ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT REPORT 2021/22

• According to a Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment media statement on the latest report:
  • the unlawful commencement of listed activities affecting air and water quality continues to be the most common form of non-compliance, and
  • steps are being taken to address the decreasing number of national and provincial environmental management inspectors, which has been ‘largely attributed to natural attrition’.

 

INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS AND PESTICIDES

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has gazetted a notice once again postponing the commencement of regulations on prior informed consent procedures. Published in May 2021 but suspended six months later to accommodate outstanding administrative requirements, once in force the regulations will domesticate measures prescribed in the UN’s 1998 Rotterdam Convention.

 

JUSTICE

• The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has issued a notice calling for public comments on an interim report prepared as the next step in the process of rationalising South Africa’s court system. This is with the aim of aligning the High Courts and other judicial establishments with constitutional imperatives, which include:
  • access to justice, and
  • honouring ‘the foundational values of equality and dignity’.

 

SOCIO-EDUCATIONAL INCLUSION IN SCHOOLS

• The Department of Basic Education has issued a statement condemning media reports on plans for introducing unisex toilets in schools. According to the statement:
  • the reports misrepresented information in a discussion document being prepared as part of the process of drafting guidelines on creating ‘a socially conducive and welcoming environment in schools’ given the broader debate around gender identity, expression and ‘sex characteristics’
  • the document was released prematurely while ‘still undergoing district consultations’, and
  • expected to be published next year for comment, the draft guidelines are being prepared to assist schools in dealing with incidents of intentional or unintentional discrimination against ‘children of diverse sexual and gender identities’, which is a violation of children’s rights.

 

BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT

• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has gazetted a notice calling for public comments on a draft management plan intended to ensure the survival of the Southern Ground Hornbill – one of South Africa’s most swiftly declining bird species.

 

Prepared by Pam Saxby