Exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity (ESAc) to water, energy, and food (WEF) insecurity in the midst of misgovernance and social injustice: A reflection from South Africa

The study sought to identify the level and interaction of vulnerabilities to water, energy, and food (WEF) misgovernance, social injustice and insecurity, conceptualized through exposure, sensitivity and adaptative capacity. The study was carried out in Matatiele, Magareng and Greater Taung Local Municipalities, South Africa. Multi-stage purposive sampling was used to get a sample of 1184 households through semi-structured questionnaires in a cross-sectional survey. A vulnerability index, Monte Carlo Simulations and Structural Equation Modelling were used to analyse the data. The results showed high exposure to WEF misgovernance and high sensitivity to WEF social injustice, which resulted in high and low vulnerability to WEF misgovernance and social injustice, respectively. In addition, various levels of vulnerability to WEF social injustice had interaction with vulnerability to misgovernance and insecurities, respectively. Furthermore, there was a higher probability of experiencing vulnerability to WEF misgovernance than social injustice. However, there was a reinforcing positive association between vulnerabilities to WEF misgovernance and social injustice. In conclusion, there is a reinforcing association between experiencing vulnerability to WEF misgovernance and social injustice, which is also associated with vulnerability to water insecurity. However, vulnerabilities to social injustice counteract vulnerabilities to energy and food insecurity. The study recommends improving awareness on issues of misgovernance and social injustice at the household and community level. There is a need to incentivize participation in community forums and expand their composition to accommodate various social groups and classes. Policymakers also need to provide spatial and temporal-based indigent support to alleviate WEF insecurities.