THE THEORY OF CO-MANAGEMENT AND ITS APPLICATION IN SOUTH AFRICA’S PFM POLICY
6.8. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTEXT OF FORESTRY IN THE SOUTHERN CAPE
“focusing on the social aspects of forestry requires taking a holistic approach to the interaction between the social chamber constituents - (indigenous peoples, workers, and community and small-scale forest users) and forest management and the environment. This involves considering industrial forestry as well as all other uses of the forest like subsistence harvesting, the use of non-timber forest products (NTFP) and uses for recreational, cultural or spiritual purposes”.
The need for PFM to be implemented is seen in DWAF’s obligation to maintain their FSC certification, thus upholding the international recognition that they receive for the manner in which they manage both timber and non-timber related forest products. Having an international accreditation such as FSC demonstrates DWAF’s commitment in meeting obligations with respect to international conventions, and assuring downstream users of forest products that the products are from sustainably managed forests (DWAF, 2003c).
PFM should be understood as an approach to forest management that is consistent with DWAF’s FSC criteria. It is also an approach that is to be implemented in the context of the management classification system that DWAF have in operation.
In general, the regional socio-economic context mirrors the national socio-economic context when it comes to the three most influential issues facing this local area, namely Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), poverty and unemployment. These are the pressing issues facing local government in the study area also. Figure 6.6 depicts a cartoon from the Mail and Guardian Newspaper (16/04/2004) illustrating this through a parody of the legend of Saint George slaying the dragon.
Unemployment, poverty AIDS, are depicted in the caricature of a three-headed monster that President Mbeki, who represents the state, has to slay. The remainder of this section provides greater detail regarding these social and economic challenges as well as other socio-economic data.
Figure 6.6. Cartoon from the Mail and Guardian (16/04/2004).
The total population of the Eden District is 454923 individuals, nearly half a million. More than half of the population are Coloured (58.4%), with the white population group being the second largest (21.5%) followed by the African population (19.9%). The Indian population group is marginal, comprising only 0.2% of the total population.
Figure 6.7 below illustrates the age-sex structure for the population of the Eden District Municipality. There are marginally more females than males in the region (51.2% as opposed
to 48.8%). This gender balance is not unusual, but given that the greatest difference between the two sexes occurs within the 35-64 age range it is suggested that female headed households may predominate in the region, with males moving away to work in the larger centres.
Figure 6.7. Age-sex structure for the population of the Eden District Municipality in South Africa for 2001 (Statistics South Africa, 2003).
This is supported by Horn (2002b) and Cunningham (pers. comm., 09/10/2003) who both attribute the occurrence of female-headed households in the region to the migrant labour system. Horn (2002b) describes women as suffering from “cultural and social patriarchal domination” in that they:
“have less access to employment opportunities in the formal sector, receive less wages than men when they are employed, and are more often employed as seasonal and casual workers. They are also constrained by norms preventing their full participation in decision-making processes and restricting their rights of access to resources and to benefits deriving from resources” (Horn, 2002b:15).
With reference to this disparity between men and women, Horn (2002b) states that poverty has a clearly gendered dimension and that poverty alleviation programmes should be focused on women. DWAF have taken cognisance of this in their PFM policy. The framework policy stated that: “whilst the Department will promote the active participation of women, the poor, the weak and children in indigenous forest management, and to see that their forest-based needs and problems are attended to, it must also be mindful of the social construction of gender” (DWAF, 1999:8-9).
DWAF’s commitment to addressing gender equity is reflected in a comment by Knysna Official 1 (2003) who commented that:
“there are a lot of politics involved, it is not always the poorest of the poor people that do receive the benefits and that is still a thing that we have to address. And gender also, we must focus on women, that’s not happening at this stage. We have started an excellent fern-picking project at Farleigh and we focus on that, that it must be women, and that project is running…we concentrate on women”
Similarly, one of the foresters interviewed commented that “the forum themselves then worked out a small equity employment thingy there, 70% women, preferably women with children”
(Forester 1, 2003).
All 11 of South Africa’s official languages are spoken in the district. Afrikaans is the most dominant, being the home language of 75.6% of the population. IsiXhosa is the language of 17.2% and English 6.2% of the population. Each of the eight remaining official languages is the home language of less than one percent of the total population. Language is an important element of the social context, because it is a key component of the PFM implementation and communication process, and has implications for the level of participation that is encouraged from stakeholders.
Statistics of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection rates for the region are unavailable; however one receives an indication of the likely incidences of HIV and AIDS in the region from the data available for the Western and Eastern Cape provinces (see Table 6.3 below).
In a survey amongst women attending antenatal clinics in South Africa it was found that in 1999 the Western Cape had the lowest prevalence of infection and the Eastern Cape the fourth lowest infection level (DOH, 2000; Stannard, 2001). The incidence of HIV and AIDS does not appear to be a significant issue in the region if one compares it with other regions and other social issues; however infection levels are on the increase with the Western Cape evidencing a 36.5% rate of increase from 5.2% in 1998 to 7.1% in 1999 (Stannard, 2001).
Table 6.3. HIV infection rates from 1996-1999 across South Africa’s nine provinces (Stannard, 2001).
W.
Cape E. Cape N. Cape Free State KwaZulu- Natal
Mpuma- langa
Northern
Province Gauteng North West
1996 3.1 8.1 6.5 17.5 19.9 15.8 7.9 15.5 25.1
1997 6.3 12.6 8.6 19.6 26.9 22.6 8.2 17.1 18.1
1998 5.2 15.9 9.9 22.8 32.5 30.0 11.5 22.5 21.3
1999 7.1 18.0 10.1 27.9 32.5 27.3 11.4 23.9 23.0
Figures given as percentage estimated HIV infection (95% CI).
Education levels amongst the population in the district are reflected in Figure 6.8 below. Only 7.8% of the population over 20 years of age have no schooling; of those who have some schooling, 36.5% have never reached high school, whilst only 31.8% have completed grade 12 or higher.
Highest Education Levels Attained by Over 20 year olds in the Eden District Municipality
No Schooling (7.8%)
Some Primary (20.1%)
Complete Primary (8.6%)
Secondary (31.7%) Grade 12 (22.1)
Higher (9.7%)
Figure 6.8. Highest Education Levels Attained by Over 20 year olds in the Eden District Municipality of South Africa in 2001 (Statistics South Africa, 2003).
The labour force comprises all people between the age of 15 and 65 within the population group who are economically active. Within the Eden District 185 907 people, 62.2% of the population are economically active. Of this labour force, 136 718 or 73.5% are employed and
49 189 (26.5%) are unemployed in the district. A relatively high percentage of the population (112 996 people or 37.8%) are, however, not economically active. This means that, although they are of age to be employed, they are unable to work for a variety of reasons: still being engaged in education, military service, disability or being a homemaker. Some of these people would be engaged in the informal sector economy, which is not reflected in the statistics.
Approximately 49 000 people are unemployed in the District. The Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) Categorisation Report for the Garden Route (2003) describes two patterns of unemployment. The first pattern is the comparatively high levels of unemployment in the major towns and the second pattern is unemployment in remote rural areas. The latter unemployment pattern is regarded as more problematic because unlike urban residents who are believed to have a “greater variety of survival options available to them” (MDB, 2003:4) residents in remote areas are more limited in their options, with their situation being compounded by generally higher rates of illiteracy and lower skills levels.
Regarding income earned by the population of the Eden District, Figure 6.9 and Figure 6.10 depict the individual monthly and annual household incomes respectively. These graphs provide an indication of the relative poverty of the area. For example, in Figure 6.9, 56% of the population in the district receives no monthly income. This figure seems high but correlates with the labour force data. In a population where approximately 54.3% of the population is not working because they are either not economically active or they are unemployed, it would be reasonable to assume that a high proportion of the population would receive no monthly income. However, this data does not reflect income earned from pension payouts or other
‘informal’ earnings and it is suggested that such gaps in reporting reveal the difficulty of obtaining accurate census data. Of those who do receive an income, the highest category of income earned is between R401-R800 a month. Less than 2% of the population receives R12 801 or more per month. It can be seen that the greatest proportion of the population has a very low monthly income. Even though it would seem that the unemployment figure of 56% in Figure 6.9 is too high, this graph gives an indication of the relative disparities in the distribution of income in the District.
0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000 140000 160000 180000 200000 220000 240000 260000 280000
None R1- 400
R401 - 800 R801 - 1600
R1601 -3200 R3201 - 6400
R6401 -12800 R12801 - 25600
R25601 - 51200 R51201 -102400
R102401 - 204800 Over R204801 Income (ZAR)
Population
Figure 6.9. The Individual Monthly Income for the Eden District Municipality of South Africa for 2001 (Source: Statistics South Africa, 2003).
From Figure 6.10 below, which illustrates the annual household income for the Eden District Municipality, it can be seen that 24 623 or 20.6% of 120 743 households receive between R9 601 and R19 200 per annum. This equates to R1 600 per month.
0 2500 5000 7500 10000 12500 15000 17500 20000 22500 25000 27500
None R1 - 4800
R4801 - 9600 R9601 - 19200
R19201 - 38400 R38401 - 76800
R76801 - 153600 R153601 -307200
R307201 -614400 R614401 -1228800
R1228801 - 2457600 Over R
2457600
Income (ZAR)
Number of households
Figure 6.10. The Annual Household Income for the Eden District Municipality of South Africa for 2001 (Data from Statistics South Africa, 2003).
The second highest proportion of households (23 958 or 19.9%) receives between R19 201- R38 400 per annum. The differentiation between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ is not as clear in Figure 6.9 as it is in Figure 6.10, and the bell curve reflected by the data indicates that the annual household income is more indicative of a normal distribution, save for the 12810 households (10.4%) who receive no annual income.
On the whole, residents in the Eden District appear to have above average infrastructure available to them. Formal housing makes up 83.1% of all households; 85.5% have electricity;
82.5% have a weekly municipal refuse disposal service; 71.6% have a flushing toilet and 58.9% water piped to their dwelling, while 24.8% have a tap inside their yards (Statistics South Africa, 2003). This marked improvement in living conditions in comparison to other districts and provinces is attributed to the Masakhane29 and Reconstruction and Development Programmes (see Section 6.2) and sets the district in sharp contrast to other areas where PFM is being implemented, such as the Transkei or Northern KwaZulu-Natal. Horn remarks that PFM in the southern Cape starts out from “a better socio-economic base than in other provinces” (Horn, 2002a:15).
With reference to the southern Cape, one problem the DWAF Knysna Area Office has experienced is the reported absence of local groupings living in close proximity to the forests (DWAF, 2002d). The southern Cape, unlike the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, does not experience the conventional problems that characterise ‘people-park’ conflicts, in that the socio-economic profile of communities living adjacent to these indigenous forests may not represent the interface between very poor communities and forests in South Africa. This creates confusion amongst forest managers as to who the stakeholders in PFM are.
In the field work for this research it was often heard in the southern Cape that “PFM is for the poorest of the poor” and that there were no resource poor communities in close proximity to the forest boundaries. PFM was, as a result, seen to be less urgent in this region. This is not necessarily a correct assumption and its veracity is yet to be ascertained. However, despite this uncertainty, such assumptions are likely to have significant implications for the
29 The Masakhane Campaign is “part of the broad national strategy to create conditions necessary for the success of the RDP. It is aimed at mobilising all sectors of society to be actively involved in redressing imbalances of the past and creating a society characterised by new values and norms, a new consciousness and sense of responsibility among all citizens to transform governance and build a united nation” (SACG, 2006).
implementation of PFM because they affect the degree to which those tasked with implementing the policy and those having to accept its implementation deem PFM to be an appropriate policy for the region.
The final socio-economic issue to describe is the contribution that the forestry and tourism sectors make to the Gross Regional Product (GRP) and employment (see Table 6.4 below), and also the role that the forests are seen to play in relation to tourism in the region.
Table 6.4. Contribution per Economic Sector in terms of GGP and Employment for 1998 (Wesgro, 1998 in MDB Categorisation Report, 2003).
SECTOR GROSS REGIONAL
PRODUCT EMPLOYMENT
R’000 % No. %
Agriculture, forestry, fishing 278 917 9.4 13 200 10.1
Mining 17 927 0.6 4 500 3.4
Manufacturing 397 271 13.4 18 560 14.2
Construction and repairs 269 539 9.2 20 000 15.3
Electricity and water 125 379 4.2 740 0.57
Trade 378 483 12.8 9 100 7.0
Tourism 254 481 8.7 11 200 8.6
Transport communication 195 964 6.6 6 100 4.7
Financial and business services 458 453 15.5 7 600 5.8
Government and community services, social
and personal services 578 277 19.6 22 800 17.5
Survival self employment and unemployment (14 773) (0.5) 17 375 13.3
Total GRP 2 954 691 100 131 175 100
Forestry, along with fishing and agriculture contributes only 9.4% to the GRP of the Eden District Municipality, and is the fifth highest sector which contributes to the GRP. The tourism sector follows, contributing 8.7%. It is also interesting to note that the contribution of tourism to employment in the region is 8.6% whilst that of agriculture, forestry and fishing is 10.1%. It would seem that the contribution of these sectors to employment and GRP is much less than other sectors. The categorisation report indicates that the forestry sector’s contribution is increasing owing to the increased demand for timber products and the perception that the tourism sector is the “most important growth sector in [the] regional economy” (MDB,
2003:10). The growth in tourism experienced in 1997, where there was a 25% increase in the number of visitors to South Africa from 1996, is expected to continue, which should result in an increase in the percentage contribution of the tourism sector to the regional coffers. Knysna is purported to have benefited the most from tourism as a result of its scenic location, the quality of life of the urban environment, and the tourism orientated attitude of business and residents in the town (MDB, 2003).
Bertram (pers. comm., 02/10/2003) the Knysna Tourism Officer in 2003, places a high value on the southern Cape forests and their role in enhancing tourism in the region. He stated that eco-tourism in the forests could assist Knysna in providing year-round activities for tourists in that when the weather is not ideal for water sports and seaside activities; visitors could still explore the forests and participate in forest-related activities. Some forest-related economic activities include hiking, short walks, quad biking, river rafting, treetop canopy tours, horse riding, kiosks and cafés at scenic spots, abseiling, bird watching, visits to places of historic interest or scenic beauty, and the provision of accommodation facilities in the form of camp sites and bed and breakfast venues. Eco-tourism is regarded as a sustainable economic activity and is therefore promoted within PFM as a viable option for local economic development and poverty alleviation initiatives. It has, however, also been recognised that the ability of forests to single-handedly achieve these goals through increasing employment levels in and around the forests is unrealistic, and that forestry can only be part of the solution to these problems in the region (Sondergaard, pers. comm., 04/12/2003). The inability of forestry-related tourism to provide increased employment opportunities does not nullify its ability to increase its contribution to the GRP, especially if it is tied to adventure-tourism and eco-tourism ventures in towns such as George and Knysna. Having said this, DWAF are aware of this and have implemented measures to ensure that these ventures contribute to the rural economy by giving a percentage of the income earned by these forest activities to rural communities (Knysna Official 2, 2003; Local Business Owner 1, 2003).
In conclusion, it is apparent that the southern Cape region is one of many disparities. It covers a large geographical area, which incorporates a diverse range of settlement types, from affluent estates to single-roomed RDP dwellings. Despite the Western Cape being defined by Government South Africa (GoSA) as “the second wealthiest province” (Horn, 2002b:14) it has also been characterised by respondents exhibiting abject poverty where people live below the breadline (Horn, 2002b; Henley, pers. comm., 08/10/2003; Cunningham, pers. comm.,
09/10/2003). This disparity and the differing perceptions held by respondents regarding the level of poverty in the region have implications for PFM, which are elaborated upon in Chapters Nine, Ten and Eleven.