ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of environmental management issues in South Africa, with particular reference to the Cape Metropolitan Area. There are three major metropolitan areas in South Africa, namely, Greater Johannesburg/Gauteng Province, Greater Durban, and the Cape Metropolitan Area. The cape metropolitan area has a unique natural environment, famous for Table Mountain and the coastal landscape. The prospect of municipal desegregation in metropolitan Cape Town struck fear into the hearts of its affluent citizens: that sharing municipal revenues between rich and poor areas and taking responsibility for the welfare of all citizens would bankrupt the “haves”. Initiatives to create a framework for metropolitan growth management date from 1995, when the Cape Metropolitan Council-CMC approved a document entitled “Principles for Planning and Development in the Cape Metropolitan Area”. South African cities are faced with critical environmental management problems and significant resource constraints.
