Energy resources and utilization in South Africa

South Africa presents the development planner with a challenging problem of energy planning, because the country's large indigenous deposits of fuels (coal, uranium) combined with a demand for imported energy (petroleum products). Coal is South Africa's basic primary energy source and is transformed into a variety of locally used secondary forms, among which thermal electricity and liquid fuels are vitally important. Prospecting for hydrocarbons on the Agulhas Bank off the southern Cape coast has, on the other hand, not been succesful. Both coal and uranium promise to become important export commodities, while the percentage share of imported petroleum products is expected to decrease towards 2000. There is nevertheless an urgent need for an energy policy which will optimise utilization.     

Earth Science Education in South Africa

Most of the statistics given in this overview of the history and current status of Geoscience Education in South Africa pertain to the more geologically inclined disciplines; while the report does mention the extent to which earth sciences are taught in mining and geography departments, no detailed information about these activities are given. There are 13 active geoscience departments countrywide (eleven at universities and two at technical institutions) teaching a wide range of geological topics, some at a highly specialised level. There are just over 100 academic staff members engaged in teaching, supported by 65 technical and administrative staff. Of the teaching staff, 89% have Ph.D. degrees, and most are engaged in active research. About 150 three-year B.Sc., slightly fewer B.Sc. (Hons.), graduates, plus 10 geological technicians pass through the system every year, with most finding employment in the mining industry. Approximately 120 M.Sc. and 60 Ph.D. candidates are currently registered at the universities, about 40% of whom graduate in any particular year.     

Evolution of landforms in South Africa

Book reviewed in this article:
David M. Helgren: Rivers of Diamonds. An Alluvial History of rhe Lower Vaal Basin, South Africa     

纵观南非、埃及的水资源管理

南非地处南半球,是非洲大陆最大的国家,地处非洲大陆南端.埃及跨亚、非两洲,大部分位于非洲东北部.两国都属资源性缺水国家,两国从各自的国情出发,实行着切合实际的、严格的水资源管理政策.我国和南非、埃及有着人口多、耕地资源少、水资源紧张等相同特点,两国在水资源管理、保护和节约等方面的诸多成功经验和做法值得我国学习和借鉴.     

Defense economic restructuring and conversion in South Africa

The aim is to examine issues of defence economic restructuring and conversion in South Africa. Under the new government, overall restructuring of the South African defence sector is occuring. With diminished defence expenditure, the military industry is encouraged to convert production capability to non-military products. The geographical implications of defence economic restructuring and conversion in South Africa are analysed in the context of international experience and debates. The Gauteng region emerges as the national gunbelt of South Africa and contains an incipient military industrial district. In this particular region, the question of defence conversion is critically important for local policy makers and should be linked to new local economic development initiatives.     

Mobilizing the ethical consumer in South Africa

This paper presents a critical engagement with current initiatives for ethically-labeled goods in South Africa, thus offering an intervention in a literature on ethical consumption that has previously prioritized the global North. Through an interview-based methodology supported by focus groups in the Western Cape, the paper attends specifically to the strategies shaping recent forms of ethical consumption in South Africa on the part of business and civil society. Campaigns and strategies associated with three of the most prominent ethical labeling initiatives in South Africa—Proudly South African, Fairtrade Label South Africa and the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative (SASSI)—are evaluated. Barnett et al.’s (2011: 90) notion of “mobilizing the ethical consumer” is brought into conversation with ethical consumption literature on local embeddedness in order to assess the ways in which the organizations responsible for these initiatives combine globalizing business and political networks of responsibility with local institutions and values in South Africa. The role played by the discursive construction of a growing South African ‘middle class’ is also acknowledged as part of the process of encouraging ethical consumption on the part of these actors. In conclusion, it is suggested that understanding ethical consumption in South Africa, as elsewhere, requires sensitivity to both transnational networks of globalizing responsibility and localized expressions of ethical consumption.     

Engineering petrology for roads in South Africa

The thirty different types of rock used by engineers in South Africa for road construction are described and the suitability of these rocks, and their weathering products, for road construction is discussed in the light of the South African geology and climate. Unconsolidated windblown sand, alluvial deposits and soil are not included.

The thirty types of rocks are divided into nine groups according to their petrological and road engineering properties. In some cases this grouping cuts across the traditional genetic classification of rocks.

Special attention is drawn to the importance of quartz in determining the quality and durability of rock to be used as aggregate in road construction.     

Towards sustainable agriculture in post-apartheid South Africa

This paper assesses the possibility of sustainable agriculture in South Africa in the context of recent policy initiatives. The new environmental strategy for agriculture represents a significant break with policy initiatives developed during apartheid. The likelihood of sustainable farming practices being adopted in South Africa will, however, face at least three obstacles. These are the integrated structure of industrial farming, the concern over yields, and current political and economic changes in South African agriculture. It is argued that sustainable techniques are unlikely to develop in the large scale farming sector in the near future. If the considerable research and extension resources of the state are reoriented quickly enough, sustainable farming methods can be embraced by an emerging class of black commercial farmers.     

Corridor development in Gauteng,South Africa

The development corridor concept has been regarded as an important development instrument in spatial planning and geography for many decades. Expanding literature on the theme indicates that development centres or nodes play an important role in the establishment of such corridors. Flows of goods and information between such centres are essential in creating conditions that are potentially favourable for further urban development along the communication axes connecting such centres. Combined, the various nodes form a unique flexible exchange environment allowing for dynamic synergies of interactive growth to achieve scope economies aided by fast and reliable corridors of transport and communication infrastructure. In the South African development sphere, there is strong belief that functional relationships between nodes can play a decisive role in the establishment of development corridors. The research showed that the degree to which economic activities are concentrated in the greater Gauteng region; the resulting current or emerging multinodal structural composition; and the flows of economic activities between the various nodes result in the creation of development corridors that channel and focus economic growth between networks of cities. This confirms the importance of corridors as spatial and economic development instruments. The research concluded that the core cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria are the central driving force in corridor development in Gauteng. They feature as the most dominant nodes, exerting great forces of attraction on the distribution of development and economic growth in the region. The research also suggests a degree of polycentrism whereby economic growth is channelled between networks of cities, however development potential is most favourable in areas in close proximity to primary centres and tends to be functionality driven.     

Identification of network cities in South Africa

GeoJournal - Settlements, cities and regions function as integrated systems. This resulted in the creation of functional connections and when linked, networks within which trade occurred. This...     

Groundwater flow and radioactivity in Namaqualand, South Africa

The Namaqualand area is located in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa which is characterised by arid climate where groundwater is the only source of water supply for local communities. Extensive groundwater sampling was carried out in the area and the physico-chemical parameters, inorganic constituents, stable isotopes and trace metals were measured. The hydrochemistry of the area indicates dissimilar groundwater composition due to complex geochemical processes where groundwater flow takes place from catchment F30A to the catchment D82B, and the chemistry is controlled primarily by Redox reaction, dissolution and mixing processes. The Br^?/Cl^? ratio revealed that the salinity in the area is derived from seawater mixing, halite dissolution and atmospheric deposition/sea aerosol spray. Under excessive evaporative condition due to climatic aridity, groundwater salinity shows increasing trend. Isotope results show the presence of shallow-weathered zone and deep-fracture controlled circulating groundwater in the crystalline basement aquifer of the area. In comparison to the South African water quality standard, the results obtained for gross alpha activity which could be derived from uranium isotopes show that 41 % of the reported data in the area fall above the drinking water limit.     

Linguistic segregation in urban South Africa, 1996

South Africa is a multi-lingual country with 11 official languages and a recent history where language was frequently used as a political instrument, notably in the urban areas. Although the cities were initially colonial foundations, as a consequence of rural-urban migration, the speakers of the various national languages have come into close contact with one another. However, as a result of the inheritance of apartheid town planning and its emphasis on racial zoning, residential segregation levels between some linguistic groups have been extremely high. An analysis of the 1996 census results reveals that the uniformly high segregation levels between the speakers of indigenous African languages and the speakers of Afrikaans and English are the direct outcome of apartheid era town planning. Nevertheless, segregation between the speakers of different African languages may also on occasion be relatively high where homeland political policies were pursued, although this was the exception rather than the rule. Similarly segregation between English and Afrikaans speakers was locally high where home language coincided with former racial classification. Few immediate significant changes are anticipated in the present patterns of linguistic segregation, as the inherited apartheid city structure is proving to be remarkably resistant to transformation.     

The private sector and local economic development in South Africa

The objective in this paper is to analyse private sector involvement in LED in South Africa. Four key spheres of private sector involvement in LED are identified and discussed: (1) as participator and occasional initiator of local development processes, (2) as major partner in the development activities of public-private sector partnerships, (3) as lead role player in certain direct initiatives for reviving South Africa's inner cities, and (4) as promoter and facilitator of local small business development. It is argued that the concept of local dependence could be usefully applied to interpret private sector involvement in LED in South Africa.     

Language change in South Africa: A geographical perspective

In the changing multi-ethnic South African society of the nineties, language planning has become a top priority on the national agenda of reform. Comprehension of the territorial dimensions of language is crucial if we are to penetrate its true cultural, economic and political effect. South Africa's language policy, as defined in the interim constitution, focuses mainly on the fact that in future the country will accommodate eleven official languages with equal status. Obviously, the nine provinces do not each have eleven official languages. A provincial legislative may, by a two-thirds majority vote, declare any of the national languages a provincial official language for the whole province or a part thereof. In the light of this it is of vital importance that the country's regional language patterns be analysed on a geographical basis. A visual and statistical representation of the geolinguistic realities in South Africa could support the planning and transformation process currently taking place at all levels of government in this multilingual country. The aim of this paper is to address the following geolinguistic issues on a national scale:

• The spatial identification of the official language distribution on a macro level;
• The time-space pattern of language change between 1980 and 1991;
• The demographic and socio-economic profile of language speakers;
• The consequences of the findings for ethno-linguistic restructuring in a post-apartheid South Africa.

The analysis of the 37 million people's first home languages in South Africa has been accomplished by utilizing an ARC/INFO Geographical Information System linked with the 374 statistical districts. Although the country is ethnically and culturally very diverse, three language groups, namely isiZulu, isiXhosa and Afrikaans, dominate the linguistic scene. Their respective distribution patterns are fairly segregated within specific regions, while their relative change patterns are substantially influenced by urbanization trends and political restructuring.