Stakeholder perceptions of raw water quality and its management in Fetakgomo and Maruleng municipalities of Limpopo Province
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Date
2023
Authors
NAMAKANDO, NAMAKANDO
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research Consortium
Abstract
This study applied the Q methodology to investigate stakeholders’ perceptions about the most
important ecosystem services provided by the Olifants River, and the management strategies that
could potentially improve the river’s raw water quality. This is because deteriorating water quality
is an issue of concern amongst the different stakeholders who, directly or indirectly, derive utility
from the Olifants River. The river is an important source of raw water and other ecosystem services
used for environmental, domestic and commercial purposes to support wildlife, households and
drive production in South Africa. As a public good, the Olifants River is of interest to both private
and public stakeholders with different interests in the resource, some of which may be conflicting.
Since stakeholder perceptions influence environmental outcomes, the need to account for
stakeholder perceptions is an important step to integrate and coordinate efforts to improve the
management of raw water. Using 27 statements and 14 stakeholders drawn from Maruleng and
Fetakgomo municipalities of Limpopo Province, the results show that stakeholders held three
distinct viewpoints about the most important ecosystem services produced by the Olifants River:
ecosystem services that are sources of employment-creation; ecosystem services that provide
direct goods/services; and a mixed/holistic perspective that placed importance on all categories of
ecosystem services. Using 31 statements and 16 stakeholders drawn from Maruleng and
Fetakgomo municipalities, the results showed that stakeholders held four distinct perspectives
about solutions to improve water quality: polluters must be made accountable through monitoring
and enforcement of regulations; more organisation and coordination is needed in water quality
management; innovation, and creativity in water resources the management through capacity
building; and major changes have to be made in how things are currently done. The policy
implications for the study findings are that the results can be used to: (a) inform policy about
integrated water resource management; and (b) help in designing non-market valuation studies of
the Olifants River that include outcomes that are most meaningful to stakeholders.