Upgrading the Periphery? The Contribution of Car Companies to Environmental Governance in South Africa

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian R. Thauer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Environmental Governance

scholarly journals Governance and socio-political issues in management of acid mine drainage in South Africa

Water Policy ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-89
Author(s):  
Charles Mpofu ◽  
Thabiso John Morodi ◽  
Johan Petrus Hattingh
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Acid Mine Drainage ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Mine Drainage ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Acid Mine ◽  
Black Economic Empowerment ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Abstract The water resources in South Africa are threatened by current and past mining practices such as abandoned and closed mines. While mining is considered valuable for its contribution to this country's gross domestic product, its polluting effects on water and land resources have been criticised as unsustainable. Acid mine drainage (AMD) is one specific public health and ecological issue that has stirred debates in political and social circles in this country. This paper examines the scalar politics and other related dimensions of water and AMD governance, thereby revealing evidence of deep-rooted challenges regarding the governance of water and mineral resources. The specific focus is on the socio-political context of labour laws and Black Economic Empowerment and the decision-making processes adopted by government. Thus, this paper has implications for the improvement of environmental governance and decision-making strategies and the adoption of a national strategy for adequately addressing AMD and related policy issues.

scholarly journals The Role of Good Environmental Governance in the Sustainable Development of South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Loretta Feris
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Decisions ◽  
Value Choices

This article seeks to analyse good governance decision-making in the environmental context through an understanding and interpretation of the relationship between good environmental governance (evidenced inter alia by decision-making by public authorities) and sustainable development in South Africa.  It critically assesses recent case law in an attempt to understand the way in which our courts are evaluating authorities’ environmental decisions.  In reaching its objectives, this article considers also how environmental decisions are made in the first place and asks the question: what are the value choices underlying government’s decisions and what role does sustainable development play in informing decisions for good environmental governance.

scholarly journals Governing authorities in the same boat and a tale of two schedules: Marius Nel v Hessequa Local Municipality (2015)

2018 ◽  
pp. 71-82
Author(s):  
Anél Du Plessis ◽  
Oliver Fuo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The South ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Local Municipality ◽  
African Context ◽  
The Republic

This article responds to the tension inherent in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 which lists ‘the environment’ proper as a function of national and provincial government. The authors discuss one of the arguments raised in the recently decided case of Marius Nel and Others v Hessequa Local Municipality and Others (2015) with particular emphasis on what the court’s reasoning adds to the growing body of jurisprudence on local government’s authority to govern environmental matters and the need for cooperative environmental governance in the South African context. The article features an overview of the relevant facts and findings in the Hessequa case, followed by a discussion of the implications of the court’s judgment.

scholarly journals The "Brown" Environmental Agenda and the Constitutional Duties of Local Government in South Africa: A Conceptual Introduction (note)

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 1845
Author(s):  
AA Du Plessis
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Municipal Service ◽  
Ecologically Sustainable ◽  
Ecologically Sustainable Development

This note explores the interrelationship between ecologically sustainable development (the green environmental agenda) and pro-poor urban development and environmental health (the brown environmental agenda) in relation to local government in South Africa. The meaning and relevance of the brown agenda versus the green agenda in environmental governance are discussed in general. This discussion subsequently feeds into the argument that South Africa's constitutional environmental right also foresees the advancement of the brown environmental agenda, which has implications for the interpretation and enforcement of local government's service delivery mandate. This link between municipal service delivery and the environmental right further informs understanding of what is required of government to fulfill this right. This paper is thus devoted to an introductory conceptual framing of South Africa's environmental right that goes beyond the green agenda. This impacts on how the constitutional duties of municipalities are interpreted and executed.

scholarly journals The Efficacy of Section 2(4)(l) of the National Environmental Management Act in the Context of Cooperative Environmental Governance

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 162-174
Author(s):  
Bramley Jemain Lemine
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Environmental Management ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
The Republic ◽  
National Environmental ◽  
Wetlands Management ◽  
The Way

Wetlands are regulated by a plethora of specific environmental management Acts (SEMAs). The mandate of these Acts sits within various environmental affairs departments. Thus, the same resource is regulated and managed by a series of different legislation and environmental administrators. The National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA) is the national environmental framework Act and stresses in its purpose the need for cooperative environmental governance (CEG) which, arguably, raises no concern for the way wetlands are currently regulated and managed, as long as this is done in a manner that promotes CEG. Section 2 of NEMA sets out a series of sustainable development principles that all organs of state must apply in all matters relating to the environment; “environment” is read throughout to include wetlands. Section 2(4)(l) is dubbed the “co-operative governance principle” and mandates the “intergovernmental co-ordination and harmonisation of policies, legislation and actions relating to the environment”. With this in mind, this note, by way of a document analysis, seeks to ascertain whether legislation and policies and action relating to the wetlands regulation and management are in fact coordinated. The presented findings indicate that coordination is lacking, which consequently adversely affects the management, conservation and protection of wetlands in South Africa. The recommendations aim to bring about law reform to improve coordination that bolsters wetlands management as well as their conservation and protection, while simultaneously promoting the objectives of section 41 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document