Why building capacity is a necessary but insufficient condition for improved waste management in South Africa: The knowledge–behaviour relationship

Abstract

One of the main reasons given for the current state of waste management in South Africa includes human resource capacity constraints, in particular the difficulty in recruiting suitably qualified or skilled people, and the high turnover of staff within government. Local government, in particular, faces serious challenges with regards to available skills and capacity. The need for education and capacity development in the field of waste management has been recognised in a number of recent studies as a way of addressing these challenges. This paper explores whether building capacity in the field of waste management in South Africa is sufficient to improve the way that waste is currently managed in the country. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1985) one of the most frequently applied and empirically proven action theories in environmental behaviour research, provides a basis to evaluate this research question. The theory proposes that a combination of behavioural, normative and control beliefs form behavioural intentions which result in behaviour. Findings show that building capacity, which support control beliefs, while certainly a necessary condition, is insufficient to change waste behaviour. Consideration needs to be given by the waste sector to how behavioural and normative beliefs can be strengthened, by addressing issues of consequence and outcome and the importance given to pollution and waste issues, as a means of converting behavioural intentions to action