The latest on our work on transparency in environmental governance in South Africa

The report finds a decline in the actual disclosure of environmental records in South Africa during 2012, despite a decrease in requests being ignored. While public bodies showed more active engagement with PAIA requests, active refusals increased and full grants dropped. Private companies shifted from ignoring requests to actively refusing them, often challenging the legal right of non-governmental organisations to monitor environmental compliance. Significant non-compliance was noted regarding PAIA Manuals and statutory reporting to the South African Human Rights Commission, particularly within the Department of Mineral Resources.

• Between 2010-11 and 2012, public bodies in South Africa showed a trend of acknowledging PAIA obligations more actively but releasing fewer records. Active refusals of requests rose from 11% to 29%, while full grants decreased from 23% to 11%, and the rate of records actually released after a grant fell from 30% to 24%.
• The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) shifted its behavior from ignoring requests to actively refusing them. Deemed refusals dropped from 44.4% in 2010-11 to 12.5% in 2012, while active refusals increased from 8.3% to 12.5%. The DMR's success rate for actual delivery of records in cases of granted access remained stagnant at 19%.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2013). The latest on our work on transparency in environmental governance in South Africa. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Barricading-The-Doors-Feb-2013.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. The latest on our work on transparency in environmental governance in South Africa. 2013. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Barricading-The-Doors-Feb-2013.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=The latest on our work on transparency in environmental governance in South Africa |date=February 2013 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Barricading-The-Doors-Feb-2013.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrights2013latest, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{The latest on our work on transparency in environmental governance in South Africa}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2013}, month = feb, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Barricading-The-Doors-Feb-2013.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }