Social Factors Affecting the

Environment
Lecture 11
 Social Changes
The social changes which are currently
exerting pressure on the environment can
be summarised in the following
categories:
• Population & demographic change
• Social & economic development
• Changing values and beliefs
 Population and Demographic
Changes
• Greater demand for env. resources and services,
increased waste generation and pollution
• First national census in 1904: 5.17 mil people in
South Africa
• Census 1996: 40.5 mil people
• Census 2001: 44.8 mil people
• Census 2011:51.5 mil people
• Average growth rate 2% each year – trend:
decreasing
• SA follows an international trend – population
increase due to a reduction in mortality rates with
fertility rates falling slowly
 Population of SA
The Census results show that the population of South Africa increased by
about 4 million from 1996 to 2001. In the aprox. ten years since the last
census, about 7 million people have been added to the population.
Population by gender
 Population by province (mid 2019)
Gauteng:  15 176 116 (25.8%)
KwaZulu-Natal: 11 289 086 (19.2%)
Western Cape: 6 844 272 (11.6%)
Eastern Cape: 6 712 276 (11.4%)
Limpopo: 5 982 584 (10.2%)
Mpumalanga: 4 592 187 (7.8%)
North West:  4 027 160 (6.9%)
Free State: 2 887 465 (4.9%)
Northern Cape: 1 263 875 (2.2%)
South Africa:   58 775 022
Population pyramids SA 2005
Service provision - housing
Service provision – piped water
Service provision - sanitation
Service provision - waste
Education (20yrs and older) – percentage
distribution
Percentage of households and household
goods
 Social/Economic Development
• Industrialisation/urbanisation, increased opportunities
but increased population density and associated
demand
– Movement from rural to urban areas increasing
• In 1904: 75% of the SAn population rural, 25% urban
• In 1996: 46,3 % of the SAn population rural, 53,7% urban
• In 2018: 37 % of the SAn population rural and 63% urban
– Higher quality of life: education, services, income, etc.
• Human settlements in SA pose large env pressures
and reflect the inequality in the country
• Affluence – urban sprawl – e.g. coastal areas and
holiday homes
• Poverty in urban areas - informal settlements, lack of
planning and infrastructure and environmental
degradation and pollution – See 3.3.4 in the reading
Urbanisation and the Environment
• Urbanisation concentrates demand of
resources and the generation of waste
products due to industry and households
• Urbanisation linked to the rise of the
nuclear family – increase in the no of
households – increase in the demand for
resources (land, houses, services, etc).
– In the major SAn urban areas the number of
households by 27.5 % between 1996 and 2011
– Average household size decrease in SA from
4.47 people in 1996 to 3.6 in 2011 in 2011
In South Africa about 40% of the households are classified as poor and poverty in
KwaZulu Natal is geographically distributed as shown in the diagram. Some of the
poorest households in the province are in tribal areas and in urban informal
settlements.
 Changing Values and Beliefs
• Historically most people were rural based and
had close contact with natural system
– It was obvious that environmental integrity is needed
for survival
• “New” life in urban settings – most people
removed from natural systems
• Industrialism promoted the development of a
consumer culture which places great pressures
on the environment (raw materials, waste and
pollution).
 What does it mean?
• The increase in population means more
resources are needed, more waste and pollution
is produced
• Urbanisation means that the demand for
resources and the generation of waste products
is concentrated
• Poverty generates environmental degradation –
need for basic services delivered in an
environmental friendly manner
• Increased affluence and consumerism puts
pressure on the environment – need for
education, changes in values, attitudes
• SA has to address both