Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 Everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being; and to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation; promote conservation; and secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development.

Media Release: Civil Society and Community Organisations Challenge Draconian South African Weather Service Amendment Bill

Tomorrow, 24 January 2012, and 25 January 2012, Parliament will hold public hearings on the South African Weather Service Amendment Bill, 2011.

Many civil society and community organisations, including groundWork [1], the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) [2], and the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance (VEJA) [3], are particularly concerned about the offence the Amendment Bill proposes if an air pollution-related warning (which is not defined in the Bill) is issued without written permission from the South African Weather Service. If the Bill is passed in its current format, this offence is likely to have negative implications for the environment, public health, and particularly, civil society participation in environmental governance and community information dissemination.

Community organisations who conduct independent monitoring of air quality by sending samples for laboratory analysis, and advising the public (including through media releases) of the results of such analyses, face a R5 million fine and/or five years’ imprisonment for a first conviction of this offence. They can also be held liable for any loss or damage that arises as a result of the offence. This is despite the fact that such organisations disclose air pollution-related information in the… Continue reading...

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Submissions on the South African Weather Service Amendment Bill, 2011

Photo: groundWork

On 12 January 2012, the Centre for Environmental Rights made submissions to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs on the South African Weather Service Amendment Bill, 2011 on behalf of groundWork, the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance and the Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance.

Many civil society and community organisations are particularly concerned about the offence the Amendment Bill proposes if an air pollution-related warning (which is not defined in the Bill) is issued without written permission of the South African Weather Service. For the reasons we set out in the submissions, if the Bill is passed in its current format, this offence is likely to have negative implications for the environment, public health, and particularly, civil society participation in environmental governance.

Public hearings on the Bill will be held in Parliament on 24 and 25 January 2012.

The South African Weather Service Act, 2001, as well as the South African Weather Service Amendment Bill, 2011 are available here.

Read more about the Centre’s work on pollution, waste and land use here.

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Invitation to attend Western Cape Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Lekgotla

The Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning and the Institute of Marine and Environmental Law, Faculty of Law (University of Cape Town) are convening the first Western Cape Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Lekgotla.

Date: Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Time: 08:15 – 13:30
Venue: Oliver Tambo Moot Court, 5th Floor, Kramer Law Building, Middle Campus, University of Cape Town
RSVP: Please RSVP to Achmad Bassier at achmad.bassier@pgwc.gov.za by Friday, 20 January 2012.

A programme and more information can be downloaded here.

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National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Bill, 2011: Latest version of Bill and Explanatory Memo now available

On 30 December 2011, the Minister of Environmental Affairs published an explanatory memorandum for the National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Bill, 2011, to be introduced in Parliament in February 2012. You can view both the August and November 2011 versions of the draft amendment bill, the Explanatory Memo, as well as the CER’s comments on the draft amendment bill published in August 2011, here.

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Looking for legal work that really makes a difference?

Kruger National Park (Photo: John Wesson)

We are currently filling two exciting new positions at the Centre for Environmental Rights. On Monday, 9 January 2012, applications close for our three-year staff attorney position specialising in the regulation of the environmental impacts of mining and other industrial developments. Wednesday, 11 January 2012 is the last day to apply for the second and final round of our legal internships for 2012.

Visit http://cer.org.za/staff/vacancies/ for more details.

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Season’s Greetings from the Centre for Environmental Rights

Staff at the CER in 2011, plus a few babies! In back: Robyn Hugo, Dina Townsend, Junaid Francis and Zulfa Mohammed. In front: Melissa Fourie and Christine Reddell. Absent: Andy Gubb

The Centre for Environmental Rights team would like to wish all our partners, clients, funders and stakeholders a peaceful and reinvigorating festive season. Below is a brief overview of our highlights of 2011, and what lies ahead in 2012.

This year, the CER:

  • represented communities, community organisations and environmental NGOs in more than seven substantive cases
  • instituted its first two court applications, both to enforce rights of access to environmental information
  • made two submissions to the Minister of Mineral Resources, one on the proposed amendments to the MPRDA, and one on the declaration of important areas as prohibited from prospecting and mining
  • continued its work on coordination of the Civil Society Legal Strategy on Environmental Compliance, Transparency and Accountability in mining, which included the amazing Litigation Review completed by Prof Tracy Humby at the Wits Law School;
  • ramped up its work on promoting greater transparency and access

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List of Threatened Ecosystems finally gazetted

On 9 December 2011, the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs finally published the national list of ecosystems that are threatened and in need of protection under s.52(1)(a) of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (GG 34809, GN 1002, 9 December 2011). You can access the Government Gazette in several parts here. You can also read some of the correspondence to the Minister from the Centre for Environmental Rights on behalf of a number of other NGOs about the delay in the gazetting of this list here.

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Vacancy at the CER: Staff Attorney

As part of a National Lottery-funded collaborative project with partner organisation Lawyers for Human Rights (www.lhr.org.za), the Centre hereby calls for applications by suitably qualified and experienced candidates to take up a three-year contract as staff attorney at the Centre, specialising in the regulation of the environmental impacts of mining and other industrial developments. The staff attorney will be based at the Centre’s offices in Cape Town, though he or she will be required to travel regularly to Gauteng and other parts of the country.

The Centre for Environmental Rights strives to reflect South Africa’s racial, cultural and gender diversity within its staff complement. All suitably qualified candidates are encouraged to apply.

Qualifications, skills and experience

  • An LLB or equivalent qualification
  • An appropriate tertiary qualification, such as in environmental or mining law
  • Admission as attorney of the High Court of South Africa
  • At least two years’ post-qualification experience in High Court litigation, particularly Constitutional and administrative law (experience in environmental litigation, particularly focused on mining, pollution, waste and land use will be an advantage)
  • A sound understanding of legal and procedural requirements for environmental decision-making and legal challenges, particularly decisions

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Hot off the press: Review of court judgements and pending cases on mining and environment

Photo: Carin Bosman

The Centre for Environmental Rights is proud to launch a brand new product designed to support civil society organisations in our collaborative work to ensure mining that is environmentally compliant, transparent and accountable. With support from the Ford Foundation, Prof Tracy Humby from the University of the Witwatersrand’s Oliver Schreiner School of Law led the compilation of a comprehensive review of court judgements, internal appeals and pending cases on mining, prospecting and environment. The review consists of a synthesis report, databases of cases, fact sheets and a short film clip that provides an overview of the findings and recommendations of the review. Click here to access the Review.

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Proposed amendments to Coastal Management Act published for comment by 31 Jan 2012

Photo: Chris Galliers, WESSA

The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs has published a draft National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Amendment Bill for public comment. The proposed amendments highlighted below will have a number of significant implications, and we urge all practitioners, experts and affected parties to have a look and submit comments where necessary (including comments of support for positive changes).

According to the Preamble to the Bill, it hopes to:

  • amend certain definitions;
  • clarify coastal public property and the ownership of structures erected on and in coastal public property;
  • remove the power to exclude areas from coastal public property;
  • simplify and amend powers relating to coastal leases;
  • extend the powers of MECs to issue coastal protection notices and coastal access notices;
  • limit the renewal of dumping permits;
  • amend the composition of the National Coastal Committee;
  • clarify the powers of delegation by MECs;
  • revise offences and increase penalties;
  • improve authorisation processes;
  • provide for exemptions (see the proposed s.94A(1): “The Minister may in writing exempt any person or group of persons or organ of state from a provision of this Act if, in the opinion of the Minister, there

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