Environmental damage depends on human activities, being proportional to the population density especially in overpopulated regions. The overpopulation contributes to pollution of air and water thus lowering the life quality of billions. Food production cannot increase infinitely without soil depletion, desertification, deforestation and other forms of environmental damage. Overpopulation is the foremost problem in Sub-Saharan Africa, while the growth perspectives are comparatively high. Some environmental, demographic and social aspects of recent developments in African countries are discussed here. In more developed states, exemplified by South Africa, the number of people increases additionally due to legal and illegal immigration, which is not counterbalanced by the ongoing emigration of citizens of European origin. The country is short of erstwhile hopes and expectations 30 years into democracy. Many citizens, across all social groups, wish for a return to a state of orderliness and national respectability. South African history is globally relevant; the country can be seen as a microcosm of problems, manifest in different ways, and with differing degrees of severity, over the entire planet. The population problem isn’t simply that there are too many mouths to feed – neither is it a matter only of solving the energy problem. Efficient solutions would require application of a new ethical principle, namely that no population group, on a national or international scale, may achieve advantages through faster growth, even if such caveat disagrees with numerical democracy.

Keywords: Sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, demography, population, environment, climate change.