Learning Activity 11

The four environmental narratives identified in South Africa are; the conservation, the economic, non-state actors and local views.

• The conservation view is motivated by the authoritarian approach which has believed that people should not be given the rights to land and usually leads to forced removals and resettlements.
• The economic view states that land is used for buying and selling and it is seen as an asset that boosts the socio-economic development of a country.
• The non-state actor view is a view that is influenced by people that do not reside in the community.
• Local community view is motivated by the belief that the relationship with the environment is influenced by the socio-political context.

According to Stewart and Zaaiman, sustainable development and environmental and social justice are two of the key environmental discourses in South Africa. In the discourse about sustainable development, policy uses international systems and the theory of ecological modernisation with private sector assistance.

This discourse is motivated by continuing progress, providing social and environmental justice, without damaging the environment. Access to environmental resources is related to social challenges and their repercussions on the community in the Social Justice debate.