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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

Chemistry research group receives international recognition
2016-10-28

Description: Chemistry research group  Tags: Chemistry research group

Dr Carla Pretorius mounts microcrystals with
Dumisani Kama while Pennie Mokolokolo
observe the technique.
Photo: Supplied


Crystals and crystallography form an integrated part of our daily lives, from bones and teeth, to medicines and viruses, new catalysts, jewellery, colour pigments, chocolates, analysing rocks on the moon and Mars, electronics, batteries, metal blades in airplane turbines, panels for solar energy and many more.

In spite of this, not many people know much about X-ray crystallography, although it is probably one of the greatest innovations of the 20th century, spanning the sciences. That is why this discipline is actively researched by a number of tertiary institutions around the globe as well as the Inorganic Chemistry Group of the Department of Chemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Research by the Inorganic Chemistry Group includes:
•    clever design of model medicines to better detect cancer and study heart, bone and brain defects;
•    production of new compounds for making new and better automobile fuels and decrease carbon dioxide in the atmosphere;
•    generation and purification of new South African mineral resources for metals widely used in turbines which use wind energy.

A group of UFS students have received acknowledgement for their research at six international venues in the past few months.

Posters in Cameroon
Twelve postgraduate students, together with Prof André Roodt, Head of the Inorganic Chemistry division at the UFS, delivered three oral presentations, nine posters, one plenary and one keynote lecture abroad.

Four UFS students - Nina Morogoa, Pheello Nkoe, Alebel Bilay, and Mohammed Elmakki - who delivered posters at the First Pan African Conference on Crystallography in Dschang, Cameroon, received prizes for their presentations.

School and conference in Croatia

Students Orbett Alexander and Dumisani Kama were selected to attend the intense and demanding Third European Crystallographic School in Bôl, Croatia. Both Kama, Alexander and Prof Roodt gave oral presentations at the 24th Croatian-Slovenian Crystallographic Meeting at Brac Island, Croatia.

Kama, together with Dr Ferdi Groenewald, Dr Carla Pretorius and Pennie Mokolokolo, also attended the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France. The ESRF is a centre of excellence for fundamental and innovation-driven research. The storage ring at this laser facility can generate X-rays 100 billion times brighter than typical medical and laboratory X-ray sources.

Research in Switzerland

Kama and Mokolokolo also spent one month on research visits at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Both Kama and Alexander were invited to present their research orally to the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry in Zurich, headed by Prof Roger Alberto.

In Basel, Switzerland, Dr Ferdi Groenewald, Dr Renier Koen, and Dr Truidie Venter all presented their research at the 30th European Crystallographic Meeting.

Prof Roodt said: “It is incredibly important that our postgraduate students get the chance to interact, discuss, and be taught by the best in the world and realise that hard work on basic and applied chemistry processes leads to broader recognition. The delegates to these international venues came from more than 60 countries and took note of our students work. With these young researchers, our future at the UFS and at Inorganic Chemistry is in good hands”.

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