1.2. THE ACTORS
1.2.1. The Community and Non Government Organisations
Environmental Organisations in Durban South can be broadly categorised into three classes according to their aim and purpose. The first form to be encountered is the grassroot environmental organisation which is typically a first responder to crises in
66Wiley et al op cit 62.
Committee(IEC), Merebank Environmental Action Committee (MEAC), and the Bluff Ridge Conservancy (BRC) to name a few. The second form of organisation are typically civic bodies that field dedicated environmental sub-committees that report to the central structure. In this group we find the ratepayer organisations such as Merebank Ratepayers Alliance(MRA), Bluff Peninsula Ratepayers Association (BPRA) and Wentworth Development Forum (WDF). Assisting these community groups are non-governmental organisations (NGO's) that generally seek to increase participation of civil society in the intergovernmental decision-making process and allow technical resources and knowledge to beshared at community level. Examples found in South Durban are the NGO's of Groundwork, Earthlife and Wildlife and Environment Society. International involvement and support is from the United States of America and Northern Europe can be identified with the US organisations generally organised around two themes (a) environmental racism issues and (b) active resistance to the abuses of the chemical and petroleum industry. The Citizens for a Better Environment and the 'Bucket Brigade' stand out for their contribution. North European agencies such as DN and Danced are more concerned with funding issues and developing and overseeing technical projects relating to North/South empowerment initiatives.
Northern NGO's tend to be over-represented in terms of upper middle-class dominance with research into environmental groups in Europe revealing that members of such groups have higher incomes and much higher levels of education than a
67Personal observation - see alsoWHeyop cit 60.
comparative sample survey of the public. 68 By way of contrast, South Durban community groups can be typified as being more representative of what is likely found in the community and certainly possessing fewer professionally qualified persons than, say, that found in well known NOO groups such as the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa.69 This apparent lack of capacity has, however not prevented these community groups from collectively becoming 'the single most active community group of the approximate 600 CBO and NOO bodies in South Africa,'70
undertaking issues ranging from neighbourhood reactions to local and National policy inputS.71 These fairly bland activities nevertheless attracted descriptions by local authority and consultants that would lead uninformed third parties to envisage scenes of fanaticism and irrationality.72 An informal analysis of the environmental activities undertaken by South Durban CBO's reveals a strong human rightist bias with very few traditionally 'green conservation' issues on the table.73 In essence, environmentalism in South Durban can perhaps best be described as having a dilute anthropocentric approach that recognises 'the interrelatedness and interdependence of the natural world.'74 So, whilst advocating and promoting a 'people first approach' the local environmental movement nevertheless continues to recognise the need to protect and
68See P Lowe& JGoyder Environmental Groups in Politics (Resource Management Series6)10 - 11.
69Author's personal observation whilst chairman of a WESSA branch - not statistically verified.
70Bobby Peek - then National Co-ordinator for the Environmental Justice Networking Forum (EJNF) -personal opinion expressed to the author December 1998.
71Contributions to Coastal Management Policy, Hazardous Waste Management, the Environmental Management Policy and the pre - CONNEPP, Environmental Mission were made by MRA. Local policy initiatives comprise inputs to Durban Metropolitan Environment Policy Initiative (DMEPI), EMCA and the Pipeline Bill.
72Witness the excessive reference to 'community conflict' contained in recent 'scientific' documents produced by the CSIR for Durban Metro (Strategic Environmental Assessment for South Durban series).
73Fundamental human rights are those contained in the Bill of Rights, Constitution of South Africa, Act 200 of 1996. Community are often concerned with the environmental rights (Section 24), right to information (Section 32), and right to bodily integrity (Section 9).
74C Redgewell in 'A critique of Anthropocentric Rights' found in A Boyle&M Anderson Human Rights Approaches to Environmental Protection1996 73 explains that weak. anthropocentrism is 'less hierarchical and does not perceive the human world solely as a means to human ends'.
1.2.2.
to better protect green belts and the restoration of natural areas.75
Local Authority and National Government
The key players from local authority interacting at community level are the City's Environmental Heahh Services (usually referred to as City Health), the Physical Environment Service Unit (PESU) and to a lesser extent the Durban Water and Waste Unit (DW&W). Economic Planning and Urban Strategy departments have not attempted to meet with communities notwithstanding the potential impact that their plans will have on the affected residents. The interventions of City Health led to the formation of the Island View Forum, a joint stakeholder body comprising community, industry, local and National authority. City Health has also been instrumental in obtaining a National Keypoint Secretariat directive on the question as to whether private companYies operating within designated Key Points could continue to withhold information required for environmental purposes76 • City Heahh has also been successful in tracking down various incidents of illegal dumping of hazardous wastes in the South Durban area.77 City Heahh are tasked with attending to noise related complaints which in this area primarily relate to Spoornet railcar shunting, airport activities and heavy industry. The emphasis has however been solely on negotiation
75South Durban Community Environmental Alliance Position Paper June 1998 17-18 where they state that 'land shouldbereserved for the re-establishment of wetlands and indigenous forest. Some other examples are the frequent callsbycommunity groups for ecologically sensitive Admiralty land to receive greater protection from activities of private developers and squatters.
76Minutes Island View Workshop 23/07/1997 and personal discussion Neil Larrett, Environmental Health Services. See also the earlier discussion on National Key Points.
77See "Drums of Death" story carried in the 'The Mercury'02/0711997. The Department was also successful in tracking down the dumping of wood chip waste in Vmlazi although resolving this problem was to become a highly charged political event involving local councillors and senior City officials.
and to the Alliance's knowledge no prosecution for a rail noise offence has yet been taken, despite scientifically documented contraventions ofthe local by-laws.
Durban Water and Waste, (Wastewater Management Department Pollution control Division), have limited interaction with the Durban South communities. The liaisons that do occur are usually a consequence of committee's and forums surrounding landfill operations and the workings of the Sulphur Dioxide Management Committee.
There was for some years a question as to why this division should have been allocated responsibility for air pollution as technically this is a City Health function. The competing claims for jurisdiction have, however, since been settled.78
The local by-laws applicable in the Durban Metro area carry insignificant fines for offences and do not constitute a credible deterrent. The (old) Water Act, Act 54 of 1956 was generally never used by Water and Waste in the enforcement of water pollution apparently due to ignorance and uncertainty with respect to its provisions.
Water pollution occurring within municipal boundaries was generally left to Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), to enforce. The passage of the National Water Act, Act 36 of 1998 provides greater clarity as well as sanction.79 The relationship between local authority and Provincial and National is however less than clear but with the intergovernmental forum these difficulties will hopefully become a thing ofthe past.
78The political agenda behind air pollution control was a source ofmuch controversy. Several meetings which the author personally witnessed were disruptedbydepartmental disagreements as to control thereby exasperating community representatives who had made sacrifices tobepresent at such meetings. City Health has since assumed responsibility for air pollution.