1 SA water challenge according to KOHLER

According to Kohler(2020) SA does not have enough water. It has a mean annual precipitation of 450mm which is slight above half of the world average of 860mm. Its ground water resources are scarce because of most its parts are made up of hard rock formations that do not contain major ground aquifers that can be used on a national scale.

2. SOCIAL JUSTICE

Social justice is the balance between our joint responsibilities as a society and our responsibilities as individuals to contribute to a just society( Calma et al.2011)

3 ENVORONMENTAL SOCIAL INJUSTICE.

 Rathzel(2018) postulates that environmental social justice is a type of justice for people who have been "left out"  during environmental problems.

4.WETLAND PROJECTED USE TO ALLEVIATE POVERTY 

The wetland project assisted in the purification of the water, provided water and managed the flow of water to disadvantaged areas. It also helped by employing 2000 people who were victims of poverty .

ENVIRONMENTAL STATE OF SA

SA's environmental state is in devastation, with global warming at its peak, due to air pollution, land pollution and a high carbon footprint, its clear that our environment deteriorates daily. As for water and electricity scarcity, the country's economy is going to be damaged beyond repair. As our primary sector(a major contributor to the economy) is drastically negatively impacted by droughts and inconsistent weather.  

THE FOUR ENVIRONMENTAL NARRATIVES IDENTIFIED IN SA 

1. The conservation view

2. The economic view 

3. Non-state actors view 

4. Local view

THE OBJECTIVES AND MOTIVATIONS OF THE NARRATIVES

Conservation view: this view is the oldest narrative, that supports the authoritarian approach, this when the communities' views are excluded in the decision making. It's motivation is on the bases that the approach is focused on protecting the environment by excluding people and removing their rights to land and other natural resources.

Economic view: this narrative sees the environment as a commodity not to benefit the locals but a selected few of the privileged. Its motivation is based on the view that nature is an untapped resource that should be exploited to lift people out of poverty.

Non-state actors view; this narrative's views originate from external interest parties outside the local communities. it supports economic growth and the use of environment by the local but in a manner that does not compromise the integrity of the environment. Its motivation is in the belief in the intrinsic value of the environment that it should be protected and respected because the environmental resources are finite.

Local view: its views are highly complex and differentiated because its informed by time, place, individual characteristics and circumstances as well as local power and politics. Its motivation is influenced by the nature of the relationship with the environment as shaped by the socio-political context.

DO THESE NARRATIVES CONTRIBUTE ON THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE SA ENVIRONMENT

conservation view: it does not anymore. SA is now a democratic country, which means people are now included in the decision making and there is less to no forced removals and resettlements. 

economic view: it does. The environment is still exploited for the benefit of the country's economy. example, the Transkei area in the Eastern Cape exploited for the extraction of raw materials which in turn may bring about investors, resulting in employment thus growing the economy.

non-state actors view: it does. SA is a developing country with an end goal to be developed country but not at the expense of its environment. This why it has initiatives and projects that promote the preservation of the environment, in the likes of Greenfund, Goodgreendeeds etc. 

local view: it does. The local power includes the communities in the decision making process which in turn benefits the communities. When they benefit their relationship with the environment may change as people participate in initiatives and projects that promote the preservation of the environment.

THE TWO MAIN DISCOURSE OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN SA

1. SUSTANABLE DVELOPMENT ENV DISCOURSE 

This is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their own needs. It includes integration of economic growth, social development and environmental protection into national, regional and international planning and decision making.

2. SOCIAL JUSTICE AS ENV DISCOURSE

This is the equal distribution and access to good quality environmental resources that are linked to overcome social problems and their effects on the communities. Problems such as poverty, poor quality of  education and employment as well as health and wellbeing.

THE CLASSICAL THEORIES AND THEIR USEFULNESS IN THE SA CONTEXT

1. Max Weber, his theory has two aspects that Murphy used, SARCE RESOURSES(he maintained that the impact of capitalist development resulted in growth on scarce resources) and FORMAL RATIONALIZATION & SUBSTANTIVE RATIONALITY. Formal rationalization promotes pervasive logic whereby profit and efficiency reigns supreme whereas substantive rationality promotes disregarding of the impact on the environment which result in scarcity, extinction and degradation.

In the SA context the extraction of raw material(gold, platinum) without being concern with the environmental impacts of the extractions, will results in remaining LDC and deteriorate our environment even further.

2. Karl Marx, emphasizes the problem of the fertility of the soil within capitalist agriculture, because its agriculture is focused on making a quick profit putting ahead the soil(environment) or people( community). He also raises concern on industrial revolution, which removes rural people from nature and drive them into crowded, polluted cities, while the soil is drained its nutrients.

In the SA context. rural-urban migration has a great impact on the environment, as people are put in crowded places, in which they pollute due to their carbon footprint and they leave the farm arears with no one to take take of, making it prone to being infertile soil.

ANTHROPOGENIC NATURE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS AND SA EXAMPLES.

The are numerous important environmental problems, which are a result of human activities. All the natural hazards are due to the existence of societies. Human activities like, pollution, deforestation and overfishing, among others, are the primary cause of these environmental problems. Environmental problems in the likes of, Ozone depletion, decline in freshwater, global warming and destruction of natural habitats. 

In the SA context we have 5 major environmental problems, namely  biodiversity, lake of freshwater, deforestation, pollution and climate change( droughts).

Humans are the major contributors to these problems(environmental problems) yet are the same one who suffer the most as a results of these problems( climate change)

PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT IN THE SA CONTEX AND ITS CRITIQUES

Participatory development is one of the alternatives theories to development, which involves the participation of beneficiaries from the establishment stage to the implementation of the development intervention. 

It takes places in two forms:

• Participatory Organizations- where community groups themselves to initiate and take part in the development. In SA the community policing forums(CPF) works together with the SAPS and discuss the problems and solutions of the crimes that take place in their respective areas.
• Participation as Empowerment- participation comes in form of structural changes and access to resources as an empowerment strategy. POWA is a feminist, Women's right organization that provides with both services and engages in advocacy to ensure that the realization of women's rights and improve women's quality of life.

Its critiques are:

the culture of poverty in SA makes it difficult to engage in meaningful development

anti-participatory structures hinder the process of participatory development.

MODRNIZATION THEORY

is the process of social, economical and cultural transformation is which a country evolves from the underdeveloped status to a modern society following the prescriptions of the MDCs.

• wants to eliminate the traditional ways and replace them with modern ways
• Ignores global inequalities and social class differences
• believes that the underdevelopment of a country  is because that country is yet to develop into modern economy

DEPENDENCY THEORY

occurs when some countries(MDCs) experience growth at the expanse of others(LDCs)

• promotes interdependency of both traditional and modern ways for the development of a country
• explains and explores the global inequalities and social class differences 
• believes that the underdevelopment of a country is due to exploitation of the first world countries(MDCs) and that this exploitation has evolved from colonialism.

FOUR FACTORS THAT CONSTITUDE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF SA.

1.RURAL TO URBAN MIGRATION

A lot of youngsters from rural areas like, KZN,EASTERN CAPE or LIMPOPO, migrate to Gauteng because of how developed the markets are in its cities. Generally the lives of  the ones who migrate are improved because of more and better opportunities, however the lives of the ones that remain, mostly adults, worsen as they lose their youth who would have been the ones to continue with their businesses of farming. So the economy benefits in the secondary sector and is negatively affected in the primary sector.

2.Political transformation

SA is a democratic country, this means that political freedom is almost impossible, with all the numerous political parties, striving to lead the country , each with different objectives, that most of the time are beneficial to them and not to the public at large. Political freedom for SA is still far fetched, as we are a developing country at progress.

3.IMPROVEMENT IN EDUCATION AND HEALTH

The education system of SA, is poor and quite frankly, it does not equip its public with the necessary skills and knowledge to make them eligible to employment or even have a career, to improve the economy. For instance, the requirement for being admitted to an institution of higher learning, more that the requirements of obtaining a matric certificate.

As for the health, for those that can not afford to pay for private clinics and hospital, they have to settle for the public health facilities offered by the government, whose state are devastating and its working personnel are often rude to patients.

There is still a long way to go in improving the two mentioned above, among others, to make SA a developed country.

4.MODERNISATION

With the level of quality of education SA offers, it makes it almost impossible to transform it to a modernization country. We currently rely on other country's technologies to better ours, in hopes of qualifying our country as developed, one day.

Poverty can be generally described as the deprivation of well-being. where basic needs can not be met due to monetary terms in relation to a household's income or consumption.

Experts maintain that there are types of poverty namely, relative poverty( defined in relation to other people of the society) and absolute poverty( below an official line set at the absolute standard of what households should be able to count on in order to meet their basic needs).

The following are the expert-derived concepts and definitions of poverty, within the SA context, among others:

• FRACTIONS OF DISTRIBUTION OF THE INCOME

poverty is defined based on the national income and expenditure distribution. The RDP project defines the 20% and the 40% expenditure as "ultra poor" and "poor", respectively.

• POVERTY DATUM LINE( by Magasela)

This line is made up of the primary poverty datum( include food, clothing, cosmetics, fuel and light) and the secondary poverty datum( includes accommodation cost, transportation and tax of the breadwinner(s)). 

• MINIMUM LIVING LEVEL AND SUPPLEMENTAL LIVING LEVEL( by Bureau)

this one defined poverty as the lowest sum possible on which a specific size household can live.

• THE HOUSEHOLD SUBSISTENCE LEVEL AND HOUSEHOLD EFFECTIVE LEVEL( by Potgieter)

describes poverty in the basis of excluding medical expenses, savings, education, insurance, holidays, buying household equipment and transport.

• HOOGEVEEN AND OLZER-UPPER AND LOWER BOUND POVERTY LINES

they based the poverty line using costs of basic needs. R593 per capita per month was their upper bound and R322 per capita per month was their lower bound.

Poverty is a strongly marked deprivation of well-being, it is mainly in monetary terms in relation to household income or consumption.

The benefits of being poor to an individual, are 1.one gets to be creative and find ways to make money, rather than working for someone,2.if one is a parent, they can to spend some quality time with their kids and help them with their homework, as you are unemployed and have a lot of time in your hands. and 3. you get money from the government, monthly for ends meet.

The benefits of being poor for the community, are 1. you do not have to worry about having people breaking into your house because the setting of where you live makes it easier for you neighbors to see who come in and who goes out,2. the government tends to pay attention to your living conditions and work towards improving the living conditions for your community and 3. you get to be represented by pro bono Lawyers in case you are facing lawsuits.

The functionalist theory assumes that society is orderly and stable. It maintains parts of the society is integrated and that when one malfunctions the rest of the parts are disrupted. It views two types of functions, manifest function(intended and widely recognized function) and the latent function(unintended and unrecognized function). In the case of racism it would suggest it as a positive thing because it will enable a society to implement law and regulations for all races to live together in harmony. it would still make efforts on reducing it by making corporates businesses hire almost the same percentage of different races. To promote equality.

The conflict theory assumes that the society is continuously changing and is marked for conflict. It maintains that social problems arise from various kinds of social conflict. In the case of racism while hiring employees, it look at the background of black people and the quality of education they have compared to whites. And emphasize that racism is a results of poor education that is received by black people and being a liability more than an asset when hired, as compared to whites people.