3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions

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    Public participation in environmental decision making: Community opposition to the Lombardy East Social Housing Project
    (2019) Tebeila, Mashienyane Geniver
    The Constitution of South Africa recognises public participation as a right by all South African citizens. Section 32 of the bill of rights chapter, states that every South African citizen has a right to access of information. This means that those implementing development projects are mandated by law to carry out the public participation process with the affected public before implementation. The public has a right to access to any information concerning a proposed development that will take place in their space and has a right to freedom of expression, as per section 16 in the bill of rights chapter, in giving input and raising concerns with regards to a proposed development. However, public participation does not automatically guarantee a mutually agreeable solution as the interests of various stakeholders vary and are often conflicting. The public participation process is not a simple process and can be a tug-of-war between the different role players who have different interests in the outcome of the decision making process. Community opposition to development projects is one of the actions that prove that the public participation process can at times be a frustrating process where the different interested and affected parties (I&APs) and the project implementers do not reach consensus and can result in an unresolved dispute. The aim of this research was to determine the nature of the public participation process for the proposed Lombardy East Social Housing Project and how different interests concerning the project are addressed. The Lombardy East Social Housing Project was proposed by the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (COJMM) in 2014. The project has not materialised due to opposition by the Greater Lombardy East Residents Association (GLERA).The project developer proposed to rezone the property from government to residential use. The rezoning application was submitted in 2014by the Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO) on behalf of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. In terms of its original context, the site is located south of Alexandra Township which falls within the M1, N3 and London road triangle. The site is located in the vicinity of Marlboro, Buccleuch and Bramley suburbs, approximately 12km north-east of the Johannesburg CBD. Towards the South of the site is a medium-income tree-lined suburban neighbourhood (Lombardy East). The research was guided by the following questions. 1. Who are the different role players in the project (I&AP) and what different interests do they have in relation to the project? 2. What is the nature of the Lombardy East Social Housing Project and what steps have been followed to implement it and what is the current status of the project? 3. What arguments are raised in favour of the proposed project and what objections are raised against the project? 4. What public participation process/strategies were employed by the project implementers? How were the I&APs being engaged in the process and how are their views addressed? Was the final decision based on the concerns of the I&APs? 5. How are different interests managed through the public participation process? A qualitative research design was used for the study and data was collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis was also used as a means to gather data. The Lombardy East residents, project implementers, ward councillor and ward committee members were used as the study sample as they possessed substantial knowledge about the nature of the entire public participation process of the Lombardy East Social Housing Project, and they gave most relevant information to answer the research questions. The key findings of the research highlight the magnitude of different interests with regards to the proposed project. There were five main reasons given in favour of the project: the need for affordable housing; the need for well located housing; the need to make use of existing infrastructure through infill development; the need to use the land for formal development to prevent land invasions, illegal dumping and crime; and the need to generate employment opportunities. Meanwhile those arguing against the project offered three main objections: the project would have negative environmental impacts; it was based on poor town planning; and they argued that the developer had a poor track record with completing and managing projects. The findings of the research also indicate that public participation process cannot always resolve the various conflicts even when implemented correctly thus it is sometimes necessary to compromise and make an executive decision in the greater public interest.
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    Environmental Impact Assessments: Have EIA regulation amendments influenced report quality?
    (2018) Tilakram, Kariesha
    South Africa has implemented regular amendments to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations in an attempt to improve the effectiveness of the process. One way of evaluating effectiveness is to assess the quality of EIA reports submitted for decision-making. This study aimed to assess whether the amendments to the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), (Act no 107, 1998) EIA regulations in 2014 have contributed to better EIA report quality in South Africa in comparison to the previous EIA system. As such, a sample of 26 EIA reports, 16 under the 2010 EIA regulations and 10 under the 2014 EIA regulations, were reviewed using an adapted version of the Lee and Colley review package. The findings of this research revealed that overall report quality improved under the 2014 EIA regulatory system compared to the 2010 system. Furthermore, an improvement in the 2014 EIA report quality indicates that the decision-making process is more well informed and holistic, which further indicates an improvement in effectiveness of the EIA process. Key amendments to the 2014 EIA regulations that have an influence on EIA report quality include appendix 2 which outlines the objective, scope and content of a scoping report, appendix 3 which outlines the objective, scope and content of an EIA report, appendix 4 which outlines the content of an EMPr, and appendix 6 which outlines the content of a specialist report. It is thus concluded that amendments to the EIA regulations have in fact influenced report quality. These findings differed from those of other studies undertaken on EIA quality under the 2006 EIA system in comparison to the 1997 EIA system. Key words: Environmental Impact Assessment, Effectiveness, Environmental Impact Assessment Report, EIA Report Quality, EIA Regulations, National Environmental Management Act.
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    The effectiveness of the public participation process in Environmental Assessments (EA): a South African perspective
    (2017) Molewa, Ntebaleng
    Public participation in environmental impact assessments has been the subject of many studies around the world. The effectiveness of the public participation process in a South African context has however not been tackled by many authours. A study was conducted in order to assess the effectiveness of the public participation for environmental impact assessments in South Africa. In order to achieve this, 20 environmental impact reports were scrutinised, key informant interviews were conducted and analysis of legislation, regulation as well as applicable Guidelines was carried out. Results indicated that public participation in environmental impact assessment regulation fall short of addressing what the principles of the law states. Consequently, there is a need for the review of regulation to prescribe the involvement of marginalised groups through additional participation such as public meetings in the appropriate language as well as ensuring skills development to aid in effective participation. The inclusion of the monitoring of the implementation of the environmental management programmes as well as the inclusion of public participation in this process and therefore the life cycle of the project will aid in ensuring that the public has access to decision making.
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    Effective impact prediction: how accurate are predicted impacts in EIAs?
    (2017) Molefe, Noella Madalo
    An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is an instrument used to limit unexpected and negative effects of proposed developments on the environment. Much experience has been gained internationally but the lack of follow-up after the EIA is prepared is one of the major weak spots of the assessments. It is therefore very important to follow up on development projects and observe their effects on the environment after the go-ahead has been given, so that the EIA quality may be improved. There is often a significant difference between predicted impacts and actual impacts. Sometimes the predicted impacts do not occur, or new impacts which were not predicted in the Environmental Impacts Assessment Reports (EIRs) arise. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of the impacts predicted in the EIRs compiled for three large-scale Eskom projects currently under execution situated in the Mpumalanga, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal provinces by comparing them to the actual impacts that occurred on site. The EIA follow-up process was used to assess the influence that the EIA may have on large-scale projects and ultimately assess the effectiveness of the EIA process as a whole. A procedure developed by Wilson (1998) was used to follow up on the selected projects because the method allowed for comparisons between the actual and predicted impacts to be made and for discrepancies in the EIRs to be identified. Recent audit reports, aerial photographs and interviews were all used to identify actual impact occurrence. Of the impacts which actually occurred, 91% occurred as predicted (OP) and 9% occurred but were not predicted (ONP). The majority of impacts omitted from the reports were hydrological (27%) and air quality impacts (25%). These unexpected impacts were most probably overlooked because they are site-specific, temporary in nature and would not cause any significant environmental damage. Of all the impacts predicted in the reports, 85% were accurately predicted and 15% were not. The impacts inaccurately predicted were hydrological impacts (27%), flora and fauna impacts (7%) and 30% other impacts which included soil pollution, fires and loss of agricultural potential. The inaccuracies could be a result of Environmental Impact Assessment Practitioners (EAPs) predicting a large number of impacts with the hopes of lowering the risk of omitting impacts. However, sometimes the impacts predicted do not occur in reality. Overall it can be concluded that the impact prediction accuracy of the three EIRs compiled for Eskom exceeds previous studies conducted nationally. Eskom EIRs are highly accurate with regards to impact prediction with minor discrepancies which can easily be rectified. Key words: Environmental Impacts Assessment (EIA) Environmental Impacts Assessment Reports (EIRs), Environmental Impact Assessment Practitioners (EAPs), EIA follow-up, discrepancies.
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    Evaluation of the effectiveness of environmental impact assessment in promoting sustainable development in the energy sector of South Africa
    (2016) Madlome, Shonisani Felix
    This study evaluates the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) practice in the South African energy sector against a criteria developed by the researcher to determine the extent to which the EIAs contribute towards sustainable development. A questionnaire survey was conducted to gather information on the performance of the EIA practice of Eskom, which in this study represents the energy sector of South Africa. A review of the quality of a sample of EISs was also done against the modified Lee and Colley review package. The study revealed some strengths and weaknesses of EIA, as practiced by Eskom. The strengths include effective mitigation, public participation, training and the use of resources within ecological limits. The EISs were found to be generally of satisfactory quality. The weaknesses which limit EIA in the energy sector to reach its full potential in promoting sustainable development include inadequate monitoring, inadequate consideration of cumulative impacts and alternatives and inadequate engagement with community members directly affected by development projects on a personal level. Despite these weaknesses, the study concludes that EIA in the energy sector contributes, to some extent, towards the promotion of sustainable development. Key words: Environmental Impact Assessment, EIS, sustainable development, monitoring, mitigation, public participation, alternatives, ecological limits
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