

Chapter 2



ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY IN THE NEW SOUTH AFRICA

In this report, the ANC, COSATU, SACP and SANCO have looked at how to protect our environment.

The  apartheid  government generally considered that environmental issues were more about protecting wild animals than about the conditions in which people lived in the townships. The protection of wild animals was used to move black South Africans off their land. Because of this many black people were opposed to ideas about protecting the environment.

Under  apartheid , South Africa was separated from the rest of the world. Because of this we didn't learn about how important environmental issues were in other countries.

The new government is making new policies that try to give all South Africans jobs, food, houses and clean water. It is important to make sure that all these policies will look after our natural resources as well. We must protect our environment so that the RDP can work properly, for a long time. Box 2 shows why the protection of the environment is so important to the RDP. Community organisations and non-governmental organisations must work with the government to protect our environment while building houses, creating jobs, and giving people electricity and water.

The interim Constitution gives all South Africans the right to an environment which does not damage their health. It also gives all South Africans the right to any information that the government has that affects their rights. This means that all South Africans can now use the Constitution to make sure that they have a clean and healthy environment at home and at work. It also means that communities can take part in managing their own environment and natural resources. But the new Constitution should also say that people have the duty to look after their environment.

BOX 1:
Sustainable Development

In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development wrote a report about sustainable development. Sustainable development means meeting the needs of the people now, but without damaging the environment so much that future generations can't meet their own needs. Economic growth is needed to make a good life for everyone, particularly poor people. But sustainable development means one must decide how that growth happens. It must not damage the environment. And it must benefit everyone, especially poor people.

But there is a question which still needs to be answered: how long can economic growth go on before the environment is too badly damaged and the ecosystems collapse? Another problem is that sustainable development does not help us to stop the rich countries using too many resources.

BOX 2:

RDP goals which need natural resources and good management of the environment

MEETING BASIC NEEDS

Housing: finding land for houses for everyone

Water: giving clean water and toilets to everyone

Energy: putting electricity into black areas

Transport: providing cheap public transport

Natural resources: fair division of resources like land, water, fish, and so on

Environment: safe and healthy living and working environments

Nutrition: enough food for every South African

BUILDING THE ECONOMY

- Creating jobs and improving wages
- Selling our products in other countries
- Starting industries that use local  resources and meet local needs
- Giving land to small farmers
- Giving farming land to more people
- Helping small farmers produce food for  the country
- Making more jobs on farms
- Making sure that everyone has a house,  water, food and a job
- Encouraging industry to get bigger and  to move to areas where there are not  a lot of jobs
- Encouraging small-scale mining and  small businesses
- Allowing poor communities to catch  fish in their areas
- Encouraging fish farming in dams
- Making government plantations  run better
- Encouraging tourism and making sure  that the local people benefit from it.

All of the things listed in Box 2 will use natural resources, particularly land, water and energy. Each will also produce waste that must be dealt with safely. We already have problems with air and water pollution and how to get rid of dangerous waste from industry.

The RDP document and the ANC's Ready to Govern both talk about environmental issues. But we must go further than this. We must make sure that new industries use clean processes. We must clean up the pollution from mines and factories. And we must share our natural resources fairly between all the people.

A new national environmental management system should have four parts to it:

- a national approach so that those  provinces that have good natural  resources do not get rich while other  provinces stay poor
- decisions about the environment must  be made at local level. But these  decisions must be in line with a  national approach
- civil society must be empowered to  take part in decision-making on  environmental issues
- environmental issues must be looked at  when deciding what land should be  used for.

BOX 3:

Environmental policy should:

1.  make sure that development does not damage the environment; and make sure that our ecosystems, which we need in order to live, are protected
2.  make sure that we look after all our natural resources as a whole, and not in little bits
3.  make sure that poor people get jobs and money
4.  make sure that natural resources are shared fairly between all people
5.  make sure that everyone has the right to an environment that does not damage their health
6.  make sure that there is less fighting about who can use natural resources such as land and water
7.  create jobs
8.  make sure that we can sell our products successfully throughout the world
9.  make sure that industries from other countries build factories in South Africa
10. involve civil society.





