Political dimensions of environmental conflicts in Kosi Bay, South Africa: significance of the new post-apartheid governance system

Abstract

The new demarcation of land in Kosi Bay, aimed at reversing the spatial legacy of apartheid, has resulted in competition and new environmental conflicts between political structures, conservation authorities and local communities. The current complex governance framework is attempting to overcome the problems created by the political structures of the apartheid era, during which time the declaration of natural areas for conservation resulted in forced removals and negative perceptions of conservation. The case study of Kosi Bay, a strategic area for tourism development, is a typical example of various confrontations that reflect the history of the past and the rivalries of the present.

Notes

¹The ANC is a modernist party with an urban electoral base, while the IFP is the Zulu traditionalist party with a rural electoral base. The IFP is also the opposition party to the ANC at a local level in KwaZulu-Natal, and part of the governing majority at a provincial and national level.

²Information derived from an interview with a KwaDapha resident, 28 November 2001.

³Information from an interview with local senior conservation officials, Kosi Bay, 16 June 2001.

⁴Government Notice 4477 of 2000, Government Gazette No. 21778, Vol. 425, Pretoria, 24 November 2000.

⁵Based on an interview with municipal representatives, Manguzi, 20 June 2001 and 2 May 2003.

⁶Based on an interview with legal opponents of LSDI, Durban, 30 August 2001.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sylvain Guyot

Post-doctoral research fellow, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Fort-Hare, PBX1314, Alice 5700, South Africa.