Community perceptions on the impacts of Solid Waste Management on Human Health and the Environment in Sub-Saharan African Cities: A study of Diepsloot, Johannesburg, South Africa

ABSTRACT

This paper examines community perceptions of the impact of solid waste management (SWM) on human health and the environment in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, South Africa. It is argued that poor SWM has negative impacts on human health and the environment. Using semi-structured telephonic and one-to-one interviews with members of a community of Diepsloot and environmental non-governmental organisations involved in SWM in Diepsloot, it finds that mismanagement of solid waste affects human health and the environment. The consequences of this situation include respiratory disorders among the people and the destruction of aquatic habitats and reduction of the bullfrog population, among other negative impacts. This situation is a result of the community’s collective ignorance on SWM issues and poor service delivery. The results highlight the need to improve service delivery and a change in community attitude towards SWM in Diepsloot, which will reduce the impact of SWM on human health and the environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Environment
• human health
• solid waste management
• Johannesburg

Acknowledgements

Data collection was conducted following ethical best practice in social sciences research. The ethical approval was issued by the University of the Witwatersrand Ethics Committee (Ethics Clearance Number: H2O/05/19).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The Department is now known as ‘Department of Forestries, Fisheries and Environment’

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York through the Global Change Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand. The opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily coincide with those of the GCI and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.