scholarly journals Community expectations and urban development perspectives: urban development as experienced in South Africa

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. B. Schoeman ◽  
T. P. Moroke
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Community Expectations

scholarly journals The karst ecology of the Bakwena Cave (Gauteng)

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
François Durand ◽  
Antoinette Swart ◽  
Werner Marais ◽  
Candice Jansen van Rensburg ◽  
Johan Habig ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Habitat Fragmentation ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Plant Material ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Foraging Area ◽  
Freshwater Amphipods ◽  
Bacteria And Fungi ◽  
Predatory Arthropods ◽  
Bat Guano

The Bakwena Cave houses a variety of organisms that form an intricate and interdependent food web. This cave is utilised as a permanent roost by a colony of Natal clinging bats. The bat guano and allochthonous plant material that fall into the cave from outside, form the basis of the ecology inside the cave which may be considered a typical example of a detritus ecosystem. Decomposers such as bacteria and fungi are responsible for the decay of the guano and plant detritus which, in turn, are utilised by several organisms, including nematodes and mites, as food source. These animals form the next trophic level which is utilised by predatory arthropods as food source. The Bakwena Cave is one of the few dolomitic caves in South Africa that provide access to the water table. The groundwater houses several types of organisms, including bacteria, fungi and animals – primarily nematodes and crustaceans. The Bakwena Cave is also the type locality for freshwater amphipods in Southern Africa. This unique and sensitive ecosystem is primarily dependent on bat guano. The grassland surrounding the cave is utilised by the bats as foraging area and is currently threatened by urban development and the resulting habitat fragmentation and destruction. A cascade of extinctions of the cave-dwelling organisms will follow if the bats abandon the cave.

scholarly journals Department of Housing and Urban Development

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 74-74
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Direct Involvement ◽  
Bilateral Agreements ◽  
Housing And Urban Development

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) currently has no direct involvement in Africa. The last trip to Africa made by a HUD official was Deputy Assistant Secretary Sam Jackson’s visit in 1972. Twenty-three Africans attended HUD training programs in 1976; they came from the following countries: Ghana—3; Kenya—2; Nigeria—7; Senegal—1; South Africa—5; Tanzania—3; and Zambia—2. HUD has no bilateral agreements with African nations.

scholarly journals The "Brown" Environmental Agenda and the Constitutional Duties of Local Government in South Africa: A Conceptual Introduction (note)

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 1845
Author(s):  
AA Du Plessis
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Municipal Service ◽  
Ecologically Sustainable ◽  
Ecologically Sustainable Development

This note explores the interrelationship between ecologically sustainable development (the green environmental agenda) and pro-poor urban development and environmental health (the brown environmental agenda) in relation to local government in South Africa. The meaning and relevance of the brown agenda versus the green agenda in environmental governance are discussed in general. This discussion subsequently feeds into the argument that South Africa's constitutional environmental right also foresees the advancement of the brown environmental agenda, which has implications for the interpretation and enforcement of local government's service delivery mandate. This link between municipal service delivery and the environmental right further informs understanding of what is required of government to fulfill this right. This paper is thus devoted to an introductory conceptual framing of South Africa's environmental right that goes beyond the green agenda. This impacts on how the constitutional duties of municipalities are interpreted and executed.

scholarly journals Conservation value of the Egoli Granite Grassland, an endemic grassland in Gauteng, South Africa

Koedoe ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
G.J. Bredenkamp ◽  
L.R. Brown ◽  
M.F. Pfab
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Conservation Value ◽  
Natural Areas ◽  
High Conservation

Gauteng is the most densely populated province in South Africa. Its remaining natural areas are constantly under threat from urban development and the associated impacts. Presently, the natural areas of Gauteng support a large diversity of ecosystems. One such ecosystem is the Egoli Granite Grassland, endemic to the province, poorly conserved and therefore highly threatened. This paper describes the original Egoli Granite Grassland and the anthropogenic Hyparrhenia hirta dominated grassland that has replaced it in many of the remnant areas. Human impacts on this sensitive ecosystem have resulted in an altered species composition, loss of many species, and a change from a species-rich grassland with high conservation value to a species-poor grassland with low conservation value. The conservation of the last remaining relicts of original Egoli Granite Grassland is essential.

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