Centre for Environmental Rights – Advancing Environmental Rights in South Africa

• Chief Director: Enforcement And Compliance Ref No: DMR/16/0005 (R1 042 500 p.a.)
• Director: Environmental Enforcement And Compliance Ref No: DMR/16/006 (R864 177 p.a.)
• Director: Criminal Enforcement Ref No: DMR/16/007 (R864 177 p.a.)
• Director: Administrative Enforcement And Compliance Ref No: DMR/16/0008 (R864 177 p.a.)
• Deputy Director: Reactive Environmental Enforcement Ref No: DMR/16/0009 (R612 822 p.a.)
• Deputy Director: Environmental Enforcement And Compliance (3 posts) Ref No: DMR/16/0010 (R612 822 p.a.)
• Assistant Director: Environmental Enforcement And Compliance (6 posts) Ref No: DMR/16/0011 (R311 784 p.a.)
• Assistant Director: Criminal Enforcement (4 posts) Ref No: DMR/16/0012 (R311 784 p.a.)
• Assistant Director: Strategic Environmental Enforcement Ref No: DMR/16/0013 (R311 784 p.a.)
• Assistant Director: Reactive Environmental Enforcement Ref No: DMR/16/0014 (R289 761 p.a.)

Most of the positions require candidates to pass Environmental Management Resource Inspector Training within the probation period. (Environmental Management Resource Inspectors, or EMRIs, are the designated titles of DMR officials designated to monitor and enforce compliance with the National Environmental Management Act at mines.)

The Centre for Environmental Rights has for many years criticised the DMR for its failure to invest in compliance monitoring and enforcement of environmental laws at mines. In our report Zero Hour:  Poor Governance of Mining and the Violation of Environmental Rights in Mpumalanga we found that, in 2015, there were 239 operating mines and 788 derelict and ownerless mines in Mpumalanga, yet only five officials in the DMR to monitor compliance with environmental laws at these mines. We stated that “without regular compliance monitoring and predictable enforcement action, companies are left to their own devices. The state’s failure to prioritise compliance violates environmental and other human rights and facilitates rights violations by mining companies.”

Against this background, we are encouraged by this recruitment drive by the DMR. Although enough adequately trained staff is only one of the necessary elements of a successful compliance and enforcement programme, it is also an important start – and the mining industry should take note.

We also continue to track the Minister of Mineral Resources’ 2015 undertaking to feed the DMR’s compliance and enforcement results into the National Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Report published annually by the Department of Environmental Affairs.