THE RELEVANCE OF A GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK TO ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH IN SOUTH AFRICA

ABSTRACT

Urban environmental health policy is increasingly adopting a governance framework. However, there has been insufficient consideration of the factors which influence the interactions between civil society and government and that define governance. The aim of this paper is to make a contribution to the geography of health by exploring the application of a four dimensional governance framework to issues of environmental health. A multiple-case study was conducted in Cape Town, South Africa to explore factors influencing the governance approach. It was found that there is a political willingness at the national level to form partnerships around sanitation provision and improve environmental health. However, the institutional capacity, in particular at the local level, necessary for realising the goals of the political dimension, remains underdeveloped. Moreover, insufficient attention has been given to the cultural willingness and technical ability of community-based organisations (CBOs) and outsiders to form partnerships. In order for such partnerships to be fostered there needs to be an acknowledgement of the complexity of factors impinging on the extent to which a joint responsibility for environmental health is adopted. It is concluded that the framework of governance provides a framework to explore the complexity of the geography of the relationship between health and sanitation; especially in societies in transition where interaction between government and civil society is emerging.