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An evaluation of climate change response capabilities of local municipalities within the Waterberg District Municipality, Limpopo Province
Author(s) -
Masonganye Mary,
Mukonza Chipo
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
business strategy and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.488
H-Index - 7
ISSN - 2572-3170
DOI - 10.1002/bsd2.27
Subject(s) - climate change , mandate , local government , government (linguistics) , focus group , environmental planning , thematic analysis , geography , environmental resource management , political science , qualitative research , public administration , business , sociology , ecology , social science , linguistics , philosophy , environmental science , marketing , law , biology
Climate change poses disasters in South Africa, and Limpopo Province has been declared one of the priority areas that need relief due to the impacts of climate change. Climate change response is the responsibility of all spheres of government. The national and provincial spheres of government provide policy guidance, whereas district and local level of government are responsible for the implementation of the responses. The aim of the research study was to evaluate the climate change response capabilities of the local municipalities within the Waterberg District Municipality in Limpopo Province and their ability to achieve spatial resilience. A qualitative approach was followed. Interviews were conducted with municipal personnel, and a focus group discussion with a group of town planners at the Department of Public Works and a group of town planners from various local municipalities was conducted. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the results. The results show that local municipalities acknowledge the problems brought by climate change and their responsibility to respond. However, there is neither a clear mandate nor procedures on how the implementation processes should be carried out. Some of the challenges municipalities face are lack of knowledge, technical expertise, and funding for climate change responses. The country must first understand and develop clear channels of climate change response before making commitments to international transnational climate change response initiatives.