1.6 South African Municipalities and Water Resources Management
19
to govern in ways more democratic than the provincial and national spheres’. Proper
contact between the citizens and local government is not only a theoretical exercise
relating to green and ecological infrastructures, coupled with water security, but it is
also enshrined in legislative arrangements and has a practical value and implications
(Meissner et al. 2018a). In this sense, the acceptance of green and ecological infrastructures by citizens and the water security aspirations of local government relate not
only to inadequate legislative structures, but also to the democratic ambitions that
connect with the everyday challenges and expectations of its citizens.
1.7 Conclusion
The devastating floods that pounded eThekwini and large parts of KwaZulu-Natal in
2017 and 2019 showed the importance of the natural environment in providing not
only ecosystem services, but also in generating human hardship. In the eThekwini
context, green and ecological infrastructures are not only linked to water security
aspirations, but also to one of the world’s most popularised environmental concerns,
namely, long-term anthropogenic climate change (eThekwini Municipality 2019).
If one adds this issue to the water security mix, it becomes clear how complicated
water resources management at local government level can become. The problem
relates not only to environmental issues, such as climate change playing out on a
global level, but also to how city planners and scholars define and implement green
and ecological infrastructures at municipal level.
This literature review has shown us that green infrastructure initiatives are
common in urban and rural settings. The extent to which municipalities can implement these infrastructure types depends not only on their financial resources, but also
on their technical capabilities and paradigmatic framing, in relation to traditional
engineering matters, such as storm-water and sewer system construction. Ecological
infrastructures, on the other hand, seem to be more common in rural areas. Large
parts of eThekwini are rural and, the ecological infrastructure in these areas plays an
important part in the livelihoods of most people, since they rely on agriculture for their
income. From a constitutional and political perspective, South African municipalities have considerable independence when it comes to deciding where to implement
such infrastructures. However, it is clear that local governments have an obligation to
not only provide the necessary services for the improved well-being of their citizens,
but what they do must also be in line with the wishes of the wider public. In other
words, green and ecological infrastructure initiatives and water security aspirations
are not the realm of the engineers and a select few stakeholders only.
With regard to local decisions, from an environmental perspective, a river does
not stop providing services to people as soon as it enters an urban environment. In
the case of the uMngeni River, it provides vital services to people from its source in
the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, to its mouth in Durban. We can say the same for the
many estuaries along the Durban coastline.
19
to govern in ways more democratic than the provincial and national spheres’. Proper
contact between the citizens and local government is not only a theoretical exercise
relating to green and ecological infrastructures, coupled with water security, but it is
also enshrined in legislative arrangements and has a practical value and implications
(Meissner et al. 2018a). In this sense, the acceptance of green and ecological infrastructures by citizens and the water security aspirations of local government relate not
only to inadequate legislative structures, but also to the democratic ambitions that
connect with the everyday challenges and expectations of its citizens.
1.7 Conclusion
The devastating floods that pounded eThekwini and large parts of KwaZulu-Natal in
2017 and 2019 showed the importance of the natural environment in providing not
only ecosystem services, but also in generating human hardship. In the eThekwini
context, green and ecological infrastructures are not only linked to water security
aspirations, but also to one of the world’s most popularised environmental concerns,
namely, long-term anthropogenic climate change (eThekwini Municipality 2019).
If one adds this issue to the water security mix, it becomes clear how complicated
water resources management at local government level can become. The problem
relates not only to environmental issues, such as climate change playing out on a
global level, but also to how city planners and scholars define and implement green
and ecological infrastructures at municipal level.
This literature review has shown us that green infrastructure initiatives are
common in urban and rural settings. The extent to which municipalities can implement these infrastructure types depends not only on their financial resources, but also
on their technical capabilities and paradigmatic framing, in relation to traditional
engineering matters, such as storm-water and sewer system construction. Ecological
infrastructures, on the other hand, seem to be more common in rural areas. Large
parts of eThekwini are rural and, the ecological infrastructure in these areas plays an
important part in the livelihoods of most people, since they rely on agriculture for their
income. From a constitutional and political perspective, South African municipalities have considerable independence when it comes to deciding where to implement
such infrastructures. However, it is clear that local governments have an obligation to
not only provide the necessary services for the improved well-being of their citizens,
but what they do must also be in line with the wishes of the wider public. In other
words, green and ecological infrastructure initiatives and water security aspirations
are not the realm of the engineers and a select few stakeholders only.
With regard to local decisions, from an environmental perspective, a river does
not stop providing services to people as soon as it enters an urban environment. In
the case of the uMngeni River, it provides vital services to people from its source in
the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, to its mouth in Durban. We can say the same for the
many estuaries along the Durban coastline.