5.7 Sustainable development in South Africa
5.7.1 Sustainable development and policies in South Africa
All policies set up by the post Apartheid government including RDP, housing policy, the bill of constitution and GEAR were aimed at strengthening South African democracy and in turn promoting sustainable development. As Dixon and Pretorius (2001) pointed out, the purposes of South African post Apartheid government included economic growth, job creation, equity and social development and strengthening the safety and justice sector respond to the criteria of sustainable development.
In relation to the urban population explosion which challenges sustainable development, South Africa responded in 1997 by adopting the Urban Development Framework which defines the visions and plans to follow, so that urban population growth can be the vehicle of sustainable urban development. This is to say that there is lack of policies to restructure South African society and to further sustainable development. The majority of the population particularly the victims of the prejudiced legacy of Apartheid can strengthen their assets, access to social services and enjoy a safe and healthier environment.
However, despite the existence of the above mentioned policies framework to promote sustainable development in South Africa, legacies of Apartheid such as high levels of poverty among urban and rural communities, unemployment and lack of social stability (United Nations commission for sustainable development twelfth session, 2004) continue to affect the majority of South Africans and cities continue to display a very sprawled and segregated profile (Todes et ai, 2003). With regard to housing, although
an impressive number of low-cost housing was delivered, one may argue that the poor location and quality of subsidised houses jeopardised sustainable development.
It is not difficult to understand why development should be made 'sustainable'. The subsequent questions are of course how can we make development sustainable, and what are the deterrents or barriers to sustaining developments? These questions take us back to the genesis of the sustainable development paradigm. Hart (1999), in developing indicators for a sustainable community, cites useful examples to illustrate the need to integrate the economic, social and environmental segments of a society.
The concept of sustainable development may be used by many for their own purposes. However, little attention has been given to the 'politics of policy' when engaging issues of the environment within the policy forum (Hinchcliffe, 2001). The application of sustainability ideologies to policy requires policy makers to address some particularly difficult and sometimes controversial questions. Luke (1999), for instance, suggested that as a social goal sustainability is fraught with a number of unresolved questions, such as sustainable for how long, at what level, for whom, and sustainable development of what? Answers to these questions will invariably be context specific, usually serving the interests of the economically powerful (Blowers & Glasbergen, 1995).
The essential component for achieving sustainable development on the Local Agenda 21 (LA21) model is partnership, with effective collaboration between public, private, voluntary and community sectors. Perhaps the biggest problem is not the processes but the paradigm shift involved, away from an assumption of competition between interests (in which there are winners and losers) and towards one of co-operation, seeking win-win situations. Creative policy-making that fulfils all the criteria include socially inclusive, economically viable, resource conserving and aesthetically pleasing factors (Barton, 2000).
In South Africa, among the aspects comprising sustainable development, namely environmental, social and economic, the great challenge may be to improve the social well being of the majority of urban poor. With reference to housing which constitutes an essential component of the built environment, a constituent of social development, an important economic sector and an entity that uses natural resources (including labour power) and produces energy and waste, its development certainly affects the ecological, economic, social and cultural sustainability of a place. Getting South
Africans under adequate and affordable shelter (Garden, 2003) is the huge landmark in the realisation of sustainable development.
The concepts of social sustainability, the social dimension of sustainable housing pertains to the social preconditions conducive to the production and consumption of environmentally sustainable housing; the equiTable distribution and consumption of housing resources and assets; the harmonious social relations within the housing system; and an acceptable quality of housing and living environment.
These four aspects traverse a wide spectrum of social issues. The first aspect involves for instance, values, habits, rules, lifestyles, environmental consciousness and regulations. The second aspect would pertain to housing equity and housing standards, affordability, the role of government in housing and housing subsidy policies. The third aspect may be concerned with the landlord and tenant relationships, the relationship between the have the have-nots and the influence of the stakeholders in the housing arena, particularly that on housing price and rental, possibly involving the empowerment of the less privileged. The fourth aspect is more tangible and may refer to the internal housing conditions and the immediate environment, including the neighbourliness. The four aspects are inter-related or even inseparable. Similar to the qualitative and quantitative aspects of sustainable economic development, they cannot be maximised simultaneously (Barbier 1987).
The assessment of the social sustainability of housing is, therefore not an easy task.
The indicator approach is certainly not applicable to constituents, which cannot be quantified, such as values, lifestyle, landlord and tenant relationships, and the influences of the stakeholders in the housing system. Benchmarks or normative sustainable standards are also difficult, if not impossible to be set for some of the constituents, such as the role of the government, the relationship between the haves and the have-nots. Generally, the first and the third aspects of social sustainability in housing that have been discussed above are difficult to be measured quantitatively.
Qualitative assessments are of course as important as, if more than, quantitative evaluation. Qualitative analysis often yields deeper insights, although more subjective and interpretative elements are often involved.
The provision of adequate affordable shelters for the majority of the urban poor seems to be one of the critical issues that South African policy makers need to address. This is probably because the South African authority understand housing development as
the engine of economic development and a factor contributing to social stability (1994 Housing white paper, 1997 Housing Act). In other words, housing is conceived in South Africa beyond the simple provision of shelter and a keystone to achieving sustainable development.