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South African local government perceptions of the state of water security

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dc.contributor.author Meissner, Richard
dc.contributor.author Steyn, Maronel
dc.contributor.author Jacobs-Mata, Inga M
dc.contributor.author Moyo, Elliot S
dc.contributor.author Shadung, Justinus M
dc.contributor.author Sekoane, Zandile W
dc.contributor.author Nohayi, Ngowenani
dc.date.accessioned 2018-08-16T08:22:11Z
dc.date.available 2018-08-16T08:22:11Z
dc.date.issued 2018-09
dc.identifier.citation Meissner, R. et al. 2018. South African local government perceptions of the state of water security. Environmental Science & Policy, vol. 87: 112-127 en_US
dc.identifier.issn 1462-9011
dc.identifier.uri https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901118304180
dc.identifier.uri https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2018.05.020
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10366
dc.description Copyright: 2018 Elsevier. Due to copyright restrictions, the attached PDF file only contains the abstract of the full text item. For access to the full text item, please consult the publisher's website. en_US
dc.description.abstract South Africa is one of the 40 driest countries in the world with an annual average rainfall of less than 500 millimetres. In addition, South Africa's rate of economic development is closely linked to its level of water security, as rising water stress and increasing supply variability, flooding, inadequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and higher levels of water pollution could be creating a drag on economic growth. Despite the high premium placed on our water resources, there is no commonly shared understanding of water security. This paper reports on a stakeholder analysis conducted in two South African municipalities to determine their state of water security. We investigated how people, from different lifestyles, perceive water security in the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality and the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. We specifically asked respondents if water security had been achieved in the areas. The inland-situated Sekhukhune has a drier climate and a rural socio-economic profile as opposed to the coastal, urbanised eThekwini with its complex economy and diverse socio-economic structure. We conducted face-to-face structured interviews with a diverse stakeholder group in the municipalities and focus groups in two communities of each municipality: Leeuwfontein and Motetema (Sekhukhune) and Inanda and Ntshongweni (eThekwini). Following a qualitative analysis, we found that water security, therefore, is a state of mind based on context-specific (i.e. localised and individualised) perceptions and practices held by individuals of water-related threats and/or opportunities and how it influences them, their surroundings and their interactions with others. For instance, people perceive drought to be a water security challenge only when it affects their daily lives such as household water supply or the availability of water for livestock. We propose a number of policy interventions and response strategies based on these context-specific water security notions. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher Elsevier en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries Worklist;20494
dc.subject Individuals en_US
dc.subject eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality en_US
dc.subject Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality en_US
dc.subject Policy interventions en_US
dc.subject Water security en_US
dc.subject Perceptions en_US
dc.title South African local government perceptions of the state of water security en_US
dc.type Article en_US
dc.identifier.apacitation Meissner, R., Steyn, M., Jacobs-Mata, I. M., Moyo, E. S., Shadung, J. M., Sekoane, Z. W., & Nohayi, N. (2018). South African local government perceptions of the state of water security. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10366 en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitation Meissner, Richard, Maronel Steyn, Inga M Jacobs-Mata, Elliot S Moyo, Justinus M Shadung, Zandile W Sekoane, and Ngowenani Nohayi "South African local government perceptions of the state of water security." (2018) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10366 en_ZA
dc.identifier.vancouvercitation Meissner R, Steyn M, Jacobs-Mata IM, Moyo ES, Shadung JM, Sekoane ZW, et al. South African local government perceptions of the state of water security. 2018; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10366. en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Article AU - Meissner, Richard AU - Steyn, Maronel AU - Jacobs-Mata, Inga M AU - Moyo, Elliot S AU - Shadung, Justinus M AU - Sekoane, Zandile W AU - Nohayi, Ngowenani AB - South Africa is one of the 40 driest countries in the world with an annual average rainfall of less than 500 millimetres. In addition, South Africa's rate of economic development is closely linked to its level of water security, as rising water stress and increasing supply variability, flooding, inadequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation, and higher levels of water pollution could be creating a drag on economic growth. Despite the high premium placed on our water resources, there is no commonly shared understanding of water security. This paper reports on a stakeholder analysis conducted in two South African municipalities to determine their state of water security. We investigated how people, from different lifestyles, perceive water security in the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality and the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. We specifically asked respondents if water security had been achieved in the areas. The inland-situated Sekhukhune has a drier climate and a rural socio-economic profile as opposed to the coastal, urbanised eThekwini with its complex economy and diverse socio-economic structure. We conducted face-to-face structured interviews with a diverse stakeholder group in the municipalities and focus groups in two communities of each municipality: Leeuwfontein and Motetema (Sekhukhune) and Inanda and Ntshongweni (eThekwini). Following a qualitative analysis, we found that water security, therefore, is a state of mind based on context-specific (i.e. localised and individualised) perceptions and practices held by individuals of water-related threats and/or opportunities and how it influences them, their surroundings and their interactions with others. For instance, people perceive drought to be a water security challenge only when it affects their daily lives such as household water supply or the availability of water for livestock. We propose a number of policy interventions and response strategies based on these context-specific water security notions. DA - 2018-09 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Individuals KW - eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality KW - Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality KW - Policy interventions KW - Water security KW - Perceptions LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2018 SM - 1462-9011 T1 - South African local government perceptions of the state of water security TI - South African local government perceptions of the state of water security UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/10366 ER - en_ZA


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