Environmentalism in South Africa, 1972-1992: an historical perspective

English: The latter half of the twentieth century has seen an unprecedented growth in humankind's concern for the natural environment and its finite capability to absorb unchecked industrial and demographic growth. This concern was first and foremost a global phenomenon and led directly to the emergence of global environmentalism from the late 1960s onwards. A key component in the history of the global environmental movement was the initiatives taken by the United Nations (UN) aimed at getting the governments of the world involved in and committed to strategies to remedy widespread environmental degradation. To achieve this goal the UN convened what turned out to be the two watershed events in global environmentalism, namely the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) in Stockholm in 1972 and the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The purpose of this study is to provide an account of the history of the environmental movement in South Africa and the country's participation in the global environmental movement between UNCHE in 1972 and UNCED in 1992. South Africa's position in the global environmental movement between 1972 and 1992 was dubious at best. Due to the government's domestic policy of apartheid, South Africa was isolated in the international political arena, which impacted negatively on the country's involvement in global environmentalism. With only limited participation allowed in global environmentalism, the South African environmental movement did not stay in touch with the important changes that occurred on an international level in that it failed to identify and address the paradigm shift towards sustainable development from 1987 onwards. Although isolated, South Africa did participate in some aspects of the global environmental movement, notably those that involved the conservation of fauna and flora, while the government proved less willing to participate in global initiatives which could possibly place restrictions on the economic development of the country. South African environmentalism developed differently from its counterparts in other countries between 1972 and 1992, owing to the limited participation of both governmental and non-governmental role-players in the global environmental movement, and because of the political situation within South Africa in the same period. Although the government and the environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs) responded to some aspects of the new environmental agenda that emerged alongside global environmentalism in the late 1960s, South African .environmentalism between 1972 and 1988 remained largely focused on the conservation of fauna and flora. Important new trends in the official administration of environmental affairs were addressed with the creation of a state department for environmental affairs and the adoption of general environmental legislation. However, in contrast to national movements elsewhere in the world, the South African environmental movement between 1972 and 1988 was characterised by its apolitical nature. The environment only became a political issue in South Africa from 1988 onwards with the founding of Earthlife Africa and like-minded ENGOs which linked the widespread environmental degradation in South Africa with the government's domestic policy of apartheid. Through their activities the new environmentalist ENGOs broadened the scope of the environmental agenda of South African environmentalism and opened the movement up to new role-players such as antiapartheid organisations, political parties and labour unions. However, despite these new developments between 1988 and 1992, by 1992 the South African environmental movement was still a long way from reversing the detrimental human impact on the natural environment. The developments in South African environmentalism between 1972 and 1992 were therefore but the first tentative steps towards improving the South African environment.