Environment, extreme events and disasters: Findings from the GCRO's Quality of Life survey 7 (2023/24)

This Data Brief presents results from the GCRO's Quality of Life 7 survey (2023/24) on variables that relate to environment, extreme events and disasters in Gauteng.

HEADLINE FINDINGS

• Over half (64%) of the Quality of Life 7 (2023/24) Survey (QoL 7) respondents reported that they were worried that Gauteng would run out of water, an increase from 44% in QoL 6 (2020/21) (Figure 1).
• Over half of the respondents (55%) reported that their household had been severely affected by an extreme environmental event or disaster in the past 12 months (Figure 2).
• For the province as a whole, the most common extreme environmental events and disasters that have caused harm or damage to households are heat waves (27%), water and sewage pipe bursts (19%), air pollution (16%), flooding (14%) and lightning storms (12%) (Figure 3).
• Proportions of respondents who reported that they had been severely affected by such events varied by municipality. Respondents in the City of Johannesburg reported that they had been affected by heat waves (37%), lightning (19%), flooding (19%), hail (14%), air pollution (19%) and tremors or sinkholes (17%) (Figure 4). By contrast respondents in Sedibeng municipality were more likely to report that they had been affected by water and sewage pipe bursts (34%) or water pollution (9%) (Figure 5).
• These proportions also varied by dwelling type. Respondents in informal dwellings reported experiencing harm or damage from flooding (29%), heat waves (28%) and air pollution (24%) , while respondents in formal dwellings reported that they were affected by heat waves (27%) and water and sewage pipe bursts (19%) (Figure 6).
• Seventy percent of respondents who experienced extreme environmental events that caused harm or damage reported that they did not have any insurance for their household assets (Figure 8).
• Although around three- quarters of all respondents agreed with the statement ‘there are people I can count on for social support in an emergency’, respondents who had experienced harm or damage from extreme environmental events and disasters in the past year were slightly less likely to agree with the statement than those who did not report being severely affected by any such event (Figure 9).