scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Plea and Sentence Agreements in Environmental Enforcement in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 1-41
Author(s):  
Tumai Murombo ◽  
Isaac Munyuki
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
South African ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Environmental Enforcement ◽  
Criminal Sanctions ◽  
Institutional Strengthening

A recent development in South African environmental law is the use of plea and sentencing agreements. The main objective of environmental law is to promote the sustainable use of natural resources while preventing pollution and ecological degradation. Grand environmental due diligence processes could achieve sustainable development; the use of criminal sanctions with sentencing agreements could be more effective. This paper answers the question whether the plea and sentencing agreements in reality achieve the objectives of environmental regulation? This study analyses this recent development by looking at selected recent cases in South Africa. The study found that plea and sentence agreements are potentially effective, subject to the effective monitoring of compliance and enforcement against non-compliance with the undertakings made by the accused person. Without institutional strengthening and effective monitoring, the plea and sentence agreement procedure remains ineffective.

scholarly journals Review of water energy food nexus in Africa: Morocco and South Africa as case studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 183 ◽  
pp. 02002
Author(s):  
Lahcen El Youssfi ◽  
Wesley Doorsamy ◽  
Adil Aghzar ◽  
Sidi Imad Cherkaoui ◽  
Ihssan Elouadi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Agriculture And Food

The population of the African continent is significantly increasing which has given rise to societal, economic and environmental changes. This will generate an increase in demand for food, water and energy. Thus, strategies for sustainable management of natural resources need to be adopted urgently in order to match the future needs and to ensure sustainable development on the continent. The Water Energy Food (WEF) nexus is one the avenues for studying the current and future interactions and interdependencies of the WEF sectors under different scenarios and challenges in the effort towards establishing sustainable use of natural resources. Policies around the nexus approach are few or absent at the continental and countrylevels. This paper is a first review on the adoption of the Nexus in two model African countries, Morocco and South Africa. The review compares the water, energy and food sectors and the related national policies, plans and frameworks. The data related to the WEF Nexus revealed key difficulties of availability in both countries. A comparative analysis of the situation in both countries demonstrated differences in policies relating to the WEF Nexus across the sectors: water, energy, and agriculture. Additionally, the paper explores the relevance of technology-assisted frameworks for the WEF nexus and also analyzed risks to agriculture and food security in the context of the reviewed countries.

scholarly journals The protection of environmental interests through corporate governance: A South African company law perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 8-20
Author(s):  
Anthony O. Nwafor
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Corporate Governance ◽  
South African ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Company Law ◽  
The Common ◽  
Corporate Administrators ◽  
Environmental Interests

The quest to maximize profits by corporate administrators usually leaves behind an unhealthy environment. This trend impacts negatively on long term interests of the company and retards societal sustainable development. While there are in South Africa pieces of legislation which are geared at protecting the environment, the Companies Act which is the principal legislation that regulates the operations of the company is silent on this matter. The paper argues that the common law responsibility of the directors to protect the interests of the company as presently codified by the Companies Act should be developed by the courts in South Africa, in the exercise of their powers under the Constitution, to include the interests of the environment. This would guarantee the enforcement of the environmental interests within the confines of the Companies Act as an issue of corporate governance.

scholarly journals Independent board of directors and corporate sustainability: A South African and Nigerian perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-68
Author(s):  
Collins Ngwakwe ◽  
Fortune Ganda ◽  
Oladele John Akinyomi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Independent Directors ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Sustainability Disclosure

This paper examined the stance of independent directors on corporate sustainable development initiative in South Africa and Nigeria. This has become apposite considering the role of independent directors in corporate strategic decisions and performance. It is believed that independent boards strive to direct corporate decisions to protect the investors and thus improve financial performance. Given that sustainability initiative is currently occupying a vital strategic position in protecting firms against inherent and imminent climate change and financial risks, the paper undertakes a survey of South African and Nigerian companies to ascertain the role of independent directors on corporate sustainable development initiatives. Using a mix method of primary and secondary data analysis, the paper finds that independent boards in both countries of study understand the importance of sustainability; however a pragmatic stance on sustainability is more visible in South Africa where independent boards are members of and/or participate in nominating corporate sustainability committees. The paper suggests the need for improved detailed disclosure on sustainability in the Nigerian corporate annual reports; the Nigerian Stock Exchange may boost this initiative by establishing a social and environmental reporting index supported by an annual survey of company sustainability disclosure. It also suggests the need to include sustainability awareness and interest in the metrics that are used in the appointment of independent boards in Nigerian companies

Selected challenges associated with the reliance on customer due diligence measures to curb money laundering in South African banks and related financial institutions

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-66
Author(s):  
Howard Chitimira ◽  
Sharon Munedzi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Money Laundering ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Financial Institution ◽  
Financial Sector ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Role Players ◽  
Customer Due Diligence ◽  
Combat Money Laundering

Customer due diligence is a means of ensuring that financial institutions know their customers well through know-your-customer (KYC) tools and related measures. Notably, customer due diligence measures include the identification and verification of customer identity, keeping records of transactions concluded between a customer and the financial institution, ongoing monitoring of customer account activities, reporting unusual and suspicious transactions, and risk assessment programmes. Accordingly, financial institutions should ensure that their customers are risk assessed before concluding any transactions with them. The regulation of money laundering is crucial to the economic growth of many countries, including South Africa. However, there are still numerous challenges affecting the banks and other role players’ reliance on customer due diligence measures to combat money laundering in South Africa. Therefore, a qualitative research methodology is employed in this article to unpack such challenges. The challenges include the failure to meet the identification and verification requirements by some South African citizens, onerous documentation requirements giving rise to other persons being denied access to the formal financial sector, and the lack of express provisions to regulate the informal financial sector in South Africa. Given this background, the article discusses the challenges associated with the regulation and implementation of customer due diligence measures to enhance the combating of money laundering in South African banks and related financial institutions. It is hoped that the recommendations provided in this article will be utilised by the relevant authorities to enhance customer due diligence and effectively combat money laundering activities in South African banks and related financial institutions.

Reconsidering criminal law-based liability for corporations and directors in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 1085-1094
Author(s):  
Herbert Kawadza
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Criminal Sanctions ◽  
Fresh Perspective ◽  
African Context

Purpose It is recognised that the mere proscription of corporate offences is not adequate to deter misconduct or engender compliance. There is a need for the enforcement of the rules through robust culture-changing sanctions. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the inadequacies of criminal law liability in ensuring compliance with ethical corporate conduct in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach This paper is purely qualitative. For expository purposes, it draws from the Criminal Procedure Act, 51 of 1977 as well the corporate criminality enforcement trends and data from the National Prosecutions Agency’s annual reports to demonstrate that much as criminal liability is enshrined in a statute it has, however, not yielded the expected results. It situates the debate within the broader economic criminological scholarship. Findings This paper argues that even though the option of prosecuting corporations and directors is part of South African law, many corporate offences are not brought into the criminal justice system. Judging by its erratic imposition, criminal liability has failed to express the indignation and condemnation that are normally attached to criminal sanctions. Several reasons account for this. These include evidentiary, legal, technical and definitional complexities of some corporate offences, which lead to them being regarded as “unprosecutable crimes”. This has a negative impact on enforcement. Originality/value This paper is novel because it approaches the debate from a fresh perspective, economics and criminology. Not much scholarly attention has been devoted to analysing the efficacy of criminal sanctions in the South African context. This paper attempts to fill that gap.

Community Engagement

2020 ◽  
pp. 261-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tshimangadzo Selina Mudau
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Rural And Urban

The chapter presents the use of community engagement as a tool to facilitate rural development in (South) Africa. In its discussion, the researcher used desktop literature review to analyze, compare, and gain insights guiding the use of community engagement to enhance social transformation and sustainable development. The discussion is advanced from the historical background of the emergence of African universities and community engagement. The focus was reflected against the backdrop of the Western approach used among various global universities. In this view, the underpinning objectives, relationship with the researched, and the role of the researching university are detailed. Practical evidence of positive collaborative results within the (South) African communities within the rural and urban communities by universities and other organizations have also been provided. A contrast of various types of community engagement is also provided.

scholarly journals Organic agriculture in the system of the sustainable use of natural resources

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 00219
Author(s):  
Tatiana Polushkina ◽  
Yulia Akimova ◽  
Elena Kovalenko ◽  
Olga Yakimova
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Balance Of Nature ◽  
Agriculture Industry ◽  
The Usa

World experience indicates that the problems of ensuring sustainable development of agriculture have become an urgent need, therefore, the concepts of traditional technology for cultivating crops should be substantially revised not only from the standpoint of environmental management, but also to improve the economic situation in the industry. Greening of agriculture contributes to natural restoration of soil fertility, maintaining the balance of nature, on which agricultural economy largely depends. A growing quantity of farms in the USA, China, Russia, India, Japan and the EU countries conduct their farming in harmony with nature. The ultimate goals of their activities are ecologically balanced farming, animal husbandry and this agriculture industry technology acts as an alternative to traditional (industrial) farming. Development of organic agriculture involves the search and implementation of new technologies from a science-based position and due to the laws of optimal environmental management. In the article, the authors substantiate the need to enhance introduction of organic farming methods in order to ensure sustainable development and sustainable use of natural resources. Based on the study of foreign agriculture experience, the authors developed a number of key measures for the development of organic agriculture in Russian conditions.

Identifying Green Supply Chain Management Enablers in South African Mining Industry using Ecological Modernization Theory Approach

2018 ◽  
pp. 452-476
Author(s):  
Surajit Bag
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
South African ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Green Supply Chain Management ◽  
Green Supply Chain ◽  
African Region ◽  
Chain Management

Green supply chain management is a popular practice in any world class organization. The traditional supply chain was managed with the objectives to reduce cost without focusing on environmental and social dimensions. However with passage of time institutional pressures has directed firms to design supply chain network which takes care of environmental and social dimensions as well. Green supply chain management concept has evolved gradually over a period of time. The main reason behind evolution of green supply chain management is conservation of natural resources which human beings ignored for long. Published reports show that major portion of the energy is supplied by fossil fuels and thereby depletion of natural resources is occurring at an accelerating rate with time. Industrial manufacturing report also suggest that demand for manufacturing products is likely to double by the year 2050. This will result in high generation of pollutants and gases. If the greenhouse gases emissions remain unchecked, then it will create a catastrophic effect by 2050. Globally manufacturers and industry associations are now acting proactively to conserve the natural resources and curb greenhouse gases emissions. The level of popularity of green supply chain management can be estimated from the high research output in leading operations journals such as IJPE, IJPR, Resources, Conservation and Recycling Journals. Green supply chain management is a concept that is also gaining popularity in the South African region. For many organizations in this region it is a process to exhibit their sincere commitment to sustainability. However, if green supply chain management practices are to be fully adopted by all mining and minerals industry in South Africa, a demonstrable link between such measures and understanding the role of associated variables is necessary. This paper endeavors to develop a green supply chain management model for mining and minerals industry in the South African region. The approach extends the domain of green supply chain research and produce theories that have greater explanatory power than the current practices. For this purpose a conceptual model was developed from literature review and data collected using a structured questionnaire mailed to a sample of 174 firms which are leading edge ISO14001 certified mining companies in South Africa. Data analysis is further performed through exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis. This paper presents the first empirical evaluation of the link between green supply chain management practices amongst a sample of mining and minerals companies in South Africa.

Information Technology Resources Virtualization for Sustainable Development

2013 ◽  
pp. 248-262
Author(s):  
Malgorzata Pankowska
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Environmental Responsibility ◽  
Business Organizations ◽  
Renewable Natural Resources ◽  
Technology Resources

Today, business organizations seem to be involved in the processes of sustainable development. Therefore, not only economic indicators of performance are considered but also the environmental responsibility is equally important. The environmental responsibility covers social responsibility and natural environment responsibility. The latter demands taking into account promotion of sustainable use of renewable natural resources, reducing the emissions and wastages, decrease of energy consumption. The first part of the paper includes presentation of benefits resulting from IT (Information Technology) resources virtualization, grid computing and cloud computing development. The second part contains a model of IT governance for sustainability.

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