South Africa is still a young country and falls within the category of a developing country. It is no longer a third world country and has taken great strides in terms of democracy, economy and development.
As all nations, South Africa is committed to sustainable development and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) has enforced this commitment.
Its vision is merely that all South Africans are in prosperous and equitable societies that are in harmony with its natural resources.
The top aims of the South African government to support sustainable development includes protecting and enhancing its natural resources and heritages. Plans to reduce and stop pollution are also set in place in order to prevent environmental damage.
South Africa’s National Strategy for Sustainable Development (NSSD) was set up to serve as a framework that will help development to occur in more sustainable ways while keeping South Africa, its economy and its people in mind at the same time.
According to the South Africa’s NSSD, development will take place with resources being used more responsibly and efficiently.
As commonly known, South Africa is rich in fossil resources and it does rely on these resources for not only economical reasons, but for job creation as well. Unfortunately stopping the mining of resources such as coal, will have a devastating effect on its economy, resulting in a drop in exports and the lost of thousands if not millions of jobs.
Though it should be more efficiently managed, it cannot be stopped.
This developing country strives to eradicate poverty and the trends of natural resources are a threat to the investment it has made in sustainable development. These trends include the rising prices of oil and its limited ability to produce electricity.
Beautiful landscapes and rich biodiversity is excellent eco-tourism and sustainable development efforts in South Africa. Image: miquitos/flickr
Ecotourism also plays a huge role in sustainable development. South Africa is a naturally rich country. It has countless natural beauties and as the tourism industry taps into this, ecotourism has become an important part of conservation.
Through Ecotourism South Africa is able to not only conserve natural habitats, but use it as a form of income and an area where jobs can be created.
South Africans are very aware of their impact on the environment and even large South African Businesses are doing their part. Vodacom, one of the biggest cellular and data network providers in the country, has introduced their brand new, state-of-the-art data centre.
The centre is a representation of energy efficiency with even the cooling and lighting system being the best available eco-friendly products. Vodacom, and by association Vodafone, has committed to reducing their carbon footprint and saving not only energy and costs for the company itself, but for its clients as well.
With initiatives like these combined with the South African government’s commitment to sustainable development, South Africa is on the right track and slowly starting to build themselves up to becoming a strong economical and sustainable country.
