Environmental impact assessment, integrated development planning and the pursuit of sustainable development in South Africa : a critical reflection on the consideration of alternatives

[摘要] Despite our best planning and Environmental Impact Assessment ('EIA) efforts we seem to befailing in our pursuit of Sustainable Development. In South Africa we find ourselves confrontedwith the harsh reality that after 14 years of democracy, more than a decade of compulsory EIA,and 12 years of legislated Integrated Development Planning ('IDP), poverty remainswidespread and persists alongside affluence, while inequalities are also growing. In additionSouth Africa's life-supporting ecosystems continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate. Criticallyreflecting on what is going wrong, it is clear that there is an emergent consensus in thediscourse that points towards the inadequate consideration of alternatives.A literature review of the historical development and social construction of the concept of'sustainable development; a theoretical analysis of sustainable development, planning and EIA;as well as an analysis of the legislative and policy framework for EIA and IDP in South Africa,shows that the consideration of alternatives is the 'heart and 'soul of EIA and IDP, andtherefore of the pursuit of sustainable development in South Africa. A content analysis of asample of EIAs and IDPs undertaken and produced in the Western Cape Province of SouthAfrica, however, indicates that alternatives are not being adequately considered during thecurrent practice of EIA and IDP in South Africa – resulting in only slightly less unsustainabledevelopment and a perpetuation of the unsustainable and unjust 'business-as-usualdevelopment types and patterns of the past.EIA and IDP can never be, and were never supposed to be completely separate processes.EIAs must be considered within the context to be provided by the sustainable developmentvision, goals and objectives to be formulated in, and the desired spatial form and pattern of landuse to be reflected in an area's IDP and Spatial Development Frameworks ('SDF). Properlyinformed Strategic Environmental Assessment based IDPs and SDFs, refined by EnvironmentalManagement Frameworks, should therefore provide the strategic context and decision-makingframework for the consideration of need, desirability and alternatives; with the actual andpotential socio-economic and ecological impacts of a specific proposal to be considered duringthe project-level EIA. Project-level EIAs in turn providing 'feedback to the planning processes toensure reflexivity and continued improvement. The improved integration and convergence ofIDP and EIA decision-making methodologies and practice are therefore paramount to theadequate consideration of alternatives and the pursuit of sustainable development in SouthAfrica.While the challenges to be addressed by EIA and IDP in South Africa are complex and 'wicked',and the pursuit of sustainable development solutions is therefore also a complex and ongoingprocess, the need for fundamental alternatives that will lead to drastic and urgent change for thebetter are, however, just as real. The urgency and importance of the sustainable developmentchallenge for South Africa calls for bold decisions and the search for sustainable alternativesthat will deliver urgent and fundamental change for all South Africans. The practice of EIA andIDP should be driven by these realities and reflect the need for urgent and fundamental change.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University