In summary, sustainable development is a challenge for people and planners across the globe rather than an isolated problem. The LA 2 I principles are an essential element in achieving sustainable development. Involving people in environmental decisions that affect them might help develop a larger population of socially responsible citizens. In order to achieve sustainable development, there is a need to use local participation as a tool, a scenario which is reaffirmed by the World Summit 2002. The World Summit 2002 emphasised the principles of LA 21 and identified partnerships as a potential tool in achieving sustainable development at local level to ensure capacity building and attitudinal change.
With the growth in population and environmental problems, the need for environmental education has increased. An understanding of the multi-dimensional problems of depleting resources is vital to the communities. Awareness and participating in local environmental issues may help people to understand their attitudes towards each other and their biophysical, and sociological environment. This may further assist the community in developing local programmes to achieve sustainable development.
CHAPTER 3
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY AREA
3.1 Introduction
This chapter describes the location of the study area, the biophysical and SOCIO-
economic characteristics, and the problems associated with the stream. It goes on to examine the political history of KwaMashu and the origins of the partnerships represented in the case studies. The study area falls within section K and C of Ward 41, with section C being associated with the KDI and section K being associated with the KDA partnership. Much information about the study area is drawn from the personal experience of having grown up KwaMashu Township and further data was collected during the course of this research.
3.2 Description of the study area
Townships, in Durban, were developed with the aim of eradicating crowded shack areas that were close to the city centre during the implementation of the policy of separate development. The influx of Indians and African workers into Durban, as a centre of economic growth, produced deep anxieties about the perceived breakdown of social order. An area known as Cato Manor became the major settlement for African families in the early 1930's. The Africans were, during this period, prohibited from owning land or building homes in urban areas (Cato Manor Development Projects undated).
The greatest fear of the central government was that Cato Manor, only four kilometres from the centre of Durban, would change the identity of the city, as the ambiguity of industrial modernity became embodied in racial spaces. In 1957 the central government instructed the municipality to begin constructing a new housing scheme for Africans (Cato Manor Development Projects undated). KwaMashu Township was developed as a relocation site for the communities that were to be moved from Cato Manor.
Townships are urban residential areas developed under South African apartheid laws as a settlement for African families who were granted special permits to live there instead of in their rural areas. The name KwaMashu was derived from the name Sir Marshall
Campbell, the sugar-cane magnate. The Zulus reduced Marshal! to "mashu" as they found the name difficult to pronounce, and this led to the township being called KwaMashu. By 1959, attempts were made to move people from the informal settlement at Cato Manor to KwaMashu. This was met with stiff resistance and tensions rose in Cato Manor.
KwaMashu Township, 25 km North of Durban, has a long history of struggle and violence directed against political oppression, as the community sought political, economic and social freedom. KwaMashu is made up of 14 sections and informal settlements namely, Richmond Farm, Bester, Lindelani and Siyanda, on its borders (Refer Figure I). KwaMashu has undergone vast changes since its establishment in terms of infrastructure and local government structure. It is the second biggest township in the Durban Metro area. KwaMashu was previously under the control of the North Central Local Council. Recently the Durban Metro changed its political structure from mutually dependent council areas, to the unified political, administrative, spatial and economic structure of the Unicity that incorporates all these council areas (CSIR 1999).
KwaMashu is currently under the jurisdiction of Durban Metro Council, currently known as eThekwini Municipality. This unicity structure is believed to be the type of local control that will encourage interaction between local government authorities and the local communities.
The stream used in the case study is a natural stream, which was canalised, and it appears that initially most of K waMashu Township was built on wetlands. In order to limit the parameters and include greater detail, the study concentrated on two sections, namely, section K and section C (Refer Figure I). Since the late 1980s, several projects which involve the community who live in close proximity to the stream, have been initiated. With an increase in the awareness of the community regarding environmental degradation, more recently, a series of projects has focused on stream management and the effect of stream poll uti on on the local people. In most of these projects, partnerships were developed as a way of involving people in environmental decision-making.
3.3 Location of the study area
KwaMashu is located 25 km in the North Central Council of the Durban Metropolitan
o ' " 0 ' " . .
Area (Refer Figure 1) between 29 45 00 South and 30 59 00 East. Durban IS 111
the process of centralising its government structure and extending its boundaries to include the previously disadvantaged rural areas, and these will form part of the Unicity.
The stream, in KwaMashu, runs from the informal settlement of Richmond Farm to KwaMashu K-section through G, F, and E-sections and later joins Phoenix canal (Refer Figure I). The stream originates in the south-west and runs through the south to the east of KwaMashu. From the original starting point, the stream breaks into two sections, one that goes northwards and the other which goes in a southerly direction. In this study, the focus is on the part that runs through southern KwaMashu.