Read this first

Using the National Environment Management Act (the “NEMA”) can be easy. You don’t have to have a lawyer or advocate to make a complaint about someone who is harming the environment now, or whom you fear might do so in the future. You also do not need one if you wish to take part as a member of the public in decisions that affect the environment. But it is a good idea to contact someone who knows about the NEMA before you take action. The law can be difficult and confusing. Your problem or concern may be complicated. There may be more than one way to solve it. You may want to ask someone with experience in dealing with your sort of problem about things not covered in this guide. You may just want to make sure that you are on the right track.

A list of legal and government bodies and other useful contacts appears at the back of this guide. They can give you free advice about protecting the environment. If your problem involves other issues they can refer you to the right place for help.

What are environmental rights ?

In 1994 the new constitution created the right to the environment as a fundamental right. If a law is a fundamental right this means that everything government does, must be in accordance with what this right says. This includes the laws it makes and every action it takes. Private persons, including citizens, companies and associations must also act in accordance with the right. The Constitutional Court can set aside a law which goes against this right and courts can set aside the actions of government or the public where they break this law. Set aside means declare invalid or change.

The fundamental right to the environment says everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to health or well-being. It also says that government must act reasonably in order to protect the environment by preventing pollution, promoting conservation and sustainable development, while building the economy and society.

Apart from the Constitution there are many other laws that protect the environment such as nature conservation laws, water laws, air pollution laws. These laws protect us from many things that could harm the environment. But even if there isn’t a law protecting some part of the environment, there is still always the Constitutional right that you can use to protect your health and well being and make sure that government and people act reasonably to protect the environment. NEMA is a new law that helps you to protect your environmental rights even more. It does this by creating a set of “environmental principles” that show government how it should act. For example it tells government what “sustainable development” means, and says that you the public must be actively involved when decisions are made that affect the environment.

It helps protect the environment by making government look at all the effects (“environmental impacts”) that a development can have before it is allowed to go ahead. It protects workers who refuse to do work that might harm the environment, and people who blow the whistle (give information) about others who are harming the environment.

It also makes it easier for us to solve problems and disagreements (“conflict resolution” and “conciliation”). Finally it makes it less risky for you to go to court to protect your rights when other ways of solving problems have not worked.

What is the environment?

NEMA defines the environment as the natural environment and the physical chemical, aesthetic and cultural properties of it that influence human health and well being.

How to use this guide

This guide is the first in a two-part series of guides about how to use NEMA.

Guide 1: “Taking action to protect the environment”

How you can make a complaint, seek conciliation or take legal action about something about to happen or that has already happened that harms the environment.

Guide 2 : “Public participation and environmental agreements”

How you can get involved in influencing a decision that will affect the environment and how to protect the environment through agreements with government.

If you want to know more about the NEMA read both of these guides. If you want to complain about harm to the environment that has already happened or might happen in the future there are five steps in this guide that will show you how to use NEMA

Step 1:

Read each question in the check-list after this section called: Protecting your environmental rights using NEMA (on the next page).

Step 2:

If you don’t know the answer to the question or you want more information, turn to the PART in the guide that has the same number as the question and read that. Then go back to the question.

Step 3 :

If you can answer YES to the question, go to the next question.

Step 4

If you still don’t know the answer to the question after you have read this book, or you want more information, contact the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, whose address is in Chapter 10.

Step 5 :

If you have answered YES to every question, read chapters 8 and 9 to find out more about what happens when you take action.

By taking action we will include :

• complaints to government

• seeking conflict resolution, i.e. conciliation, mediation and arbitration

• refusing to work where work may seriously damage the environment

• whistleblowing ( ie disclosing evidence) about a risk to the environment

• taking legal action.

Check-list: Protecting your environmental rights using NEMA

If you don’t know the answer to any question, or if you think the answer to the question is NO, don’t give up. Read the section of the guide again or contact your provincial or national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

Question 1: Is the complaint about something about to happen or something that happened or continued after 29 January 1999?

• For more information see PART 1 (below).

• Yes, see question 2

Question 2: Can you complain under NEMA?

• For more information see PART 2

• Yes, see question 3.

Question 3: Does the action complained of involve a violation of your environmental rights covered by NEMA?

• For more information see PART 3

• Yes, see question 4

Question 4: Have you thought about options other than using NEMA?

• For more information, see PART 4

• Yes, see question 5.

Question 5: Do you have sufficient information to make a decision?

• For more information on the right to information see PART 5

• Yes, see question 6

Question 6: Is there a remedy for your complaint under NEMA?

• For more information, read PART 6

• Yes, see question 7

Question 7: Have you decided to take action?

• For more information read PART 7

• Yes, see PART 8

Question 8: What happens when you take action?

• read PARTS 8 and 9

PART 1: What is covered by the NEMA?

The NEMA started on 29 January 1999. It can be used for problems that are about to happen or that happened after 29 January 1999. It does not help you solve problems that started before this date unless the problem is continuing.

NEMA makes it easier for you to protect your environmental rights than in the past. Then you could only go to court if your own health or property was being harmed. NEMA says you can go to court even when your own health or property is not affected. It says you can take

legal action to enforce an environmental law or a principle of NEMA

• to protect your own interest

• to protect someone else’s interests who for practical reasons is unable to do so

• on behalf of a group of persons whose interests are affected

• in the public interest

• in the interest of protecting the environment

However in order to use NEMA you must be sure that it covers your complaint. Parts 3, 4 and 5 will help you to do this. If you are sure that NEMA covers your problem, Parts 7 and 8 will explain how NEMA makes it easier for you to take legal or other action. The type of action you can take will be set out in Part 6.

The NEMA covers the actions of not only national government but also provincial and local government, as well as state corporations like Eskom. Some parts of NEMA apply only to government, others apply only to private individuals and others apply to both. Be sure that you are allowed to take action against one of these classes before you do so. Ask a lawyer if you need advice about this.

For example: you can privately prosecute a person for breaking an environmental law, but it is usually not possible to privately prosecute the government. Private prosecutions will be discussed in Paragraph 3.7, 6.7, 7.11 of this booklet.

PART 2: Who can complain ( ie seek conciliation, lay complaints or take legal action) under NEMA?

You can make a complaint or take legal action in terms of NEMA if:

• someone, including government has broken an environmental law. (Note that NEMA is also

an environmental law).

• government has not obeyed a Principle of NEMA in an action that may significantly affect

the environment

• government has given permission for an activity or development that significantly affects the

environment without properly checking how it could affect the environment, the society and

our cultural heritage

• someone, including government has caused significant pollution or degradation of the envi

ronment

• you have been punished, disciplined or threatened for refusing to do work that might harm

the environment or for blowing the whistle ( ie giving information) about how someone is

harming the environment

• a major accident that threatens the public has happened and there has not been a proper

report about it or a clean up

• the state has not prosecuted a person for breaking an environmental law, and you believe

that he/she might be guilty

Conciliation is a process where a neutral person tries to help two people to solve a disagreement. You can ask for government to arrange and pay for conciliation of a disagreement:

• where it has done something that may significantly affect the environment, or

• where you have appealed against something government has decided.

In this guide we will talk a lot about actions that “significantly affect the environment”. Not all actions that are harmful to the environment are covered by NEMA. The following section will give more details about the ones that are.

PART 3: Does the action complained of involve a violation of your environmental rights covered by NEMA?

In Part 2 we described seven activities where you could take some kind of action (complaint, conciliation or legal action) to protect your environmental rights. They were

1. violations of a law that protects the environment or a provision of NEMA

2. violation of a principle of NEMA

3. not doing a proper impact assessment where an activity/development might significantly

affect the environment, socio economic conditions or cultural heritage

4. significant pollution or degradation of the environment

5. being penalised for refusing to do work that could harm the environment or whistle blowing

about risks to the environment

6. action to cause a clean up or report of an emergency incident

7. private prosecution where the state has failed to prosecute someone who has broken an environmental law

(These activities might sometimes overlap. For example someone who is causing serious pollution might also be breaking a law that protects the environment. But in this booklet we will try to make things clearer by talking about each of the 7 activities separately.)

How do you know when you can take action or ask for conciliation in terms of NEMA? This chapter and chapter 4 will tell you in more detail.

3.1 What are laws which protect the environment?

Examples are the National Water Act no 36 of 1998, the Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act no 45 of 1965, the Environment Conservation Act no 73 of 1989, the Dumping at Sea Control Act no 73 of 1980 and many other laws and regulations that protect the environment or conserve natural resources.

3.2 What are “violations of environmental principles” ? (NEMA section 2)

NEMA gives us 20 environmental principles which guide the government whenever it does something that may significantly affect the environment. Government must obey as well as carry out the law. The principles show it how it must use its laws to best protect the environment. They show it how it must draw up environmental management plans and they guide conciliators who mediate environmental disputes.

Also, if government does not follow these principles when it allows something new to happen that may have a significant effect on the environment it is breaking the law and you can take legal or other action to stop the activity.

The environmental principles state:

• environmental management must put people and their needs at the forefront, and must

serve their interests fairly.

• development must be socially, environmentally and economically sustainable. This means

that the following things must be considered before there is development:

-disturbance of eco-systems and loss of biodiversity

-pollution and degradation of the environment

-disturbance of landscapes and sites where the nation’s cultural heritage is found,

-production of waste must be minimised or avoided;

-non-renewable resources must be used responsibly

-the precautionary principle must be applied

-negative impacts must be anticipated and prevented and if they can’t be prevented they

must be minimized or remedied

• environmental management must be integrated. The best practical environmental option

must be pursued

• environmental justice must be pursued so that there is not unfair discrimination in the way

that negative environmental impacts are distributed

• there should be equitable access to environmental resources, benefits and services to meet

basic human needs. Special measures may be taken to ensure access for persons disad

vantaged by unfair discrimination

• responsibility for environmental health and safety of any policy, programme or project must

continue throughout the life cycle of a project

• public participation in environmental decision making must be promoted. The participation

of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups must be ensured

• decisions must take into account the interests, needs and values of all interested and affect

ed parties. This includes recognizing all forms of knowledge including traditional and ordi

nary knowledge

• community well being and empowerment must be promoted through environmental edu

cation

• the social, economic and environmental impacts of the activities must be assessed

• the rights of workers to refuse to do work that is harmful to human health or the environ

ment and to be informed of dangers must be respected

• decisions must be taken in an open and transparent manner and access to information pro

vided in accordance with the law

• there must be inter governmental co-ordination and harmonisation of policies and laws

• actual or potential conflicts of interest between organs of state must be resolved through

conflict resolution procedures

• global and international responsibilities relating to the environment must be discharged in

the national interest

• the environment is held in a public trust for the people, and the use of environmental

resources must serve the public interest, and be protected as the people’s common heritage

• the polluter must pay for the costs of remedying pollution, environmental degradation and

adverse health impacts

• the vital role of youth and women in environmental management must be recognized and

their full participation promoted

• sensitive or stressed eco systems must receive special attention in planning which might

affect them especially when they are subject to significant resource usage and development

pressure.

3.3 What does it mean to “give permission for an activity without properly assessing its impacts on the environment, socio-economic conditions and cultural heritage”?

(NEMA section 24)

An environmental impact assessment is a process of finding out what harm a development might do to the environment. Each different form of harm is called an “impact”. Ways of making the harm less are found out. If there are different ways of doing the development (“alternatives”), these are also researched. The research is usually done by an expert who is not involved in any other way in the project, called an “independent consultant”. The public is told about the project and allowed to make comments. They can make suggestions about alternatives and ways to make the project less harmful to the environment. After all the impacts have been looked at government looks at what everyone has said and decides whether to let the development go ahead or not. Conditions which aim to protect the environment can be put on the activity.

NEMA says there must be an environmental impact assessment before any activity or development that

• needs permission by law, and

• which may significantly affect the environment.

NEMA says when we do these assessments we must not only look at the way the environment might be affected. We must also look at the way our society and our cultural heritage might be affected.

Government is not allowed to ignore what is recommended in an environmental impact assessment. It is also not allowed to ignore the NEMA environmental principles when it decides what to do. If it does you can take legal action. You can ask the court to set aside the permission that government has given.

For more information about public participation in environmental impact assessment see GUIDE 2 of this series.

3.4 What does “significant pollution” mean?

NEMA says pollution can be many different things. It can be any change in the environment caused by

• substances, radioactive or otherwise

• noise, odours, dust or heat that comes from any activity including the

-storage or treatment of waste

-construction

-the provision of services.

Pollution can be caused by people or the government. To be called “pollution” it must change the environment now or in the future in a way that will affect your health and well-being, or harm the environment.

NEMA does not help you in every case where there is pollution.

Only significant ones qualify. What “significant pollution” means depends on how dangerous the chemicals and or other substances in the pollution are, the amounts involved and how much harm they can cause now or in the future.

3.5 What does “environmentally hazardous work” and “whistleblowing” mean?

(NEMA sections 29 and 31)

NEMA protects workers who refuse to do work that might harm the environment. Work is “environmentally hazardous” if the person in good faith (i.e. honestly) and reasonably believed at the time when they refused to do the work that it could cause a serious threat to the environment very soon. You can take action to protect your rights in a situation like this where you refuse to work if a person

• disciplines, dismisses, harasses, threatens or takes legal action against you, or

• promises you anything helpful if you do the work

However you do have to do certain important things before NEMA will protect you. These will be explained in paragraph 7.6

Whistleblowing means giving information about something serious or criminal that is going on.

NEMA protects you if you blow the whistle about someone who is harming the environment. But you must honestly and reasonably believe that the information is about harm or risk to the environment, and you must also give the information in the correct way. This means that the information has to be given through the correct channels, as described in NEMA. More details about this will be explained in paragraph 7.7

If you have given information about an environmental risk in the right way you can take action to protect yourself against

• a criminal or civil case that someone has brought against you

• dismissal, discipline, prejudice or harassment

3.6 What is an “emergency incident” ?

(NEMA section 30)

An emergency incident under NEMA is something that happens suddenly and unexpectedly. It can be a big fire, explosion or release of fumes that is dangerous to the public or could cause serious pollution or damage to the environment now or in the future.

An emergency incident could affect you in the following ways, for example :

• an explosion at a factory near to where you live releasing fumes and gases that make you

worried about your health

• a chemical spill on a highway where poisonous substances are washed on to the road and

into the stormwater

• a radioactive leak at a nuclear power station that creates danger in the vicinity of the power

station.

Emergency incidents can be very dangerous for public health and the environment. In some cases people have to leave the area in a hurry (ie evacuate) to escape from danger. In other cases emergency health treatment needs to be given to large numbers of people, for example the sick, aged and children. Or it may be necessary to bring in large amounts of pollution control equipment quickly to prevent a disaster. That is why it is important to have information about the incident as soon as possible afterwards.

To best protect the public and environment, residents, health officials and government authorities need to know quickly about what substances have been released into the environment. There might for example be a risk of poisoning from toxic fumes, needing special treatment or evacuation. For this reason NEMA requires the person responsible:

• immediately after the incident to tell the public and authorities what chemicals have been

released in the spill, in what way they can be dangerous to health and property and how their

effects can be minimised.

For example: an explosion releases a cloud of poisonous gas. Residents are warned on the radio to go indoors and shut their windows, asthmatics are warned to seek urgent medical treatment. They are told what kind of gas it is. The health department and municipal emergency services are told how to treat people who get sick from it.

• as soon as possible to minimise the risk and clean up, and find out how the incident has

affected public health

• within 14 days to report to government about:

- the nature and causes of the incident

- substances released and how they could affect human health and the environment

- what was done to prevent this from happening

If these reports or this action does not happen you can take action to protect the environment and public health at any one of these three stages.

Further detail will be set out in paragraph 7.8

3.7 What are private prosecutions?

(NEMA section 33)

In many of our environmental laws, it is a crime to break the law. This means that a person who breaks the law can be taken to court ( ie prosecuted) for the crime and if found guilty sentenced to a fine or sent to jail. Government normally prosecutes these offences, but sometimes it decides not to, if for example it looks like there is not enough evidence to find the person guilty.

You may decide after this that the case is really important enough for you to prosecute the person yourself. NEMA helps you to do this. The case is then called a private prosecution. You will need the help of a lawyer to prepare the case.

You can do a private prosecution of someone that you suspect has committed an environmental crime if:

• the case involves the breaking of an environmental law

• this law says that a person who breaks it commits an offence

• the case is brought in the public interest or to protect the environment

You may not prosecute an organ of the government, except in limited cases. Ask your lawyer

about these.

NEMA makes private prosecution easier and possibly less costly for you than other private prosecutions by

• allowing the court to make a person convicted pay your legal costs

• if the accused is not found guilty he/she can ask the court to make you pay their legal costs. But not if you brought your case in the public interest or out of concern for the environment.

Further detail about private prosecutions will be given in paragraph 7.10

PART 4: Choosing between options

If after reading what is said above you think that there is an environmental violation, you may want to take action to prevent damage to the environment, to yourself or to the community. There may be different possible ways that you can do something to prevent further damage. Some of these might involve employing a lawyer to assist you. Others could involve writing letters to government in order to make sure that an investigation takes place and thereafter government takes action to stop further harm.

Some of these options might include :

• using legal options such as suing in terms of this Act or an Act that protects the environment

• complaining to government departments or committees of local government

• complaining to consumer bodies

• complaining to the police

• complaining to the Public Protector

• complaining to the Human rights Commission

• instituting a private prosecution

There may be other options as well as these. It is important to think about all available options including formal or informal alternatives. Many organisations have their own complaints processes. Most businesses rely on good public relations. Approaching organisations, writing letters to local newspapers, supporting businesses that have a responsible attitude towards the environment may also give results you want.

You should decide what you want to happen before you take any action. You might want:

• to stop something from happening, e.g. to stop the destruction of a wild life area or the con

struction of a polluting industry in your neighbourhood

• to stop something from continuing, e.g. to stop pollution and dumping

• to make someone do something, e.g. make your workplace safe from environmental pollu

tion

• compensation for something that has already happened, e.g. contamination of your land

after a serious incident

• any combination of the above

It is important to make sure, as far as possible that you don’t “do yourself short” or have unrealistic expectations. Remember some results won’t be possible because :

• it is too late to stop something from happening

• it might cost too much

• it is too risky

• there is no available remedy to achieve what you want

Check-list of things to think about in choosing the best course of action :

• How much will it cost?

• How long will it take?

• Am I likely to get what I want?

• What other support do I need apart from financial such as technical in order to ensure the

right outcome?

• Is that support available?

It is often useful to ask other people about ways to solve the problem. Other people may have been in a similar situation and have some good suggestions. Check with environmental lawyers or people working in the area of environmental protection. An environmental lawyer may be able to help you choose your best option in terms of NEMA. Lawyers can also help you when you don’t want to go to court.

If you decide to take action, legal or otherwise, either by yourself or with the support and expertise of others, it is important to remember it is your complaint and you are responsible for making decisions about it. The more information you have the easier it will be to make those decisions.

Chapter 5: Right to information

(NEMA section 31)

Getting the right information is very important because it helps you make the right decision about what you are going to do before you take action. This can save you delays, costs and damage. The new Constitution gives us the right to information that is held by the government and that is needed by you to protect any of your rights. The NEMA tells us in more detail what kind of information you can get from the government or private persons about the environment. You can get from the government information it has about

• the state of the environment

• any actual or future threats to the environment including emissions to water, air or soil and

• information about how hazardous wastes are made, stored and got rid of.

The government can get information about the environment, emissions to air, soil and water and the handling of hazardous waste from any private person and then you can get that information from the government. Government is not allowed to refuse you the information unless you are being unreasonable in asking for it or if giving the information might cause a threat to national security, personal privacy or the protection of the environment.

Example: You would like to know where you can go and look at endangered cycads and Koi-San rock paintings. You are refused this information on the grounds that if the whereabouts of the cycads is known to the public they may be stolen, and if the paintings are found they may be vandalised.

A request for commercial information can be refused only if that information is genuinely confidential in the sense that if it was made available to the public this would prejudice to an unreasonable degree the commercial interests of the holder.

A person cannot refuse to give information about emission levels and waste products.

Example: Disclosure of a trade secret, which is a secret formula for making a commercial product, could be refused.

Getting information before taking action is important. It helps you find out whether:

• an environmental principle, or an environmental law has been broken

• there is a serious threat of pollution, a genuine emergency incident or a situation where there

is good reason to believe that doing your work could cause a serious threat to the environ

ment.

Acting on proper information can result in speedy action by the state or parties involved to prevent damage to the environment. NEMA helps in some cases where it might be time consuming and difficult for you to get information. In these cases it says government or the person damaging the environment must investigate or give information. In these situations all you need to do is make a complaint. These will be dealt with in more detail in section 7.5.4

PART 6: Is there a remedy for your complaint under NEMA?

This manual has sub-divided the incidents where you can take action because of environmental damage or threat of damage into seven classes (see PART 2 ). There may be some overlap in these categories. Here are some of the remedies for complaints you may have in each of those classes. In Part 1 and 2 we told you who could take action in terms of NEMA. This Part will explain your options but only in the briefest outline. In Parts 7 and 8 we will give you more detail about when and how you can pursue the various options for action. In this guide if we refer to the Director General or provincial head of department we mean the Director General of Environmental Affairs and Tourism or the head of the provincial environmental department.

6.1. Violation of a law that protects the environment, including NEMA.

NEMA helps you not only when someone breaks the law, but also when someone has a duty to do something and does nothing. For example if the government has a duty to stop people from polluting rivers and does nothing to stop them it is breaking the law and you can take action to force it to protect the environment.

If the government or any person breaks an environmental law, including NEMA you can

• go to the police and lay a charge and if the government does not prosecute, prosecute the

person privately

• ask government to find and pay for a conciliator to solve the dispute

• ask the Director General to investigate, and if she/he does not, go to court to order him/her

to do so (only in cases of significant pollution and degradation)

• go to court to:

- stop the person or government from breaking the law

- force government to stop the person from breaking the law

- if there is a duty on someone to do something, such as clean up pollution, you can go to

court and order them to do their duty.

Example: Your neighbour, who runs a car repair shop, dumps used oil and paints in a river at the end of your street. He is breaking section 151(I) of the National Water Act, and this is a criminal offence. For options in this case see case study 1 in Part 9.

6.2 Violation (ie not obeying) a principle of NEMA

If the government violates a provision of NEMA you can

• ask government for a conciliator to try to solve the dispute

• ask the Director General to investigate, and if she/he does not, go to court to order him/her

to do so (only in cases of significant pollution or degradation)

• go to court to:

- stop the government from violating the principle

- force government to follow the principle that it has ignored,

- set aside a decision that government has taken as unlawful

Example: The government plans to build a road through a sensitive coastal area and also plans to develop an industrial site in part of the area. It does not consider the principle of “sustainable development” when doing its planning. This could be a violation of this principle of NEMA. See case study 2 Part 9

6.3 Not doing a proper impact assessments for a development/activity that may seriously affect the environment.

Where a proper impact assessment has not been done, you may:

• appeal against the decision to allow the activity

• ask government for a conciliator to try to solve the dispute

• go to court to

-stop the activity from going ahead

-order the impact assessment to be done properly

-set aside the permit that has been given

See case study 2 Part 9

6.4 Significant pollution or degradation of the environment

In cases of significant pollution or degradation of the environment, you may:

• lay a charge and if the government does not prosecute, prosecute the person privately

• ask government for a conciliator to try to solve the dispute

• ask the Director General to investigate, and if she/he does not, go to court to order him/her

to do so

• go to court to:

- stop the person from carrying on the pollution

- force government to stop the person from carrying on the pollution

- if there is a duty on someone to do something, like clean up pollution, you can go to court

and get an order forcing them to do what is their duty. See case study 1, Part 9

6.5 Refusing to do environmentally dangerous work or whistleblowing

If you have been punished or disciplined for refusing to do work that can harm the environment or for whistleblowing you can:

• go to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, at the Department of

Labour and ask it to try to solve the dispute, by reinstatement or compensation

• lay a charge if a crime has been committed

• ask the Director General to investigate, and if she/he does not, go to court to order him/her

to do so. Only in cases of significant pollution/degradation of the environment)

• go to court to stop the person from breaking on the law.

Example: Your boss asks you to dump building rubble in a field. You refuse to dump it anywhere but the landfill that is 15 km away. He threatens to dismiss you if you don’t obey him.

6.6 Action to cause a report or a clean up after an emergency incident

After an emergency incident there must be a report to the public about the dangers that the incident might cause. There must be a clean up. Fourteen days after the incident there has to be a report about the causes of the incident and what was done to clean up. Government has to make sure that these things were done to protect the public and clean up the pollution. Reporting on dangers and cleaning up are important to public health and safety and to the protection of the environment. If these things do not happen you can

• if the accident involves a criminal offence you can lay a charge and if the government does

not prosecute, prosecute the person privately

• ask the Director General to investigate, and if she/he does not, go to court to order him/her

to do so

• go to court :

- if there is a duty on someone to do something, like clean up pollution, or report to the public about an accident you can go to court and order them to do what is their duty order government to clean up and claim its costs from the person who caused the incident.

6.7 Private prosecution where the government fails to prosecute

If the law that has been broken is a crime with penalties like fines, you can try and get the person who broke the law prosecuted or do a private prosecution yourself. But you can’t prosecute the government. For further details see paragraph 7.11 below.

Example: You tell the Police that your neighbour is secretly dumping toxic chemicals in a river at night. You show them a video that you have taken. They do not feel they have enough evidence to prosecute. Your lawyer thinks you do. You decide to privately prosecute the matter.

PART 7: Taking action

7.1 Going to Court

NEMA helps you by making it easier to go to court to protect your environmental rights. This is explained in more detail in paragraph 8.5 below.

Important note: In the past people were afraid to go to court to fight for their environmental rights, because if they lost the case they usually had to pay their opponent’s legal costs. To make things less risky, NEMA says that a court can decide not to make you pay your opponents legal costs even if you have lost the case. But you have to first make an effort to use other means reasonably available to protect your rights, before going to court. The court does not have to help you in this way, but might do if you have been reasonable. That is why in this Part we will explain in detail how you can solve disputes in other ways, before going to court. Please read through this whole section.

7.2 Making complaints

Sometimes you need to go to court urgently because of something which has to be stopped immediately or it will cause serious damage that cannot be fixed later. In situations like this you must not delay. But if you do not need to act urgently, you should start off by complaining to government if someone is harming or threatening to harm the environment. Ask them to to stop the harm.

You can make a complaint to

• your municipality

• the government department concerned both at provincial or national level

Examples: (1) A small factory in your neighbourhood is burning something that emits fumes and clouds of smoke that make you feel ill. Report the matter to your municipality.

(2) A sewerage treatment plant regularly overflows and raw sewerage is pumped into a river where children play. The local municipality is responsible for the sewerage treatment plant. Report the matter to the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry.

It is always a good idea to write a letter to complain because then you can prove that you did so. If you don’t get an answer to your letter send another one and try to phone or see the official in charge. Keep copies of the letters you have sent, so that if you are not successful you can move on to one of the next steps.

7.3 Appeals against decisions.

Some laws let you appeal against a government decision in a case which involves the protection of the environment. You should

• explain your complaint in detail in a letter

• say if the NEMA environmental principles have been violated

• say if a law has been broken

• say if you think the decision is unreasonable. Remember, the Constitution says that government must take reasonable steps to protect the environment by preventing pollution, promoting conservation and sustainable development while building the society and economy.

You might be able to have a decision changed by appealing. Usually the law will tell you who to appeal to, for example in some laws you must appeal to the Provincial Premier. You might need some legal advice to tell you who to appeal to, or else ask the branch of the local or provincial government who has made the decision you want to appeal against.

Examples: 1) Land use planning laws that say how land can be used or sub-divided have an effect on the environment depending on how they are used. The provincial Land Use Planning Ordinances and the Development Facilitation Act let you appeal against planning decisions.

(2) The Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations under the Environment Conservation Act say there must be impact assessments before permission is given for a group of “scheduled activities”. After permission for a development is given or refused, you are allowed to appeal against it.

7.4 Complaints to the Director General

In cases of significant pollution or degradation of the environment you can write to or phone the Director General or provincial head of department and ask them to investigate and put the matter right. They can have the pollution or degradation stopped, and cleaned up. They can order the property owner, or the person in control of the property to do these things, or government can do them itself and claim the costs back from the polluter, land owner or land user.

Example: A group of people have been burning large numbers of tyres in an open field in order to sell the steel that is found inside the tyres. Your municipality has been unable to catch them or stop them from the burning. The land owner claims that they cannot control the tyre burners either. Complain to the Director General who can order the land owner to stop the fires, and remove the ash and tyres whenever fire is reported or he/ she can order the municipality to do so and charge the land owner for the costs of doing so. If you are not satisfied with the steps taken by the municipality or provincial government you first complained to, and the problem involves serious pollution or environmental degradation, you should write to the Director General or provincial head of department.

If you make a complaint about serious pollution, the Director General or provincial head of department has to investigate the case and tell the polluter to take reasonable steps by a certain date. Then they have to tell you in writing that they have done these things and if they don’t within a reasonable time, you can ask a court to force them to do so. But you have to tell them 30 days beforehand that you are intending to go to court.

You can make a complaint to the Director General or provincial head of department in many of the situations set out in Part 6, as long as the complaint involves significant pollution or degradation of the environment. In other words this could happen in a number of situations described in this guide, such as an emergency incident, a workplace where you have refused to do work that could harm the environment, and in any other situation where an environmental law has been broken.

7.5 Applying for conflict management ie conciliation/facilitation/arbitration or investigation

Conflict management happens when a neutral person tries to solve a dispute between two or more persons, and makes them agree on something. NEMA allows government to refer certain disputes to facilitation, conciliation, arbitration, and in some cases to appoint special investigators to find out more about a case. What happens in these processes will be spelt out more fully in Parts 8 and 9.

7.5.1 Facilitation is a process in NEMA where government calls in a person called a facilitator who tries to help two or more people who can’t agree about something that could harm the environment.

The aim of facilitation is to try to agree to refer a dispute to conciliation.

Example: Government has decided to build a large harbour by dredging an estuary, that will affect a number of different people in different ways, e.g. beaches, wetlands and habitats will be destroyed, marine pollution will affect some prime fishing areas, farmers will lose land which will be flooded, and factories which will be set up will cause air pollution which will affect some local farmers’ crops. A number of people have appealed against the decision to go ahead with the harbour after the environmental impact assessment is completed. These people ask the government to appoint a conciliator to resolve the dispute. A facilitator is called in to assist the parties in deciding which issues should be referred to conciliation.

7.5.2 Conciliation happens when two disputing parties come to a conciliator who tries to get them to agree on a settlement.

Since NEMA allows government to refer certain disputes to a conciliator or facilitator you can approach government to ask it to appoint a conciliator or facilitator in certain disputes.

NEMA says you can apply for conciliation in two situations:

1) You disagree with something government has done, and this may significantly affect the environment.

Example: Government decides to allow the building of a dam that will destroy many villages and habitats. The impact assessment has not looked at certain cultural issues like the fact that the dam will flood graves and sites of worship. Communities would like to ensure that their religious sites are protected and feel that government has not done enough to consult them to find ways of preserving these sites. Conciliation could solve this problem by finding a way for government to give the permission for the dam on certain conditions, that would preserve and protect these sites. Communities can help government work out a solution that must then be spelt out in these conditions.

2) Where there is a dispute over protection of the environment and an appeal has been made.

Example: A large industrial area is allowed on a sensitive piece of coastline, with the possibility that a river used for irrigation and the coastline could become polluted. The farmers say the impact on their farming and fishing has not been properly assessed. They appeal after the impact assessment is done. A request for conciliation can take place after the appeal is lodged.

7.5.3 Arbitration happens when an independent person makes a decision about a dispute between two persons, and they must then follow the decision.

In terms of NEMA if two parties to a dispute can’t reach an agreement, the conciliator can ask the two parties whether they would like the case to go to arbitration. The arbitrator’s decision will then be final.

7.5.4 Investigation

NEMA gives government wide powers to investigate harm to the environment. Investigations can be by a commission of enquiry. If the investigation shows that an environmental law is being broken, then government has a duty to stop this and has to get the damage fixed up.

Example : You have information that a smuggling ring is operating in a number of provinces and internationally and is smuggling rhino horns out of the country. You have also heard that certain police officers are involved in the smuggling. You therefore do not want to report the case to the police. You can report the matter to the Minister.

If you are worried about damage to the environment but you can’t afford to pay to investigate the problem, you could approach the Minister and ask him/her to appoint an investigation. Try to get as much evidence as you can before doing so to show that there is a good reason for government to investigate.

7.6 Protection of workers who refuse to do work which could harm the environment.

You can refuse to do work if you honestly (ie in good faith) and reasonably believe that the work could cause a serious threat to the environment.

Example: You work for a doctor and your work includes cleaning up and throwing away waste. One day the doctor leaves a note for you to take a large amount of medical waste and dump it illegally in a nearby field. You refuse to do so. The next day the doctor returns to work and threatens to dismiss you. You refer to Section 29 of NEMA and say that he / she is not allowed to dismiss you.

When using this section you will be protected from discipline, dismissal or law suits if you follow the following steps :

• Your refusal must be based on an honest and reasonable belief that the work could result in

a serious threat to the environment.

• As soon as possible after refusing, you must tell your employer personally or through a rep

resentative that you have refused to do the work and give your reasons.

• Your employer or any other person is not allowed to promise you anything useful to try to

persuade you to do the work.

• If action e.g., dismissal is taken against you, you have the right to take legal action.

7.7 Blowing the whistle on activities that could harm the environment

If you blow the whistle (ie give information) about something which you honestly (ie in good faith) and reasonably believe is about an environmental risk you can’t be held responsible in court or be dismissed, disciplined, prejudiced or harassed. But you must make sure that you give the information in the proper way in order to be protected.

You are only allowed to give information to:

• a committee of parliament, or of a provincial legislature

• a part of government which protects any part of the environment or emergency services

• the Public Protector

• the Human Rights Commission

• any Attorney General

• more than one of the above

You will also be protected if you give the information to the news media, but only if:

• you prove that you believed at the time when you gave the information it was necessary:

- to prevent serious harm to the environment very soon, or

- to make sure that the threat to the environment was properly investigated, or

- to protect yourself from being victimised, or

• it was more helpful to the public if you gave the information than if you kept quiet.

You will also be protected if:

• you gave the information in accordance with any applicable external or internal procedure,

(e g a procedure at work) or

• you gave information that the public knew about before you gave it.

No person can offer you anything useful to stop you from blowing the whistle.

Example: You work for a company that grows vegetables. One of your bosses is secretly using a banned pesticide on one of the farms in order to grow more vegetables. There is a rule in the company that if you hear about this kind of thing you must tell the personnel officer. But you are afraid that if you do so you may be victimized and the evidence covered up. You decide to report the matter to the Attorney General and since you are not sure whether this will solve the problem, you also report it to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Agriculture .

7.8 Control of emergency incidents

Emergency incidents can cause serious danger to the public or the environment now or in the future. You may want to take action to prevent future damage or find out what damage to your health or property you have suffered as a result of an incident like this.

After an incident like this the person responsible for the harm has a duty to tell the public and various government officials as soon as possible what happened in the incident and what kinds of dangerous substances were released into the air, water or ground.

Within 14 days they must tell the Director General about what happened, what substances were emitted and what steps were taken to keep harm to a minimum as well as report on the cause of the accident.

Being informed of what substances might have been released into the atmosphere or onto the ground is important if you need to protect your property, get the right medical treatment or know when to leave the area. If the responsible person does not do so as soon as possible after the incident you can go to court to force them to do so. If they do not take proper steps to prevent harm you can also go to court to force them to do this. But first complain to government and ask them to assist you.

7.9 The Public Protector

The Constitution creates the Public Protector whose job is to investigate whether government has acted improperly or caused prejudice. Examples of acting improperly are corruption, acting for the wrong reason or bias. Prejudice is some form of harm which is not allowed or justified by law. If you discover that either of these has happened you can consider reporting the matter to the Public Protector. Write to the Public Protector or phone his/her office.

Example: You discover that a permit was given for a waste dump after an environmental impact assessment was done. Very few members of the public were invited to the public participation process. You have information that a large bribe was given to the government official who gave the permit. You also discover that some municipal government councillors who were involved in the planning committee have a large investment in the waste management company that runs the dump. You report the matter to the Public Protector.

7.10 The Human Rights Commission

The Constitution also creates the Human Rights Commission, whose job is to promote respect for human rights. One of these rights is the right to the Environment spelt out in the Constitution. The Commission has powers of investigation to help it do its job. If you have a complaint about harm to the environment which also involves the violation of a human right you can write to or phone the Human Rights Commission and ask them to investigate the case.

7.11 Private prosecutions (Section 33)

You have laid a charge in a case where someone has broken an environmental law and the law says that this is an offence. You have reported it to the police. You can contact the police from time to time to find out whether the case is going ahead. You can speak to the police where you laid the charge, the investigating officer or the prosecutor in charge of the case. If it seems to you that the prosecutor will not go ahead with the case you can decide whether or not to privately prosecute the matter yourself. If you want to do so you must take the following steps:

• Write to the Public Prosecutor and say that you want to prosecute the person privately. If after

28 days of receiving your letter the prosecutor has not told you that he/she is going ahead

with the case you can do so yourself.

• You will need the help of a lawyer if you want to start a private prosecution.

PART 8: What happens after you take action to defend your environmental rights under NEMA?

In this section we will take you through some of the main types of action that you can take to defend your environmental rights, in steps that follow one another.

8.1 Complaining at the level of your municipality.

Many decisions affecting the environment are made by municipalities. Municipal areas are represented by democratically elected councils made up of councillors from each ward. The day to day running of municipalities is done by full time paid officials of the municipality who get their powers delegated from the local authority. But some powers are not delegated, and these are exercised by the local authority with the assistance of committees, that are usually made up of elected councillors. Many of these committees deal with things that affect the environment, such as the planning committee. They make recommendations to the executive committee which then makes the final decision.

If you want to complain about harm to the environment to committees which deal with the problem, first find out which ones are dealing with it from officials of the municipality or from a local ward councillor. The executive committee usually follows the recommendations of the committees so it is very important to speak to the committees themselves at the earliest stage possible. The following is an example of how to use NEMA in approaching your municipality:

Example: A municipality or council is getting ready to decide if it will allow a development that will significantly affect the environment in your local area. The provisions of Integrated Environmental Management set out in Chapter 5 of NEMA have not all been followed in the planning process and you are afraid that the development will go ahead. You want to be sure that the environment is properly protected. You can take the following steps to try to make sure that the right decision is made about the development:

First approach the full time council officials, like the Town Planning Department and tell them about your concern. Ask them for information about the development and to tell you which committees will be deciding the issue. Go to the committee/s. This will probably be the planning or environmental committee. Write to and arrange to speak to the executive committee if these committees do not respond to your recommendations. Warn them if you believe that they did not follow the right procedures or they violated NEMA and tell them that you might go to court and challenge their decision.

Wait for the decision and if it goes against you consider appealing, applying for conciliation and finally going to court to set the decision aside.

8.2 Appeals against decisions

After you have appealed against a decision involving protection of the environment you will be told what happened to your appeal. In terms of the Constitution you can demand reasons for a decision.

The Constitution and NEMA also give you a right to information that you may now want to use to obtain more information from government showing how it made its decision.

If you are not satisfied with the result of your appeal you can consider asking the government to find and pay for a conciliator to try to solve the dispute.

If you think the decision violates a principle of NEMA, or followed an unfair procedure or is unlawful for some other reason you can consider going to court to set it aside.

8.3 Complaints to the Director General/provincial head of department

After you have complained about significant pollution or environmental degradation to one of these two officials, they must then give you a chance to tell them what you are concerned about. Then they must order the polluter/damager to take action as explained in paragraph 7.4. They will have to look at a number of things when they do so, for example the NEMA environmental principles, the costs of a clean up, and how bad the problem is. They can also expropriate the land and rehabilitate it, and then get back the costs from the person responsible for it.

After speaking to you about the problem, government will tell you in writing what it will do to solve the problem.

If you are not satisfied with these steps, you can ask government for conciliation, or go to Court to order the Director General or provincial head of department either to investigate the problem further or do more to solve the problem.

Example: You live next to a mine dump that is not covered with any grass. Wind blows dust into your house every day and during the rainy season muddy rain water carrying soil from the mine dump runs through your property and clogs up the stormwater drains creating flooding. You have written letters of complaint to the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs and they tell you that the dump cannot be covered as the mine owner still wishes to rework the mine dump to get more precious metals out of it. You have complained to the municipality about the flooding but it has told you it can do nothing about the flooding as the mud which causes the drains to be blocked comes from the mine dump. As you are not satisfied with these answers you send a complaint to the Director General or provincial head of Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

Basic steps for lodging a complaint:

• Write out a statement of all the facts of the complaint. Keep your facts simple and clear and

don’t go into unnecessary detail.

• Add copies of all letters of complaint to other government officials and answers received.

• If you have photographs, maps or video evidence, include it.

• If you have managed to collect any other medical evidence of personal injury, or evidence of

property damage, include it.

8.4 Applying for conflict management

Conciliation happens when two people who have a disagreement meet to discuss the complaint with a person called a conciliator who helps them solve the dispute or complaint. The aim is to reach agreement about what needs to happen to solve the complaint. The conciliator’s job is to make sure that each person gets a chance to have a say and hear what the other person has to say about the problem. The conciliator’s job is not to judge the complaint, to be an advocate for either person, or to take sides, but to encourage an agreement between the two. To do this they can obtain information and make recommendations to the two parties. If you want conciliation write to the Minister, MEC or Municipal Council concerned with the dispute.

If government agrees to pay for a conciliator, it will try to get one which both parties accept. The conciliator can keep a record of the conciliation and must make a report at the end to the Director General and the parties to the dispute. If the dispute is not settled he/she can ask the parties if they agree to the matter being sent to arbitration.

Ask the government whether it is prepared to pay for the arbitration. This might be preferable to going to court which could be costly.

Example: In the mine dump case in paragraph 8.3 above, the Department of Minerals and Energy Affairs writes back to you and tells you it cannot make the mine owner cover the mine dump with grass as he still wants to mine the dump for precious metals. You disagree with this decision. You feel that the mine dump could be covered with grass until the mine owner decides to rework the dump. You also think that the part near to where you live could be covered with grass to prevent the mud from flowing through your community while the mine works at the other end of the dump to search for precious metals. You do not feel that the government has applied the principles of NEMA that say:

(1) government decisions must take into account the interests and needs of all interested and

affected parties;

(2) the costs of remedying pollution and preventing further pollution must be carried out by

those responsible for harming the environment;

(3) responsibility for the environment and health and safety consequences of an activity exists

throughout its life cycle;

(4) environmental justice must be pursued ie there must not be an unequal and unfair distribu

tion of negative environmental impacts.

You feel that these principles were not taken into account when the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs applied the Minerals Act that governs the rehabilitation of mine dumps.

Government agrees to appoint a conciliator.

8.5 Arbitration and going to court

If your complaint goes to arbitration or court you will need to get legal advice to prepare your case, and be represented in the case.

During the hearing you and your opponent will be given a chance to

• present information, and obtain information from each other about the case

• ask witnesses questions

• argue your cases

The case will be heard in public but arbitration is probably less formal. At the end of the case a final decision is made. If you want to appeal you will have to get legal advice to see if that is possible.

Under NEMA you can bring a case even if your own interests are not affected. The classes of persons who may bring cases under NEMA are indicated in Part 1 and include persons who bring cases in the public interest or the interests of the environment.

Example: In the mine dump case given above conciliation does not achieve a settlement of the dispute. The mine owner says that they will not have enough money to grass the mine until they have finished taking out at least half the precious metals contained in the dump. You complain that your health and that of your fellow residents as well as their property is being badly affected on a daily basis and that something needs to be done urgently. The parties agree to refer the matter to arbitration.

Costs

NEMA helps you defend your environmental rights by making it less financially risky for you to go to court to defend the environment. But you must then act in the public interest, and first take reasonable steps to try to solve the problem before going to court. If you lose the case a court can decide not to order you to pay your opponent’s costs. If you win the case, the court can order your opponent to pay the costs of your lawyer if he/she acted free of charge in bringing the case. In this instance the court can also order your opponent to pay your costs of investigating the case and preparing for the trial.

PART 9: Case Studies using NEMA

In this chapter we will show you how to use some of the options mentioned in Part 6

Case study 1: Options when someone has broken an environmental law or provision of NEMA

Example: Your neighbour, who runs a panel beating, spray painting and car repair shop dumps oil and paints in a river at the end of your street. You want to stop this.

Step 1: Check to see whether your neighbour is breaking a law. (If the offender is the government, check also whether one of the principles of NEMA, given in paragraph 3.2 above has been violated)

In this case the section 151(I) of the Water Act has been violated. It says you are not allowed to pollute a water resource. Other laws and municipal by-laws might also have been violated. Call your municipality or Department of Water Affairs and Forestry to find out which other laws might apply.

Step 2: Check what the law which has been violated says you can do.

In this case the violation is a criminal offence. A person who is found guilty of this offence can go to prison for up to five years or be ordered to pay a fine. You can report the problem to the police.

Step 3: Report the case by writing letters to your municipality, Department of Water Affairs and/or the Police. Keep copies of all you letters.

Step 4: If the pollution is not stopped and cleaned up by these government officials you can write to the Director General or provincial head of department and ask them to investigate the matter and take steps to stop the pollution. Only do this in cases of significant pollution or degradation of the environment. Send copies of all the letters you sent to other government officials, plus information explaining the nature of the problem. Wait for them to contact you to tell them more about your concern, or to write to you to tell you what they have done to stop the pollution.

Step 5: If you are not satisfied with the action taken by these officials, you can ask government to appoint a conciliator to try to solve the problem. For example, if the polluter was given six months to clean up the pollution and you think he should have been told to clean it up in one month, and that this was feasible, ask for conciliation of the dispute. Do this by writing to the Minister, MEC or Municipal Council concerned.

Step 6: If government agrees to conciliation but the dispute is not settled, you might be asked if you would like to refer the matter to arbitration for a final decision. Alternatively you can go to court.

Step 7: If you go to court you can ask the court for help in a number of ways for example:

- it can order the person to stop the pollution, and to clean it up

- it can order government to stop the person from polluting

- it can make the polluter pay your damages if your property has been harmed by pollution.

You can also start a private prosecution of the person who pollutes if he/she was not prosecuted and you have evidence that proves the pollution was dumped illegally. Remember, if you were reasonable and looked for help in other ways before going to court, such as are set out in the steps above, you might not have to pay your opponent’s costs if you lose your case.

Case Study 2: Violation of a principle of NEMA

Example: The government plans to build a road through a sensitive coastal area and also plans to develop an industrial site there. It has not considered any of the factors listed under the “sustainable development” principle (Principle 4(a) of NEMA) in the planning process and impact assessment. You are afraid that irreparable damage to the area, ground water, air quality and river water will result.

Step 1: Find out how far the process has gone. Is the impact assessment still in progress or has permission for the development (eg, rezoning of the land, permission for the road to be built) already taken place? If permission has already been granted for any activity which you think might detrimentally affect the environment, appeal against it. If permission has not been granted yet, ask government to hear your views about all the factors that it must consider in order to ensure that the development is sustainable

Step 2: Wait for the outcome of the appeal. If you feel that the appeal was decided wrongly ask the government for a conciliator to try to solve the dispute. Do this by writing to the Minister, MEC or Municipal Council concerned.

Step 3: If the development may cause significant pollution, you may want to refer the matter to the Director General or provincial head of department, especially if government does not agree to appoint a conciliator

Step 4: If you are not satisfied with the action taken by the Director General or provincial head of department, or if conciliation has not worked, consider taking legal action to challenge the permit. It might well be unlawful because when giving permission to do an activity that may substantially affect the environment, government has to take into account the environmental principles of NEMA. It did not do so in this case.

PART 10: List of useful contact addresses

National Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism

Private Bag X447 Pretoria 0001 Tel: 012 310 3911 Fax: 012 320 4746

Mpumalanga

Head: Environmental Affairs and Tourism

Private Bag X11233 Nelspruit 1200 Tel: 013 759 4083 Fax: 013 759 4032

Eastern Cape

Permanent Secretary: Economic Affairs Environment and Tourism

Private Bag X0054 Bisho 5606 Tel: 040 639 2000 Fax: 040 639 2002

Free State

Head : Environmental Affairs and Tourism

P O Box 264 Bloemfontein 9300 Tel: 051 403 3712 Fax: 051 448 8361

Kwazulu Natal

Secretary: Traditional and Environmental Afairs

Private Bag X31 Ulundi 3838 Tel: 0358 874 285 Fax: 0358 874 2859

Northern Province

Head: Agriculture, Land and Environment

Private Bag X 9487 Pietersburg 0700 Tel: 015 295 7300 Fax: 015 291 3740

North West

Head: Tourism, Nature Conservation and Environmental Affairs

Private Bag X2080 Mmabatho 2735 Tel: 0140 84 1027/8 Fax: 0140 84 1029/6

Gauteng

Head, Agriculture, Conservation and Environmental Affairs

P O Box 8769 Johannesburg 2000 Tel: 011 333 2106 Fax: 011 33 0667

Western Cape

Head: Environmental and Cultural Affairs

Private Bag X9086 Cape Town 8000 Tel: 021 483 4093 Fax 021 483 3016

Northern Cape

a)Head: Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Land Reform

Private Bag X5018 Kimberley 8300 Tel: 0531 81 4012 Fax: 0531 81 3804

b)Head: Health, Welfare and Environmental Affairs

Private Bag X5049 Kimberley 8300

Tel: 0531 80 0781 fax 0531 3 4314

South African Human Rights Commission

Private Bag X2700 Houghton 2041 Tel: 011 484 8300 Fax: 011 484 8403

National Public Protector

Private Bag X677 Pretoria 0001 Tel: 322 2915 Fax: 012 322 5093

Legal Aid Board offices: Contact your nearest Magistrates court and ask for information

Glossary of terms

Conciliation: When a neutral person tries to get two people who disagree to solve their dispute.

Degradation of the environment: Damage, disturbance or pollution which makes the environment not function so well in the future.

Dispute: Disagreement.

Pollution: Change to the environment caused by substances, radioactive or other waves, noise, odours, dust or heat from any activity, including storing or treatment of waste and other substances, construction or the provision of services. This change must have a negative effect on human health and well being and on the resilience and productivity of the environment or on materials useful to people.

Remedy: Way of solving, or addressing a problem.

Set aside: A court sets aside a decision when it changes it, or states that it is unlawful or invalid.

Significantly affect the environment: Seriously affect or harm the environment.

Violation: Breaking of a law, or not following a principle contained in a law.