South Africa: Environment, Crime, and Disease - Research Paper Example

These environmental hazards are the effect of global warming in South Africa (Discovery News, 2011) The South African Department of Transport and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism work together to prevent the oil spills and clean-up procedures in the event of accidents. There is also a negative impact on environment of South Africa from mining activities. The major cause of groundwater pollution in South Africa has been the mining activities (Corrosion Doctors, 2011). The groundwater resources are limited in South Africa.

The people face various problems in meeting their requirements of water. The shortage of freshwater leads to growing demand of it in the country. The natural habitat has been affected by different ways e.g. large swathes of natural vegetation, mainly the lowlands, have been cleared for agriculture and urban development. Due to overfishing certain fishes are over harvested and several species have been extinct. The natural habitat of the country is occupied massively by alien species (South Africa Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, 2007).

The various diseases are affecting the people of South Africa. The major causes of death in the country are due to certain infectious disease such as AIDS, infection in respiratory organ, cerebrovascular disease, tuberculosis, diarrhoeal diseases and diabetes among others. The other causes of death are road accident and violence (Alang & Williams, 2004). Cancer is also a major disease in South Africa. The majority of death is caused due to lung, liver, breast and stomach cancer (World Health Organization, 2008).

South Africa experiences high rate of criminal offences from the early stage of 2000. The violent crimes are growing at a rapid rate. The serious crime trends in South Africa are contact crime, contact related crime and property related crimes along with crimes based on police action for detection. The other high level of crime such as murders, drug abuse, physical attacks and rapes are also increasing in the country (BBC World service, n.d.). The human trafficking in South Africa is a trans-national crime.

Trafficking has become a destination as well as transit in the country and outside the continent because the financial giant in Africa provides many opportunities. People are trafficked for various grounds which include labor and sexual abuse (SACBC, 2009). Cyber crime is also being considered as a criminal offence in South Africa. Many IT organizations have been facing the problems from this issue (Barham, 2011). The environmental factors influence the economy and the development of the country.

Majority of the rural people are depending on the environmental resources as their source of income. The environmental assets of South Africa have artistic and aesthetic values. The natural resources are related to the growth of country’s economy which ultimately brings development in the society and the country. The poverty and disease have an impact on the economy and development of the nation. In the initial stage, the rise in economic growth of South Africa cannot reduce poverty completely.

The country is suffering from severe diseases which hinder the development of the society and the economic condition of the country is being affected by the increasing number of diseases. The rate of criminal activities is huge in South Africa but it has not affected all the people in a