172
3 eThekwini’s Green and Ecological Infrastructure Policy Landscape
Table 3.6
(continued)
Risk
Expressed during the interview
Individual risk Collective
risk
Characteristic of a risk Society
Fire hazards
‘They clear the land and they look after it for the ecosystem’s
benefit and specifically within the water or fire programme.
Biodiversity is the main emphasis. It is the clearing of alien
invasives (Respondent 8)
X
Initiated by:
Alien invasives and human behaviour, as well as natural
processes that start fires
Affecting:
Human settlements and fauna and flora
Temporality and spatiality:
Temporally, clearing alien vegetation is a
constant process to minimise the fire hazard in specific locations where alien
vegetation is prolific
Failure of
modern
communication
technology
‘We have been using the Citizen Science and the GRDK system as
an app to monitor where things are going wrong. And when the big
flood happened on the N2 and those cars got washed away, if you
used your Garmin or Google device, it would have steered you onto
the N2 because it would have said there is not traffic on the N2 at
all. So, that was the place to go if you were trying to get home
through that flood. Ironically, all the instruments on that road were
flooded—all the phones on that road stopped working’ (Respondent
8)
X
X
Initiated by:
Various techno-scientific mishaps, like disruptions in
electricity supplies
Affecting:
Human society in various forms and with various consequences
Temporality and spatiality:
Temporally, modern communication
equipment operates under normal condition, such as when there is a constant
electric power supply and no other disruptions to the infrastructure system.
Spatially, modern communication technology failures could take place at an
individual, household, communal, area, municipal or national level
Environmental
damage
‘[B]y reversing the accumulated environmental damage caused by
past planning, design and maintenance regimes that have impaired,
if not obliterated, the natural environment, so that it no longer
provides goods and services’ (Respondent 11)
‘Vast natural forests (not plantations), large bodies of water, the
earth’s atmosphere and its crust all provide vital goods and services,
which mankind has seriously impaired in the name of economic and
social development: with little, if any, regard for the environment’
(Respondent 11)
X
Initiated by:
Various human activities
Affecting:
Humans and the bio-physical environment
Temporality and spatiality:
Temporally, environmental damage caused by
past planning, design and maintenance regimes can be either short or long
term, or they can be either localised, within a specific geographical area, or
extensive
Water security
‘While there are pockets of excellence, and great bulk water supply
and water disposal systems, neither a “green infrastructure”, or
“ecological infrastructure” has been committed to, or implemented,
on a scale that is required to make any significant contribution to
the improvement of water security in a sustainable manner across
the eThekwini Municipal Area’ (Respondent 11)
X
X
Initiated by:
Various human activities that influence water resources,
especially their quality and quantity, as well as human interaction with the
natural environment, to conduct water-related activities (Meissner et al.
2018a, b, 2019)
Affecting:
Humans and the natural environment
Temporality and spatiality:
Temporally, water insecurity can be a short-,
long-term or a permanent condition on a spatial scale ranging from the
individual to the country levels
(continued)
3 eThekwini’s Green and Ecological Infrastructure Policy Landscape
Table 3.6
(continued)
Risk
Expressed during the interview
Individual risk Collective
risk
Characteristic of a risk Society
Fire hazards
‘They clear the land and they look after it for the ecosystem’s
benefit and specifically within the water or fire programme.
Biodiversity is the main emphasis. It is the clearing of alien
invasives (Respondent 8)
X
Initiated by:
Alien invasives and human behaviour, as well as natural
processes that start fires
Affecting:
Human settlements and fauna and flora
Temporality and spatiality:
Temporally, clearing alien vegetation is a
constant process to minimise the fire hazard in specific locations where alien
vegetation is prolific
Failure of
modern
communication
technology
‘We have been using the Citizen Science and the GRDK system as
an app to monitor where things are going wrong. And when the big
flood happened on the N2 and those cars got washed away, if you
used your Garmin or Google device, it would have steered you onto
the N2 because it would have said there is not traffic on the N2 at
all. So, that was the place to go if you were trying to get home
through that flood. Ironically, all the instruments on that road were
flooded—all the phones on that road stopped working’ (Respondent
8)
X
X
Initiated by:
Various techno-scientific mishaps, like disruptions in
electricity supplies
Affecting:
Human society in various forms and with various consequences
Temporality and spatiality:
Temporally, modern communication
equipment operates under normal condition, such as when there is a constant
electric power supply and no other disruptions to the infrastructure system.
Spatially, modern communication technology failures could take place at an
individual, household, communal, area, municipal or national level
Environmental
damage
‘[B]y reversing the accumulated environmental damage caused by
past planning, design and maintenance regimes that have impaired,
if not obliterated, the natural environment, so that it no longer
provides goods and services’ (Respondent 11)
‘Vast natural forests (not plantations), large bodies of water, the
earth’s atmosphere and its crust all provide vital goods and services,
which mankind has seriously impaired in the name of economic and
social development: with little, if any, regard for the environment’
(Respondent 11)
X
Initiated by:
Various human activities
Affecting:
Humans and the bio-physical environment
Temporality and spatiality:
Temporally, environmental damage caused by
past planning, design and maintenance regimes can be either short or long
term, or they can be either localised, within a specific geographical area, or
extensive
Water security
‘While there are pockets of excellence, and great bulk water supply
and water disposal systems, neither a “green infrastructure”, or
“ecological infrastructure” has been committed to, or implemented,
on a scale that is required to make any significant contribution to
the improvement of water security in a sustainable manner across
the eThekwini Municipal Area’ (Respondent 11)
X
X
Initiated by:
Various human activities that influence water resources,
especially their quality and quantity, as well as human interaction with the
natural environment, to conduct water-related activities (Meissner et al.
2018a, b, 2019)
Affecting:
Humans and the natural environment
Temporality and spatiality:
Temporally, water insecurity can be a short-,
long-term or a permanent condition on a spatial scale ranging from the
individual to the country levels
(continued)