- Title
- Sustainable strategies for improved implementation of South Africa's marine living resource legislation
- Creator
- Tembo, Danai
- Subject
- Marine resources conservation -- law and legislation -- South Africa
- Subject
- Fishery law and legislation -- South Africa
- Date Issued
- 2021-12
- Date
- 2021-12
- Type
- Doctoral theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/54729
- Identifier
- vital:47531
- Description
- South Africa's marine and coastal resources are rich, diverse national assets that represent an important interface of human activity, socio-economic influence, and ecological diversity. The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has rich fishing grounds that support an industry that makes significant contributions to the economy, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs. Use of this resource-rich ocean space has increased over time. The challenge for South Africa is finding a balance between protecting the ocean space while simultaneously encouraging research, investment, and use of the ocean resources to contribute to economic upliftment and job creation. The South African government's recognition of the vast potential in coastal ecosystems is evident in the introduction of programmes such as Operation Phakisa and the comprehensive legislation. Legislation such as the Marine Living Resources Act (Act No. 18 of 1998) aims to ensure the sustainable utilisation of marine living resources in a manner that is beneficial to all citizens. South Africa's marine living resource legislation is good, reflecting the main principles of fisheries management that are encouraged by the international legal order. However, implementation of the legislation continues to be a challenge; one that extends beyond marine living resource legislation. Although this challenge is acknowledged by the government, little work has been done to understand why they continue to fall short in terms of implementation. Understanding that the implementation of statutes involves various actors, the study sought to understand implementation failures related to marine living resource legislation by explaining the behaviours of actors involved in implementation. A conceptual framework was developed that identified a variety of influencing factors, drawing on elements from different theories. Guided by the framework, document analysis, and key-informant interviews were the means through which the behaviours of actors were investigated and explained. Findings showed that the behaviours of actors were directly and indirectly influenced to varying degrees, by the tractability of the problem, the formal conditions of the law, enforcement, capacity, power relations, and political salience. These behaviours were in turn found to have a strong influence on the status of marine living resources, identified as the implementation outcome. In recognising the behaviours contributing to implementation failures, recommendations were made for improved implementation efforts going forward. Acting to correct these failures will be critical to ensuring South Africa does not continue its current trajectory of marine living resource depletion. Resources that not only make significant contributions to the country's economy but constitute the livelihoods of a significant portion of the country's population.
- Description
- Thesis (DPHIL) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, 2021
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- Format
- 1 online resource (xix, 232 pages)
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- rights holder
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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NMU School for Economics, Development and Tourism
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Tembo, Y.pdf | 7 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |