A preliminary assessment linking altered catchment land-cover to the health of four temporarily open/closed South African estuaries
- Authors: Masefield, Vincent Antony
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Estuarine ecology -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4877 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013096
- Description: Estuaries worldwide are being subjected to various degrees of catchment degradation, which is having severe consequences on the integrity of these aquatic ecosystems and their ability to function properly. This thesis investigated the relationship between catchment land-cover and estuarine health in four temporarily open/closed estuarine systems (TOCEs) in South Africa, namely the Groot Brak, East Kleinemonde, Mdloti and Tongati. GIS techniques were employed to delineate catchments, lower sections of catchments, 1 km and 100 m buffer zones, and to quantify the extent of land-cover classes present within these delineations. Anthropogenic activities outlined by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) Resource Directed Measures (RDM) studies and their associated land-cover classes were described. The possible links between catchment and buffer zone land-cover class composition and health of the estuaries were explored. Results indicated that there was a relationship between catchment and estuarine health within the Coastal Protection Zone (CPZ) (1 km and 100 m) buffers, but not at a broader catchment level. Out of natural, urban built-up and cultivation land-cover classes, natural land was determined to be the best predictor of estuarine health within the CPZs. A method of rapidly assessing South African TOCE condition was applied and could be used to prioritise these estuaries for rehabilitation and/or conservation.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Masefield, Vincent Antony
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Estuarine ecology -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4877 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013096
- Description: Estuaries worldwide are being subjected to various degrees of catchment degradation, which is having severe consequences on the integrity of these aquatic ecosystems and their ability to function properly. This thesis investigated the relationship between catchment land-cover and estuarine health in four temporarily open/closed estuarine systems (TOCEs) in South Africa, namely the Groot Brak, East Kleinemonde, Mdloti and Tongati. GIS techniques were employed to delineate catchments, lower sections of catchments, 1 km and 100 m buffer zones, and to quantify the extent of land-cover classes present within these delineations. Anthropogenic activities outlined by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) Resource Directed Measures (RDM) studies and their associated land-cover classes were described. The possible links between catchment and buffer zone land-cover class composition and health of the estuaries were explored. Results indicated that there was a relationship between catchment and estuarine health within the Coastal Protection Zone (CPZ) (1 km and 100 m) buffers, but not at a broader catchment level. Out of natural, urban built-up and cultivation land-cover classes, natural land was determined to be the best predictor of estuarine health within the CPZs. A method of rapidly assessing South African TOCE condition was applied and could be used to prioritise these estuaries for rehabilitation and/or conservation.
- Full Text:
Land redistribution and state decentralisation in South Africa
- Authors: Jaricha, Desmond Tichaona
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Land reform -- South Africa , Land tenure -- South Africa , Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Decentralization in government -- South Africa , Local government -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3374 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013120
- Description: South Africa is a new democracy that has had to deal with many historical remnants of apartheid. One of the main remnants has been land dispossession and massive inequalities along racial lines of access to land for agricultural purposes. In countering this, the post-apartheid state has pursued land redistribution programmes since the end of apartheid in 1994, as part of a broader land reform project. Simultaneously, post-apartheid South Africa has been marked by significant state restructuring notably a process of state de-centralisation including the positioning of municipalities as development agents. Amongst other goals, this is designed to democratise the state given the authoritarian and exclusive character of the apartheid state, and thereby to democratise development initiatives and programmes. Land redistribution and state decentralisation in South Africa are different political processes with their own specific dynamics. They have though become interlinked and intertwined but not necessarily in a coherent and integrated manner. Within broader global developments pertaining to state decentralisation and land redistribution, the thesis examines the complex relations between these two processes in South Africa. In particular, I analyse critically the decentralised character of the land redistribution programme in South Africa. In order to concretise and illustrate key themes and points, I discuss a particular land redistribution project called Masizakhe located in Makana Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Jaricha, Desmond Tichaona
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Land reform -- South Africa , Land tenure -- South Africa , Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- South Africa , Decentralization in government -- South Africa , Local government -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3374 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013120
- Description: South Africa is a new democracy that has had to deal with many historical remnants of apartheid. One of the main remnants has been land dispossession and massive inequalities along racial lines of access to land for agricultural purposes. In countering this, the post-apartheid state has pursued land redistribution programmes since the end of apartheid in 1994, as part of a broader land reform project. Simultaneously, post-apartheid South Africa has been marked by significant state restructuring notably a process of state de-centralisation including the positioning of municipalities as development agents. Amongst other goals, this is designed to democratise the state given the authoritarian and exclusive character of the apartheid state, and thereby to democratise development initiatives and programmes. Land redistribution and state decentralisation in South Africa are different political processes with their own specific dynamics. They have though become interlinked and intertwined but not necessarily in a coherent and integrated manner. Within broader global developments pertaining to state decentralisation and land redistribution, the thesis examines the complex relations between these two processes in South Africa. In particular, I analyse critically the decentralised character of the land redistribution programme in South Africa. In order to concretise and illustrate key themes and points, I discuss a particular land redistribution project called Masizakhe located in Makana Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province.
- Full Text:
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