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02 December 2019 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Leonie Bolleurs
Solomon read more
Poverty in the Thabo Mofutsanyana District (the poorest district in the Free State province) has implications for both the mountain environment and the people in the area. Pictured here is Prof Geofrey Mukwada, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus, also affiliated to the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU).

Poverty, defined by Statistics South Africa as earning less than R300 a month, is a reality that many mountain communities struggle with.

Prof Geofrey Mukwada, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus, also affiliated to the Afromontane Research Unit (ARU), published a number of articles on the mountain population in the Thabo Mofutsanyana District (the poorest district in the Free State province). In a research paper with postgraduate student Solomon Zondo, he specifically focuses on the value-chain analysis of the Witsieshoek conservation area and its environment. 

They looked at the inter-relationship between nature and the rural population and how the environment has changed as a result. For this largely poor community, the income generated from natural resources is an important source of livelihood. 

To earn a living, the community is pursuing several ways to generate an income. This has implications for both the mountain environment and the people in the area. 

Impacting the environment

Whether it is mining for sandstone, herding cattle or selling medicinal plants, all these activities have an ecological and socio-economic impact. 

A large percentage of the population in the Witsieshoek Community Conservation Area derives their income from livestock grazing. Cattle herding often leads to overgrazing – which results in soil erosion in the long term, preventing water from draining into the ground and depriving plants from much-needed moisture. Connected to the excessive removal of indigenous plants, is the spread of invasive species. As invasive trees and vegetation gulp up water, the severe impact of drought in the area is increasing.

Harvesting and selling medicinal plants to generate income for a sustainable livelihood also affect the surrounding environment. The mostly elderly ladies harvest and sell, among others, Arum lily and Pineapple lily for their medicinal properties and ornamental use. Harvesting these plants adds to the spread of invasive species, as they push away indigenous plants.

Small sandstone mining operations are another means to earn a living. Neither the customer, locally or outside the Witsieshoek area, nor the supplier, usually from Witsieshoek, is held accountable for the degradation of the environment. Careless mining not only results in a decline in ecosystem health, with scree from sandstone cutting littering the rangelands and the finer particles causing silt in rivers and dams (damaging any equipment used to extract water from rivers and dams); it also spoils pastures which locals depend on for their livelihood. 

Even with the 15% increase in tourism (2016), a living through the holiday industry is not always keeping the wolf from the door. According to Prof Mukwada, many literature sources have shown that tourism may fail to reduce poverty. During a study, respondents interviewed in the Clarens area indicated that they only receive wages during the busy months of the year (approximately 4–6 months). Many of the workers in Clarens and the Golden Gate Highlands National Park do not have easy access to chain stores, but only to small grocery stores where goods are much more expensive. Travelling to a town where they will pay less for groceries is costly, making it difficult to have the same standard of living as workers elsewhere.

“With the current situation, water insecurity is likely to worsen,” says Prof Mukwada.

Coming up with solutions

Is it possible to look for alternative livelihood sources? It is not easy to come up with simple solutions to the challenges. As Prof Mukwada explained, what might be a solution to one problem could have negative implications on another front. “One needs an integrated approach,” he says. 

In terms of tourism, one could consider training the locals in tourism-related skills, adequately equipping them with skills to increase their value. “Develop tourism that is inclusive and will benefit low-income earners who cannot invest in hotels and restaurants,” Prof Mukwada adds. 

And with a large number of people earning their income from herding, one can suggest that nearby, flatter land is made available to resettle communities, thus providing an alternative area for grazing. In flatter areas there is also less erosion. It is, however, key to determine whether the communities would be prepared to move to a new area.

Having a voice

He also believes that good relationships between industry, government, and the community are important to make a positive difference in the area. A platform is needed where the people’s limited voice will be heard in policy making. 

“The most effective way to find a solution is to listen to the people in the community. Give people the information and find out from them which of these options are possible within their local context. And do not prescribe. One needs to understand the community and its values,” he adds.

When there is understanding between the different role players and when the community has a voice, the park resources, if managed properly, have a chance to provide long-term sustainable benefits to the people of the area. 

News Archive

DF Malherbe Memorial Lecture
2005-05-19

DF Malherbe Memorial Lecture: Language and language activism in a time of transformation (summary)
Proff Hennie van Coller and Jaap Steyn

Language activism necessary for multilingualism
The awareness is growing that language activism will be needed to bring about a truly democratic multi-lingual society. What is quite clear is that a firm resolve must continuously resist the concentrated pressure on Afrikaans-medium schools (and universities) to allow themselves to be anglicised through becoming first parallel medium, then dual medium, and finally English medium institutions.

Proff Hennie van Coller and Jaap Steyn said this last night (Wednesday night) in the 24th DF Malherbe Memorial Lecture at the University of the Free State. Prof van Coller is head of the Department Afrikaans, Dutch, German and French at the UFS. Both are widely honoured for their contributions to Afrikaans and the promotion of Afrikaans.

They discussed three periods of transformation since 1902, and said about the current phase, which started in 1994:  “Besides all institutions and councils having to be representative of South Africa’s racial composition, places of education were required to open their doors. Quite rapidly this policy has had the result that schools and universities may be solely English medium, but not solely Afrikaans medium. Afrikaans medium institutions — if they claim the right to remain Afrikaans — are quickly branded racist, even though their student body may include all races.

“Education departments are presently exerting great pressure on Afrikaans medium schools to become double or parallel medium schools.  Parallel medium education is an equitable solution provided it can be sustained. Established parallel medium schools, such as Grey College in Bloemfontein, have catered even-handedly for English and Afrikaans speakers for decades. But the situation is different in the parallel medium (and still worse in the double medium) schools that spring up usually at the behest of a department of education.

“Afrikaans schools are converted almost over-night into parallel or dual medium schools without any additional personnel being provided. Depending on the social environment, a parallel medium school becomes reconstituted as a dual medium school on average in five to eight years, and dual medium school becomes an English-only school in two to three years. Some Afrikaans medium schools have become English medium in just three years.

“Though the Constitution recognises mono-lingual schools, officials in the provinces insist that Afrikaans schools become dual or parallel medium; English medium schools are left undisturbed. One must conclude that the tacit aim of the state is English as the sole official language, despite the lip-service paid to multi-lingualism, and the optimistic references to post-apartheid South Africa as a ‘rainbow’ nation.”

They said a recent study has shown that the 1 396 Afrikaans schools in the six provinces in 1993 have dwindled to 844. The fall off in the Free State is from 153 to 97; in the Western Cape from 759 to 564; in Gauteng from 274 to 155; in Mapumalanga from 90 to 3; in the North West from 82 to 13; and in Limpopo Province from 38 to 12.

They said the changes at universities, too, have been severe, as university staffs well know. Ten years ago there were five Afrikaans universities. Today there are none. The government demanded that all universities be open to all, which has meant that all universities have had to become English medium. And no additional funding was forthcoming for the changes. The government policy amounts to a language “tax” imposed on the Afrikaans community for using Afrikaans.

“Only when all schools (and universities) are English will the clamor cease. Academics and educationists are beginning to speak openly of forming pressure groups to save Afrikaans schools, and of using litigation as one of their methods. 59% of Afrikaans parents have said they would support strong action if Afrikaans were no longer a medium of instruction at schools.”

 

 


 

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