MONEY TALKS

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) reports that PAIA is poorly implemented in South Africa, with public bodies frequently refusing environmental information requests by citing the protection of third-party commercial interests. While some departments like the DEA show consistency, others like the DMR and various municipalities exhibit high refusal rates and poor response times. The report highlights a specific lack of transparency regarding oil refinery atmospheric emission licences and details litigation used to compel the disclosure of environmental records from corporate polluters.

• The Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA) is poorly implemented and enforced, with public bodies often showing reluctance and inexperience due to funding and capacity constraints.
• The most frequent justification for refusing access to environmental information is the mandatory protection of third-party commercial information under section 36 of PAIA, which the CER argues is often applied incorrectly by public bodies who feel obliged to refuse if a third party objects.
• Government department performance varies significantly: the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) is noted for consistency and a pragmatic approach, while the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has seen actual refusals rise from 8.3% in 2010–2011 to 50% in 2013.
• The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) suffers from poor record-keeping, particularly in regional offices, frequently refusing requests on the grounds that documents do not exist or cannot be found.
• There is a systemic lack of transparency regarding the atmospheric emission licences (AELs) of South Africa's six oil refineries, with many municipalities and companies refusing to disclose licence conditions and compliance reports.

APA

Heitmann, E., Chien, L.-F., Hugo, R., & Fourie, M. (2014). MONEY TALKS. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/CER-Money-Talks-Nov-2014.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Heitmann, Eishe, Li-Fen Chien, Robyn Hugo, and Melissa Fourie. MONEY TALKS. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2014. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/CER-Money-Talks-Nov-2014.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Heitmann |first1=Eishe |last2=Chien |first2=Li-Fen |last3=Hugo |first3=Robyn |last4=Fourie |first4=Melissa |title=MONEY TALKS |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=November 2014 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/CER-Money-Talks-Nov-2014.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{heitmann2014money, author = {Heitmann, Eishe and Chien, Li-Fen and Hugo, Robyn and Fourie, Melissa}, title = {{MONEY TALKS}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2014}, month = nov, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/CER-Money-Talks-Nov-2014.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }