| SAPLER Population Trust | |
| Splendidly Alive People Within Limited Environmental Resources | |
Introduction
It is a tragedy that the RDP was written before its writers reached a holistic awareness of how everything fits together and what must be considered for the planet to survive and thrive. Written in five year's time this background will have so reached the public consciousness that no revised RDP would be without it.
But five more years of muddling along means five more years of environmental damage and at least five million more people. This may have pushed us towards the position of many places in the world today where there seem to be no possible answers.
One absurdity of our present situation is the departments which govern us. During the year of researching and writing this report "population" has been moved from the Department of Health to the Department of Welfare.
Neither department is remotely appropriate for an issue which affects every aspect of South African life, now and in the future.
Health and Welfare are "mopping-up" departments. Sitting in on Welfare management meetings last year, I was very much aware of how many social problems are related to poor urban design and to over-population.
"Health" currently focuses on curative issues, which makes it, too, an inappropriate place for "population". Most illness is preventable - and this prevention does not relate to clinics and hospitals and nurses and doctors. Given clean water, nutritious food, and a social support structure, most of our illnesses cease to exist. A social support structure would largely prevent STDs and AIDS, since these thrive on anonymity.
So Where do we put "Population"?
In the world today there are four entities which have focused on sustainability and design: a country, a province, a town, and an association.
The country: Mauritius. In 1960, Mauritius took a complete overview of its situation. A population limitation policy was the natural outcome of this overview.
The province: Kerala, in South-West India. Kerala is extremely poor, with a low per capita income. But the people live long, healthy lives. This is possible because professionals and peasants work together to find good solutions. One clear solution was Zero Population Growth and the two - child family.
The town: The town is in Brazil. In this town public transport is free. No one needs to use a car.
The association: Permaculture. The South African branch of Permaculture never mentions family planning - so I thought it was yet another of those environmental organizations which deny its importance. But in a book SAPLER received recently, The Permaculture Way, by Graham Bell, there is a challenge on page 29:
Hands up, who wants half as much to eat in ten years' time? Or should we rely on AIDS to limit population? And remember that if we're lucky enough to reach the year 2000 healthy and fit, there's no magic formula to say that the problem stops because the date is a round number.
There could be 20 000 million people by 2020 AD. Where would they go? How could they eat? Clearly a working system of birth control is a pleasanter prospect than genocide or plague. A system of resource management other than war is vital.
Here is a suggestion of where to put "population": The first thing to do is to have a "Department of Sustainability", whose overall brief would be to take the type of picture taken by Mauritius - covering all problems and possibilities of land use, industry and tourism.
As sub-departments we could then have:
1. Department of water.
2. Department of optimal land use. (Congratulations to "Terror" Lekota and Free State for their pioneering urban agricultural scheme which will encircle Bloemfontein.)
3. Department of population limitation and family planning.
4. Department of public health, preventive medicine and health education.
5. Department of the environment. This would cover what most people think of today as "environmental affairs", i.e. the impact of industry on the environment.
6. Department of sustainable living. Pat Townsend has started this in a small way in the Cape. It covers everything to do with living in an ecologically friendly way, from the design of towns and transport, to the use of solar heating.
There is no reason why "sustainable living" should not also create lives of much greater joy than mostly exist today. If we move and make less, we can dance and sing more.
There is no doubt in my mind that such a department could reduce extreme poverty and misery in a very quick time and also very cost-effectively.
The Department of Population Limitation and Family Planning
It is most important that we use the term "population limitation" so that never again can this most vital issue be fudged. (The Cairo conference on "population" was not about population limitation at all.)
At the moment, in South Africa, all the resources of this department should go to family planning motivation, support and services. As this report will show, these are not reaching everyone - and there is every other sort of reason, from maternal health to family finances, why they should.
What can be called "grand motivation" - the general education of the public in understanding how everything is affected by population growth - can be left to geography departments and to public broadcasting.
Basic environmental and human geography could become a compulsory school subject, in which a separate diploma could be given.
What to Mix with What
It is foolish to make this an ideological issue. Every area and every situation offer their own problems and possibilities. Near where I live is a very tiny "mother-and-baby" clinic, simply doing family planning and inoculations. People can reach it easily, there is never a long wait, and if there are other problems people can be referred.
On the other hand our Winterveld nompilos are involved in school sexuality teaching. Having learnt the basics themselves they are in an excellent position to give constant talks and initiate discussions in their local schools.
The Independent Development Trust (IDT) want us to do literacy training and small business development as well. I am not happy about this. Those are activities which people are much readier to get involved in than in family planning, and it would limit Caroline Argent's growing usefulness as a family planning and STD-prevention facilitator.
Day of Freedom and Responsibility
Today is 27 April 1995. Early SAPLER member, Prof Dennis Davey (UCT) suggests that alongside the Declaration of Human Rights we put a Declaration of Human Duties. So I have called this day in diary: "Day of Freedom and Responsibility".
Population and STD problems are more a matter of organization and leadership than of people genuinely wanting to start large families at an early age or to die of AIDS.
Whatever the hitch is - meet it.
Spare no cost to reach the "difficult-to-reach", but work cost-effectively.
Find ways which are the best possible in the circumstances.
Outreaches to schools must be frequent and must leave someone behind - a teacher, a pupil, a club - with petitions and material.
Suggest to the schoolkids that they come up with tougher answers themselves. There is a killer disease out there.
What is Needed?
1. Government and RDP support
2. Overseas funding (which depends on this support being in place)
3. Excellent management and morale
4. A change in perception - not among grassroots people, who understand the issues very easily - but among "spokespeople", who are all floating along in the illusion that "development will limit the population", whereas the truth is that population limitation is absolutely essential for all other development to succeed. "Development" without pop-lim may succeed for a while in some places - but not universally, for everyone.
Conclusions
In South Africa there is no leader, no organization or department in charge of seeing that all South Africans are reached with family planning motivation, support and services.
Motivation: Making people aware of the benefits of using Family planning.
Male motivation: Rural health workers are particularly concerned that no attempt is made to involve men in decision making.
Men can be motivated by environmental and economic concerns.
Support: This involves first of all explaining the methods and helping the woman decide the best one for her own circumstances. This is particularly important for first time users.
Next it involves making certain that the woman gets to the services.
Finally there is the question of follow-through. In large rural hospitals women are sometimes taught about family planning, but no attempt is made to ensure that they make a clear decision and that this is followed through. In the case of defaulters there is often a problem with the method, which can easily be rectified.
Services: There are family planning services all around the country, although often not at convenient times or places.
The exception to this is sterilisation which is very far from being everywhere easily available.
Teenagers
Just as for adults, teenagers must all be reached. They need to know not only the facts of sexuality but also the options open to them in their own lives. Having made choices they need either youth clinics where contraception is explained, or they need assistance in sticking to their choices where peer pressure is strong.
Zanele Mfono, Youth Director of the Population Development Programme (PDP) has found that young people are interested in the idea of limiting their families for the sake of the nation. This interest could be followed up by a pledge not to have a first child before the age of, say, 25. Late parenthood has as much effect on population size as, small families, since fewer generations are produced.
AIDS and STDs
During the time SAPLER has been in existence, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have escalated, and HIV-positive cases have increased daily.
Both population growth and STD (and AIDS) growth can shatter our hopes of being a thriving country by the beginning of the next century.
Both issues can be tackled by the same organization.
Young people in the 16 to 25 age group are most at risk. We could use the older members of this group to convince the younger members that it is not worth starting a sex life before being absolutely certain that you have a single, trustworthy partner.
What Organization?
This could be the RDP, a government department, or a QUANGO (Quasinon-governmental organization). This is not important. The concept of everything being universally in place is what matters.
Development
Most commentators in SA seem unaware of the sheer numbers of people needing water and land and jobs. We can and must tackle these problems with infinite imagination and good sense and energy and sacrifice.
But we do not have the resources to ensure the sort of "instant development" that would be required for people to naturally and automatically limit their families.
We can easily however ensure that the single most important strand of development, family planning, is in place everywhere.