Interviews with key personnel formed the fundamental basis of the capacity assessment, with municipalities indicating their state of preparedness for implementing the AQA. Purposive sampling was used to identify individuals with air pollution control involvement and responsibilities. An initial reluctance to participate was observed. Reasons cited included the lack of pollution issues, lack of municipal resources or little progress with the AQA; however, the researcher was able to motivate them and secure greater co-operation through informing them of the purpose of the study. The majority of municipalities identified the Environmental Health Department as the seat of implementation of pollution control. Environmental Health Practitioners (EHP's) and the associated management tier formed the bulk of the interview sample. Related departments with influence on air quality were also sampled; however, minimal co-operation with Environmental Health Departments was noted, limiting the number of individuals able to provide constructive responses.
Only a limited number of local municipalities within the district municipality indicated the presence of pollution issues to any degree and the availability of personnel to address pollution control.
Frequently, the municipalities referred to other local municipalities or the district municipality as the location of pollution control functions; municipalities that were rural or with a small urban core had limited available resources to address pollution control and received assistance from other authorities.
Rural and peri-urban municipalities in the sample also indicated that few pollution issues were raised in the municipality and large resources for control were unnecessary. Industrial activities were observed as the core motivation for control and municipalities where industrialisation was limited or the economy was structured around other activities placed little emphasis on pollution control. The
limited human resources of municipalities to address pollution control restricted the sample size.
The sample comprised eighteen respondents who answered open-ended interview questions either in- person, or where time constraints applied, over the telephone (Table 4.1). Open-ended questions were used to provide information-rich responses to develop a comprehensive understanding of the pollution control functions of the municipality and inform the development of the implementation framework.
Questions were presented iteratively to facilitate information provision, with minimal suggestion by the interviewer to reduce bias in responses. The interview questions addressed human resources, familiarity with AQA and implementation activities, and AQM technical and management capabilities. A copy of the interview questionnaire is provided in Appendix 1. A pilot study of two interviews with respondents from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Ethekwini Municipality involved in AQM was used to refine the interview questions.
Table 4.1. List of respondents participating in the study
No. Department Municipality Date
Respondent 1 Environmental Health Umtshezi/Provincial 25-07-2006 Respondent 2 Social and Community Services Umtshezi 28-06-2006 Respondent 3 Municipal Health Services Uthukela 23-11-2005
Respondent 4 Environmental Health Uthukela 23-11-2005
Respondent 5 Environmental Health Uthukela 28-06-2006
Respondent 6 Environmental Health Uthukela 28-06-2006
Respondent 7 Environmental Health Uthukela 28-06-2006
Respondent 8 Environmental Health Uthukela 11-07-2006
Respondent 9 Environmental Health Hibiscus Coast 30-11-2005 Respondent 10 Health Services Hibiscus Coast 30-11-2005
Respondent 11 Environmental Health Ugu 28-09-2006
Respondent 12 Community Services Uthungulu 18-11-2005
Respondent 13 Environmental Health Uthungulu 07-11-2005
Respondent 14 Community Services Umhlatuze 07-11-2005
Respondent 15 Public Health Umhlatuze 13-07-2006
Respondent 16 Environmental Health Umhlatuze 02-11-2005 Respondent 17 Environmental Health Umhlatuze 07-11-2005 Respondent 18 Environmental Planning Umhlatuze 07-11-2005
Additional perspectives were also derived from relevant stakeholders who were not employed by municipalities, as well as individuals from municipalities whose functions were not directly related to pollution control and hence were unable to provide meaningful responses to the interview questions.
The latter refers particularly to personnel from the Planning Departments of municipalities, as corroboration from planners regarding AQM activities was necessary. These perspectives are external to the main set of results and are used for guidance and comment on the AQM process In
municipalities. The respondents who provided additional perspectives are listed in Table 4.2.
Some shortcomings were evident in the interview methodology; however, they were not viewed as compromising to the overall results. Regarding the sample of interviewees, local municipalities with identified consideration of air pollution control, as a result of air pollution issues in the municipality, were sampled. Local municipalities in the district that indicated that they had no personnel or resources dedicated to air pollution control during preliminary consultation were not sampled. The initial focus of the study was on district municipalities but was extended to include local municipalities displaying resources following communication with district officials. The lack of
personnel for interviews and the non-urban nature of excluded local municipalities suggested a limited impact on the outcomes of the study.
Table 4.2. Additional perspectives from respondents outside the main sample
No. Department Organisation Date
Respondent 19 AQM & Climate Change DAEA 24-01-2006
Respondent 20 Air Quality Unit CSIR 29-06-2006
Respondent 21 Public Relations RBCAA 23-01-2006
Respondent 22
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Ecoserv 26-07-2006Respondent 23 Planning Uthukela District Municipality 23-11-2005 Respondent 24 Planning & Development Uthungulu District Municipality 29-11-2005 Respondent 25 Environmental Health & Ugu District Municipality 28-11-2005
Disaster Management
An additional shortcoming was evident in the interview methodology, where AQA responsibilities and implementation were not clearly interpreted by interviewees resulting in some contradiction in the results for these questions; however, the conflict did not hinder the analysis. An aspect of the interviews, which limited the study, were the incomplete responses given by two respondents due to time constraints. Attempts were made by the researcher to contact the individuals, however these were unsuccessful and the incomplete responses were incorporated into the study. This resulted in the total number of responses being reduced from 18 to 16 for some ofthe questions.
4.4 Interview Analysis
Interviews were transcribed into analysis tables for each district, which allowed for the easy interpretation of results. Significant responses to questions were identified and noted, and thereafter, summary tables were organised, with percentage statistics to highlight key responses. Entries in the tables were elaborated upon based on the responses and a complete representation given of the implementation, current and planned, by the municipality of the various areas of AQM and the AQA.
Distinct categories of questions were identified and the presentation of results arranged accordingly.
Capacity assessments for each municipality were informed by the summary of implementation results and judgements on capacity based on the expected capacity needed for AQM implementation, as guided by theory, using the all-encompassing definition of capacity as a guide for assessment. Some intuitive guidance in this regard was provided by the '6 S model', or 'rapid capacity assessment model', used by Danish authorities and promoted by DEAT as a means to approach capacity-building holistically (Lukey, 2006; T &B Consult, 2002). The model makes use of six criteria to determine the capacity of an organisation; these are ~tructure, ~stems, ~kills, Incentive~, ~trategy, and Inter- relationship~. They relate to various operational and strategic components, such as division of labour,
organisational tools, skills of staff, strategic alignment of resources, and relationships with other organisations.
Following the investigation and assessment of capacity in municipalities, response themes were identified and analysed based on inputs from literature and legislation. The comparison of analysed responses to theoretical references identified the strengths and weaknesses of municipalities' approaches to AQM and the implementation of the AQA. The themes provide an essential reference to the major issues arising from the capacity assessment. These are elaborated upon to highlight areas of concern where further input is needed and areas that are functional and can be capitalised on in
implementation.