Question NW2865 to the Minister of Environmental Affairs
25 August 2015 - NW2865
Hadebe, Mr TZ to ask the Minister of Environmental Affairs
Whether, with regard to the awarding of the tender for the development of Portions 87, 148, 149 and the remainder of Portion 1 of the farm Rietfontein 61 IR, City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and the Final Environmental Impact Assessment Report Gaut: 002/13-14/E0153 which states on page 65 that Dr Johan van der Waals concluded various soil surveys and applied the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) 2005 guidelines for the classification of a wetland, and his findings was that the area in which the Trachyandra erythrorrhiza species was found cannot be classified as a wetland because it did not contain all the required characteristics of a wetland, (a) she is in agreement with this finding and (b) there are more recent DWS guidelines for the classification of a wetland; if so, (i) why are the 2005 guidelines being used, (ii) what are the differences between the two sets of guidelines and (iii) is the developer compelled to use the latest set of guidelines?
Reply:
The National Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has no record of an application for environmental authorisation for the above-mentioned project. The application was lodged with the provincial department of environmental affairs, the Gauteng Department of Rural Development (GDARD), for which the Member of Executive Council is the competent authority in terms of S24C of NEMA. Please contact the GDARD for a response.
(a) and (b)(i), (ii) and (iii) Not applicable
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