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Sustainable development is development that delivers basic environmental, social
and economic services without threatening the viability of natural, built and social
systems upon which these services depend'. Decision-making by rural local
government, local government, local communities and local business remains
central, therefore, to ensure:
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Environmental management that is restricted to nature conservation and natural resources omits the preservation of ecosystems, the maintenance of biological diversity, the management of the human living environment, and the understanding of the cultural, social and economic forms that define our relationship to the environment. Environmental concerns were often seen by local communities to be a luxury, since they restricted their activities. In many parts of South Africa the natural resource base is over exploited because of extreme poverty. Structural economic change is therefore a basic requirement for sustainable development. The new democratisation of the state and of local government provides an ideal opportunity for the implementation of local integrated environmental management.
The policy instruments that government will need to pursue are:
Institutional support requires an overall policy, coordination with all tiers of government, legislation and the establishment and enforcement of minimum norms and standards. This is complicated by the complexity of environmental management and the difficulty of changing perceptions about the proper role of government. Environmental functions should be localised. Civil society should be encouraged to engage in environmental policy, development and management. This will allow the development of Primary Environmental Care. PEC is a process by which local communities organise themselves and strengthen, enrich and apply their ability to the care for their environment while meeting their basic needs. Assistance from national and provincial departments will be required for the capacity building, information and monitoring that will allow local government to consider realistic options, and monitor implementation of development. Support will also be required to implement conservation measures, and reclamation of land and water resources.
Economic instruments
Long term economic instruments required to ensure sustainable environmental management are:
Land-use planning and water provision are the responsibility of local government, and it is here that integrated planning and management must be attempted, however complex and difficult. Within the framework of national policy, different user options must be decided on the basis of social, economic and environmental criteria. This will only work well when there is enforced transparency of options, such that there can be wide and informed discussion on of alternatives. Local government will also have to insist on the transparency of processes at provincial and national level, so that they may provide input into programmes and projects that have environmental implications in their local area.
South Africa is a dry country with a low average and high variability of rainfall in most areas. Demand is now outstripping supply in most catchments. Access to potable water remains the most critical and worrying constraint for many rural people, and many of them spend several hours a day securing supplies. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry requires national competence and a comprehensive planning framework to secure supplies and ensure careful use of water in all sectors, and has already moved rapidly to begin this process.
The Department has established plans for devolving water provisioning and sanitation to the district level under national policy guidelines, and with coordination at provincial level through the Provincial Water Liaison Committees. All local initiatives should be within the norms and standards set a national level, to ensure conservation of water resources, and to ensure, for the first time, the distribution of basic water supplies to all South Africans as a citizen's right. The mechanism for assuring this compliance still his to be formalised.
Water Boards have in the past operated to provide bulk water services to municipalities, who provided their clients, and to whom they were accountable. The boards were supposed to be self-financing utilities, who went to the capital markets for infrastructure development. However, it was largely the white local authorities who benefited from their services. It is proposed that the boards now widen their arm of supply, and also begin to be final distributors in areas that previously did not receive reticulated supplies. As with the electricity utility, it will be essential that local government and development structures demand district and local accountability if the boards do become their distributors.
Outside municipalities, the Department of Water Affairs has proposed that statutory water committees may be set up to manage and prioritise water and sanitation services until this can be taken over by a competent local government structure.
The committees can be seen as transitional mechanisms unless the local government structures decide to retain them as separate entities (or as Section 59 committees) within the local government structures. It is expected that a wide range of local groups and individuals will wish to join these committees. As with many other sectors, it will be essential to provide capacity building around water issues, and to promote consistency of membership, in order to ensure the best local overview of processes.
Institutional roles, policies and future strategies for rural sanitation improvements are still under discussion, and will have to involve health and local government structures. The current debate suggests that it is likely that central government will confine its activities to technical assistance, promotion and financial support, with relatively small amounts for subsidising capital costs, and that construction and materials supplies would be through local builders and other entrepreneurs.
Access to energy in rural areas is limited, and energy use patterns are dictated by poverty, neglect, and underdevelopment. Domestic use accounts for most of the energy used, and fuel wood is most frequently used. Rural African women spend more than in hour a day, on average, finding wood. The main access constraints are the high entry costs for connection, installation and appliances and cost of grid electricity, dwindling fuel wood supplies; the cost and limited distribution of petroleum fuels, coal and remote area power supplies (RAPS); the lack of private or public transport, and limited support services, including financing facilities.
Energy is not a proven 'catalyst' for economic growth, but a lack of adequate energy services is certainly a constraint on development. It limits the potential of meeting basic needs of those who need energy to undertake essential domestic, agricultural, and educational tasks; to support health and transport services, and to initiate or develop manufacturing or trading enterprises. The main policy options currently under discussion consider all rural energy user categories and involve all energy carriers currently used. They include:
There have been few links between consumers and policy development, planning or implementation processes in the energy industry, so that energy policies and strategies have seldom been developed in cooperation with other sectors in rural areas. However, an energy policy is now being developed that will address rural energy issues and the role of the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs. The consultation process for the development of the White Paper will establish the degree to which the role of the Department should expand to include coordination between government, the energy supply sectors and local communities; as well as a possible role in capacity building, energy planning and facilitation.
There has been little cooperation and coordination between suppliers in the energy sector. The electricity subsector has often been overemphasised, even though grid electrification is unlikely to be the most cost effective means of supply for many essential services in rural areas. Thus the new emphasis on integrated energy planning will lead to synergy between development and fuel delivery that recognises the multifaceted nature of rural energy needs.
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In order for local organisations to be brought into energy planning and implementation, there will need to be a provincial level energy competency (DMEA and other energy funding or delivery structures such as the SAREDA', the Biomass Initiative and IDT), and cooperation between these sub-sectors; and good links between provinces, rural local government and CBOs; and facilitation and extension capacity at the local level.
Other important links are between rural energy users and policy makers. For energy policies to address priority energy and development needs, rural end users must be involved in the policy process, particularly on research prioritisation and the setting of research agendas. There also needs to be cooperation within energy research sub-sectors and with the research establishment of other sectors such as water and health.
The promotion of forestry and wood products is another example where local coordinating committees could affect the sustained and local use of natural resources in rural areas. This will add to local employment through promoting value added in the use and processing of timber. While commercial forestry has a bad name in many areas due to conflicts over land, water use, environmental impacts and labour practices, these can be resolved at a local level. Conflicts over water are mediated through the Afforestation Permit System. This authority is being transferred from the forestry to the water affairs branch of the department. The forestry industry has also recently drawn up a voluntary code of practice that should ensure that some of the worst abuses of the past, such as planting trees on wetlands or on the margins of indigenous forests, do not recur.
Indigenous forest management has been exclusionist up to now, keeping people out and allowing only limited harvesting on a permit system. Better management practices are urgently needed. Woodland management has been seen as the preserve of agriculture and the individual land owner. Social forestry had received little attention, but considerable preparatory work has now been instituted to expand its scope.
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Most of South Africa has low average rainfall, and high variability in intra and inter-seasonal rainfall patterns.
Dry weather and dry areas are common, and should not be regarded as drought. Farmers who choose to farm in dry areas have to learn to farm in ways that account for the weather. It is when farmers and householders intensify their use of dry areas that they become vulnerable to drought.
Government programmes for drought should aim to reduce this vulnerability. They should, however, never compensate rural people for the failed production created by ill considered intensification of land use in drought prone areas. That effectively subsidises people who have chosen to make themselves more vulnerable.
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Gender issues are crucial in consideration of rural poverty, for women are particularly at risk of being poor. The tremendous opportunities offered by women should, however, be set against these difficulties. They are the hardest workers in the country, and, given the chance, can create the greatest change in living and social conditions for the greatest number of people.
First we might consider short term welfare approaches. The data suggest that access to other forms of income and to assets may strengthen the distribution of income within households. Measures such as public works programmes increase women's access to income, and may shift intra-household income distribution more towards women. Gaining secure access to a pension can also be vital, yet rural women have the lowest level of access to pensions.
Welfare approaches do not, however, tackle the structural nature of women's disadvantage. In 1994 the Women's National Coalition conducted a nation-wide survey of women's needs. The expressed concerns of rural women were for land rights, access to water, electricity and telephones, access to grazing land and the abolition of polygamy. To these could be added many other issues of access emanating from customary law and the lack of understanding of bureaucratic systems. They also include financial services, information, education and training, and capacity building. From the international literature, we also know that access to education and training and health care facilities (including but never only family planning) are crucial in empowering women, and have a direct influence on fertility and mortality trends.
A second set of issues is around participation. This requires strong affirmative action in all capacity building programmes, and positive strengthening of women's groups and cooperatives. Women's groups should be well represented in community development forums and in local government coordinating committees, as these that are likely to best equip women for active political participation in local government. These are also the forums around which traditional institutions and resources such as burial societies and stokvels can be reorganised to deliver credit to budding entrepreneurs. These in rum are the activities that are likely to offer women the greatest chances of gaining autonomy and the control to attain better ways to five.
A third set of issues is around control. Again this applies to women's use of resources, and is often a legal or customary law issue. Women also need greater control of the environment, for which they need information, and they need to be a part of community efforts to increase safety and security. Their participation in community police forums is essential, particularly as there is now evidence that South Africa has one of the highest levels of domestic violence in the world.
| The burden of Wood and Water Collection of Rural African Households, by income group, noting that women carry out more than 90% of these activities. | ||||||
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| Households Ranked by Groups of 20% (Quintiles) | ||||||
| All Rural Africans | Quin.1 (ultra poor) | Quin.2 | Quin.3 | Quin.4 | Quin.5 (richest 20%) | |
| Share of households who need to fetch water daily | 73.6 | 88.4 | 81.5 | 65.0 | 34.7 | * |
| Distance to water source greater than 500m | 21.1 | 23.5 | 20.9 | 13.6 | * | * |
| Average amount of time per day spent fetching water (minutes)** | 189.5 | 189.3 | 199.5 | 176.7 | * | * |
| Average amount of time per day spent fetching wood (minutes)** | 79.9 | 77.2 | 86.9 | 76.2 | 75.2 | 36.6 |
* The sample was too small to provide reliable information for these groups.
** These averages refer only to people who fetch water and wood, respectively.
Source: RDP: Key indicators or Poverty in South Africa, 1995
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In the spirit of the RDP, the key if for women themselves to drive the programme
for their development in rural areas, appropriately facilitated by government. There
is a need to focus on women's empowerment, and on what rural woman can
achieve. The RDP Policy for Women's Empowerment provides practical steps for
all departments to:
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The Department of Justice, through the South African Law Commission, is examining the harmonisation of the common law and indigenous law in the fight of the Transitional Constitution and the Bill of Rights; among other aspects this will address the recognition of customary marriages. Family law is also being examined, and Parliament will be establishing the Commission on Gender Equality shortly.
South Africa has a large young population, most of whom five in rural areas. Of all the children in the poorest 20 per cent of households nationally, 78 per cent are rural. Rural children have high rates of mortality, and poor access to essential health services. Substantial numbers of rural children are stunted. A fundamental cause of the poor condition of children is the lack of time and attention they receive. Feeding children and providing them with the affection and attention they need for cognitive, emotional and social development is time consuming. Rural women have many other responsibilities that limit the time they can devote to their children.
The rights of child and national policy
Parliament ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in June 1995. This relates to rights to life, survival, education and health care services, without discrimination and in the best interests of the child. Children are to be protected against exploitation.
With the ratification of the Convention, legislation in South Africa will have to be reviewed and revised to conform with these provisions. Related to the provisions of the Convention are goals for children and development that were endorsed at the World Summit for children in 1990. These goals have been accepted by the Inter-ministerial Steering Committee of the Cabinet Committee established to develop a national programme for children. The Steering Committee has also advised against a separate programme for children and that goals for children will be adopted as goals of the RDP
Promoting the risk of rural children
The most fundamental right is the right to fife. Every child must be cared for. Children are the responsibility of parents, not simply mothers, and the proper development of children requires more time and attention than mothers alone can provide. Others in the household must support pregnant and, later, breast-feeding women so that young infants get the best start in life. Young children also require accessible health services. In many rural areas, the immediate need is for essential services of the kind that a trained community worker can provide. Community representatives need to be informed about alternative strategies, and provided with technical and other support. Alternatives are possible not only in making available health services, but also in the case of water supplies, and other facets of development that honour children's rights.
Monitoring the condition of children
The most useful overall indicator of the condition of a community's children is their nutrition status. Based on this information, systems of monitoring can be built, adding other indicators of critical concern such as access to water. In this way, changes in nutrition may be associated with development in the community. The nutrition data become a focal point for discussion about why changes have taken place, or why they have not. Representatives of the local government am better informed about the condition of their children, and the possibilities for improving their condition.
| Racism and economic exploitation were enshrined, entrenched and institutionalised in South African law. As the democratic Government begins to govern, it does so with inherited laws, which have functioned and been framed to serve the apartheid state. Meaningful social and economic development requires access to the law and its diverse institutions. This access can be found in the law-making process, the courts, the actions of administrative officials, and in basic knowledge of legal principals, rights, duties and obligations. |
Policies must be developed and resources secured that can realistically address access to the law by the rural poor. This realism should reflect the functional difficulties in rural areas such as illiteracy, lack of access to media, and a generally de-motivated and under-resourced civil service. Rural civil,servants have an important role in informing people of their rights. Given limited resources, rural legal education will have to be carried on the back of other initiatives for some time. Rural legal services are just one of many claims on state resources. Imaginative ways of making law makers, judges and officials aware of problems faced by poor rural people should therefore be explored, including methods of encouraging legal students and graduates to work in rural areas.
The nucleus of rural legal advice offices presently in place should be studied in terms of their services, their outreach and their needs for personnel, training and resources. These advice offices provide an important though limited rural legal service. The extent to which these facilities might become an adjunct to services provided by the Department of justice is being investigated. Public broadcasters and private rural radio stations should also be encouraged to develop packages and programmes dealing specifically with rural legal issues.
Access to the Courts
Rural people, while others, enjoy rights. Certain of these rights are set out in the Constitution and other statutes while other rights are to be found in common law. Rural people need to empowered to enforce and test these rights through courts.
However, court processes are generally inaccessible and often inappropriate. Where disputes of rights or interests are anticipated in the formulation of policies, legislation or institutions, mediation mechanisms should be built in to the processes.
Access to the law making process
National and provincial legislatures and local governments all enjoy law making competencies. Statutes are normally promulgated in furtherance of a policy developed within a department of government. These laws are normally drafted by officials, while interest groups traditionally lobby lawmaking bodies, to reflect their particular interests and needs. Poor rural people often lack the capacity to organise such lobbying groups. Law makers should engage publicly with identifiable representatives of the affected rural poor before certain laws are passed. Rural local authorities also need to develop legal capacity that is independent of urban local authorities or the Provinces. It is only through empowering rural local authorities with legal expertise that they can enact bylaws that reflect rural concerns.
Access to administrative processes
Most State policies and programmes have in element of administrative decision-making and power. When administrative discretion is exercised against the interests of the rural poor, the development of rural initiative is threatened.
Administrative bodies sitting in rural areas should as a matter of course submit reasons for their findings both to local government and to unsuccessful applicants. Policy guidelines for administrative decisions should be reviewed in light of the changing policy imperatives of the Government. An agency, of the State should take responsibility for ensuring that any revised directives are transmitted and explained to rural administrative bodies in particular.
Access to and understanding of the law
Statutes should be easily comprehensible to a lay person. Where rural people are to be directly affected by legislation they are entitled to be able to read and understand it in their home language. Law should be translated in the official languages from an early stage of the legislative process, not only on promulgation. Given the extent of functional illiteracy and the existing lack of capacity on the part of the state to disseminate information, the administration and fine departments should be charged with informing rural people of their rights. Business and NGOs operating in rural areas should similarly be encouraged to inform people of their legal rights.
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Monitoring and evaluation
The rights of rural people are traditionally the most fragile in society, and must be assiduously monitored. To believe that policy has been faithfully reflected in legislation is naive. Countless intervening hands and minds give input to legislation before policy is enacted. The policy environment also changes continuously, as does the capacity and willingness of implementing agents to enforce or implement legislation. The law itself might not be sound. These difficulties will only come to fight if adequate and appropriate monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are built into the legislative environment.
While the risk of impairment and disability is much greater for the poor, the opposite is also true. The birth of an impaired child, or the occurrence of disability in a family, often thrusts the family deeper into poverty. The RDP Framework for the Development of an Integrated National Disability Strategy gives a long list of factors that increase disability in the population. Nearly all of these are more likely to occur in rural than urban areas. Rural development that increases the incomes of the poor and increases access to services is thus a requirement for reducing the incidence of disability,. At die same time, legal, economic and medical measures are required to find and assist the disabled to achieve their rights as citizens. AU levels of government will have to be involved in this effort.
NGOs are some of the key actors in rural development strategy. The Minister responsible for the RDP does not intend that his Office should act as a gatekeeper for donor funds to CBOs or NGOs, nor to recommend to donors which NGOs they should support. Given the international trend amongst donors to increase support to NGOs rather than governments it is unlikely that total donor funds to the NGO sector will decline significantly.
NGOs are not the responsibility of government. It is the responsibility of government, however, to provide a facilitative environment in which those that can prove themselves can flourish, in competition with the private sector.
Community based organisations
CBOs such as civics, community development forums and trusts are less widespread in rural than urban areas, but nevertheless more numerous than is often realised. They will need to mobilise to maintain pressure on local government for the delivery of services, and also to maintain pressure on people to pay for services. CBOs argue, and this is supported by many RDP programmes, that they have the right to state support for capacity building in order to:
This latter role is often problematic for many government departments. There is no doubt that CBOs must be involved in steering projects from start to finish, and that they require capacity building to become more proficient at this role. However, whether their members should be the ones to build the project itself, and be paid to do it with state funds, is a separate question. Under Treasury rules it is not easy for government departments to subcontract services or projects to community bodies, and such rules cannot be changed quickly, Further, it is not easy for CBOs to show technical and managerial competence, for instance in road building, borehole construction, or housing construction.
In the end this may be a practical matter. Civics will be involved with other stakeholders in the coordinating committees that must plan projects and ensure that their limited budgets are well spent. Civics and others have insisted on changes in tendering rules to favour local, small-scale and labour-intensive companies, in which many of their members are likely to be employed. If the coordinating committees agree after wide consultation that the funds will be well spent in employing a CBO to carry out work on behalf of the community, and find a way to do this, they will have to live with the consequences.
Because the importance of capacity building to CBOs is well recognised, and in order to release the restrictions on state expenditure created by Treasury rules, the National Development Agency is being set up specifically to allow CBOs to obtain funding for skills training.
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International experience shows that NGOs often have difficulty scaling up their activities, but that they also often provide better services than the state in the more difficult and marginal areas. The paucity of state experience in development in South Africa leads to the expectation that NGOs will continue with capacity building, training and experimentation for some years, and then will settle into their more conventional niche role as the state becomes more competent at service provision. Alternatively, the state may continue to subcontract work directly to service NGOs. Maintaining their independence will be an important aspect of the NGOs' complementarily to state services.