Here you will find important pieces of legislation, case studies and media coverage. All these are relevant and are there to inform, educate and empower the community. Thank you to all those that have submitted material since we first publicised the development a few weeks back. We strongly encourage you to send us anything that may be of interest with regard to this development but also addresses environmental impact and public participation more broadly.
National Environmental Management Act
National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations 2010
two corrections were gazetted
NEMA (2010) Correction Notice 1
NEMA (2010) Correction Notice 2
Here you can find an informative and very useful capacity building presentation presented to staff of the Western Cape Department of Environemental Affairs & Development Planning [DEA&DP] on the amendments to the Environmental Impact Assessment legislation.It is well worth checking it out.
DEA&DP EIA Capacity Building Presentation
We’d also like to bring to your attention, two documents prepared by the DEA&DP [Western Cape] as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment Guideline and Information Document Series that are useful in understanding both the scope of an EIA and the public participation process
For an excellent resource on the broad topic of environmental rights and community participation, check out the Centre for Environmental Rights:
“The Centre for Environmental Rights is a non-profit organisation established in October 2009 by eight prominent civil society organisations (CSOs) in South Africa’s environmental and environmental justice sector to provide legal and related support to environmental CSOs and communities. Its mission is to advance environmental rights in South Africa, and its vision is to facilitate civil society participation in environmental governance that is stronger, more streamlined, and better legally and scientifically equipped.”
Their website can be accessed at www.cer.org.za
Difficult not to be aware of the current debate around hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, proposed for the Karoo:
Fracking Plan Fatally Flawed - Karoo Residents
A letter to the editor by a member of the Botanical Society of SA on the need to preserve our floral heritage
We Must Act Now To Protect Our Floral Diversity
What to do if you want to report an environmental crime. Check out this brochure prepared by the Department of Environmental Affairs
“In recent years, the environmental sector has seen the rise of attempts to deter and threaten protest and participation in environmental governance by interested and affected parties (I&APs). These include threats of injury to the person and or property of environmental activists, as well as actual and threatened civil litigation against environmental activists and civil society organisations in order to censor, intimidate and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition, known as SLAPP suits (“strategic litigation against public participation”)”. Center for Environmental Rights www.cer.org.za
Recent press coverage involving a ‘SLAPP’ suit in Gauteng, the Wraypex case.
Developers warned on using courts to silence critics
The full judgement by the North Gauteng High Court finding in favour of the respondents. The judge ordered Wraypex to pay around R1m in costs for ‘vexatious litigation’. Early in June, Judge Sapire refused Wraypex leave to appeal.
Wraypex Judgement - North Gauteng High Court
Another case of an environmental watchdog being slapped [no pun intended] with a legal suit, this time for a mere R50m.
‘A nickel-mining company is threatening to sue an environmental watchdog for R50-million in damages after the latter raised concern about water use and public participation at a prospecting site near the Cradle of Humankind’.
Read the full article below
In a landmark judgment, Gauteng environmental consultant Stefan Frylinck has been found guilty in the Pretoria High Court of giving misleading or incorrect information to authorities in an environmental impact report.
It has been hailed as a “wake-up call” for environmental practitioners in South Africa, some criticised for producing sloppy environmental impact assessments (EIAs) or “sweetheart reports”, which gloss over serious environmental issues or put a rosy spin on proposed developments.
Misleading EIA Consultant Found Guilty
For the full court judgement in the case against EIA consultant S Frylinck, click on the tab below. We consider the case to be relevant to the current proposed development and the document submitted for public comment.
State vs S Frylinck Pretoria Regional Court
A recent Cape Times editorial on the controversial Lagoon bay development in George and the threats of violence those that opposed the development were subjected to:
Watch this page for more on this and other issues. And we encourage you to keep them coming: anything that may be of interest and relevance to the community will be posted on this page. To get hold of us or send us any material, click on the Contact tab above.