The driving forces of all the priority environmental issues (Pollution, Waste, Poverty, Health, Conservation, Parks and Open-space) of Greater Johannesburg will be looked at as a different perspective as oppose to the initial perspective, which looks at a particular indicator of an environmental issue (for example air quality in Pollution) in all its entirety (driving force, pressure, state, impact and response, DPSIR).

DEFINITION

These are the human influences and activities which, when combined with environmental conditions, underpin environmental change (positively or negatively). For example, the driving forces behind climatic and atmospheric change include increased burning of fossil fuels for transport, and industrial and domestic energy production.  This category should include:

• Burning of solid waste (refuse, plastic, paper, plant matter)
• Transportation (rail, bus, mini-bus, car)
• Domestic sources of air pollution (coal, paraffin, liquid petroleum gas, electricity)
• Mining (dust)
• Industries (ammonia, hydrocarbons, organic acids, sulphur oxides, chemicals, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, dioxins)
• Power stations (coal, sulphur dioxide)
• Indoor air pollution (chemical sprays, paint strippers, cigarette smoke, building materials giving off hazardous fumes)
• Population growth (increase in the number of people using natural resources will lead to depletion of such resources thus significant degradation to the local environment)

Most of the above mentioned driving forces emit greenhouse gases such as:

• Ozone (O3): a toxic substance at ground level (troposphere) and its levels appear to be increasing at a rate of 2 to 3 parts per billion per year, due to the action of sunlight on NO2 and hydrocarbons.

• Sulphur dioxide (SO2): a pollutant, largely derived from fossil fuel burning, is a major constituent of acid rain and consequently damages plant and aquatic life. Levels of sulphur dioxide tend to be higher in the winter months since during this time coal burning increases in townships and atmospheric dispersion is poor.

• Carbon Monoxide (CO): another gas that affects air quality in the city adversely, combines with haemoglobin in the blood and replaces oxygen, which causes suffocation and ultimately cardiac arrest. Thus carbon monoxide interferes with the respiratory system in humans and animals (Metropolitan Infrastructure and Technical Services, 1998).

• Carbon Dioxide (CO2): a by-product of coal burning, which is often a cheaper alternative to electricity as a means of energy, by the poorer communities in Greater Johannesburg.

• Hydro-carbon methane (HC4): mostly derived from the burning of solid waste materials, which releases different dangerous gases, such as hydrocarbon methane, when burnt because of the vast combination of materials that make of solid waste.

• Increasing population along with the growing industry, impacts negatively on the quality and limited amount of water found in Greater Johannesburg.
• Informal settlements, which are now mushrooming in many parts of the city are without an adequate source of water supply and thus make use of nearby streams, dams or any other available water source for washing, drinking and cooking purposes

• Lack of maintenance: blocked and leaked sewers are common in Soweto and some parts of the Johannesburg CBD.

• Underground water quality, like surface water, are threatened by a number of sources:

• Leaking underground petrol storage tanks
• On-site sanitation systems
• Leaking sewerage pipes
• Poorly managed landfill sites

Noise Pollution

• Traffic: car congestion due to inefficient public transport, large delivery vehicles
• Industries: big machinery and industrial equipment give off loud sounds

• Communities: radios, church gatherings, parties, small businesses
• Learning institutions in the city increases the number of children
• Entertainment centres

• Mining activities and the extraction of gold, chiefly in the mining belt directly to the south of the Johannesburg CBD (where ore has a relatively high uranium content)

• Dust from mines, particularly apparent in informal settlements, which are presently, located in the peripheral areas and the smoke emanating from this area trap the dust particles blowing from the mines)

Informal Settlements

Informal settlements occur at various points within the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan area. These underdeveloped and under serviced areas present problems such as:

• Dust from gravel roads
• Lack of clean running water
• Lack of regular refuse removal
• Broken and non-maintenance sewerage pipes
• Lack of regular refuse removal and excessive loads of refuse to be treated due to overcrowding and high residential densities
• Absence of toilet facilities
• Littering

• functioning toilets (7%)
• electricity (3%)
• drains that are regularly blocked (20%)
• leaking water pipes (25%).

WASTE
Waste in Greater Johannesburg can be divided into solid waste and wastewater.

• Urbanisation
• Poverty
• Population growth
• Lack of institutional capacity
• Waste collection frequency
• Manpower (technical resources)
• Community participation and awareness

• Migration of people from rural areas and other countries into Greater Johannesburg for better employment opportunities.

• Gauteng is land-locked and it is the most densely populated province in South Africa, leading to overcrowding and high population densities.
• Proximity to work opportunities is another factor influencing the high population densities in the city centre
• Shortage of housing result in highly populated informal and/or squatter settlements.
• Lack of services and infrastructure to sustain an increasing population
• Poor access to housing finance

• The key driving forces in Greater Johannesburg are population growth, urbanisation, industrialisation and mining, and to a lesser degree agriculture.

• Education

• Employment