Environmental justice in South Africa: the dilemma of informal settlement residents
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Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
GeoJournal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-022-10808-z
Abstract
The concept of environmental justice is
well established in the literature; however, schol-
ars still battle to agree on what it really means. This
concept has become more relevant to the studies of
informal settlements amongst others. The location
and environmental variables in informal settlements
suggests a variety of injustices that comes with loca-
tion, limited access to water, poor or lack of sanita-
tion, challenges with transport availability, accessibil-
ity, affordability, and lack of other social amenities.
These and many other socio-economic needs forms
part of the value chain of environmental justice
debates across the world. This paper deals with envi-
ronmental justice in the informal settlements of Kos-
mos, in the Madibeng Local Municipality, Bojanala
Region in the North-West Province of South Africa.The paper highlights some of the environmental chal-
lenges faced by the informal settlement residents such
as pollution, waste management (landfill sites, waste
collection) sanitation and water provision. The paper
explores how the Kosmos informal settlement com-
munity has been excluded from decision making pro-
cesses regarding their own environment and consid-
ers the levels of environmental injustices commonly
associated with this kind of practice.
Description
Keywords
Environmental justice, Informal settlements, Environmental impacts, Kosmos