms for public consultation
employed in the EMF, it would be interesting to determine the exact cause for decreased
effectiveness in the methods of public participation with a focus placed on how and why
there is a disjuncture between South Africa’s sound legislation and what takes place in
practice.
Description
M. Sc. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2015.
Keywords
Environmental management -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Public opinion., Environmental justice -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal., Environmental protection -- Planning., Environmental policy -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal., Theses -- Environmental science.