Browsing by Subject "Mpumalanga"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    Dissecting the metabolism of South Africa's power house: Mpumalanga
    (2024) Gibbons, Lucy; von Blottnitz, Harro
    Combatting anthropogenic climate change, arguably the biggest threat facing humanity, necessitates the phasing out of fossil fuels. In this context, South Africa's heavy reliance on coal for primary energy and electricity presents significant challenges, intensified by the nation's persistent issues of poverty, inequality, and unemployment. The risks inherent in the country's inevitable shift away from coal are, however, unevenly distributed. The province of Mpumalanga plays a pivotal role in powering the nation with its coal-fired power stations, placing it at the heart of South Africa's energy transition. This dissertation sets out to provide an empirical and theoretically grounded contribution to the extensive research being done to inform and guide Mpumalanga's transition. Employing the lens of social metabolism, this study collates and analyses the province's material, energy and water flows, which are foundational to its economic structure. The primary objective is to present a baseline metabolic assessment of Mpumalanga for the year 2017, as defined by its provincial boundaries. This involves regionalising national accounts to the province's unique context, ascertaining the need for and availability of additional data, and developing provincial metabolic indicators. The concept of social metabolism has gained recognition for its utility in sustainability assessments, yet its application in South Africa, and specifically within Mpumalanga, remains limited. To achieve the research objectives, the dissertation adopts a quantitative approach that adheres to an established economy-wide material flow analysis framework. To make it a metabolic analysis, this approach is broadened to account for both nutritional and technical energy flows, alongside water. Data were sourced from both national and provincial statistics, as well as industry reports. Where data were lacking or insufficient, estimates were derived from national accounts using proxies. It is recognised that the study's reliance on quantitative metrics limits its scope, focusing on the province's metabolism without delving into the influence of regulatory mechanisms that shape the observed flows. The resulting metabolic profile of the province is analysed within the dual contexts of Mpumalanga's own energy dynamics and the broader national trends towards sustainability. The analysis reveals Mpumalanga's coal-centric socio-economic metabolism, dominated by coal exports, electricity generation, coal-to-liquid processes, and heavy industry (smelters). This is quantitatively evident in the province's significant per capita domestic extraction (65 tons), net exports (22 tons), air emissions (14 tons) and extractive waste (12 tons). All these exhibit intensities surpassing the national average seven- to thirteen-fold, on both a per capita and per area basis. Moreover, coal's dominance is reflected in the province's technical energy and water flows, with coal accounting for 97% of domestic technical energy inputs and with 17% of the water supply allocated to coal-based energy infrastructure, more than five-times the national average. This overwhelming focus on coal has likely led to the suppression of other resource flows and their associated industries, with agriculture being the most obviously affected. In preparation for Mpumalanga's transition to a low carbon economy, it is recommended to strategically reduce the province's coal dependency alongside actively planning for revitalising and growing supressed and alternative metabolic pathways. The coal phase-out should offer opportunities in water, renewable energy, and agriculture. However, further efforts are necessary to improve data monitoring and reporting at the sub-national level, as well as to identify and explore strategic alternative pathways for economic diversification within the province.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    The analysis of the factors affecting household water demand in Mpumalanga, South Africa
    (2021) van Huyssteen, Thomas; Thiam, Djiby Racine
    Understanding the evolution of water demand is of paramount importance for countries that want to implement the correct water demand management strategies that aim at increasing water use efficiency. This paper analyses household water demand in the capital city of the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa, in order to develop a better understanding of residential water demand in developing country contexts. Using survey data from 526 households in the Mbombela Municipality of Mpumalanga, South Africa, we estimate the price and income elasticities of household water demand, and investigate the factors that drive water demand of households that are located in heterogenous income groups. Households in the study areas have the unique characteristic seen in developing countries of having access to several sources of water, such as tap, ground and rainwater, implying the possibility of substitution. We run different estimation strategies that range from OLS, 2SLS and instrumental variable approaches to identify the factors that influence urban water demand. The findings reflect that price and income elasticities vary across different household groups, with price elasticities ranging from -0.140 to -0.879 and income elasticities ranging from 0.172 to 0.628. Other statistically significant variables which drive household water consumption are household size, education level, use of water saving technologies, and the use of rainwater tanks and systems. A crucial finding in this study was that water saving technologies were revealed to reduce water consumption levels by between 28.3% to 43.4%, and we hence provide specific policy recommendations based upon this finding. Overall, the results from this study can contribute substantially towards the development of appropriate and sustainable water policy making in South Africa.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Therapeutic efficacy of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine for Plasmodium falciparum malaria : A study 5 years after implementation of combination therapy in Mpumalanga, South Africa
    (2005) Mabuza, Aaron; Govere, John; La Grange, Kobus; Mngomezulu, Nicros; Allen, Elizabeth; Zitha, Alpheus; Mbokazi, Frans; Durrheim, David; Barnes, Karen
    Objectives. To assess the therapeutic efficacy of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) after 5 years of use as first-line treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria, and thus guide the selection of artemisinin-based combination therapy in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Design. An open-label, in vivo therapeutic efficacy study of patients with uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria treated with a single oral dose of SP, with response to treatment monitored clinically and parasitologically on days 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 42. Setting. Mangweni and Naas public health care clinics, Tonga district in rural Mpumalanga. Subjects, outcome measures and results. Of 152 patients recruited sequentially, 149 (98%) were successfully followed up for 42 days. One hundred and thirty-four patients (90%) demonstrated adequate clinical and parasitological response. Of the 15 patients (10%) who failed treatment, 2 (1.3%) had an early treatment failure, and polymerase chain reaction confirmed recrudescent infection in all 13 patients (8.7%) who had late parasitological (N = 11) or clinical (N = 2) failure. Gametocyte carriage was prevalent following SP treatment (84/152) and this has increased significantly since implementation in 1998 (relative risk 2.77 (confidence interval 1.65 - 4.66); p = 0.00004). Conclusion. Asexual P. falciparum parasites in Mpumalanga remain sensitive to SP, with no significant difference between the baseline cure rate (94.5%) at introduction in 1998, and the present 90% cure rate (p = 0.14). However, since gametocyte carriage has increased significantly we recommend that SP be combined with artesunate in Mpumalanga to reduce gametocyte carriage and thus decrease malaria transmission and potentially delay antimalarial resistance.