minister-of-environmental-affairs-a99fe867c50029ea.pdf

This document consists of a practice note and legal submissions filed by the National Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs to the Constitutional Court of South Africa. The submissions argue that holders of mining rights or permits granted under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) are not exempt from obtaining separate environmental authorisations under the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) for listed activities.

• The National Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs argues that the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) requires that the commencement or continuation of a listed activity must be authorised under NEMA to be legally valid, regardless of any authorisation already obtained under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA).
• The Minister asserts that several provisions of the MPRDA explicitly require holders of prospecting or mining rights to comply with other relevant laws, contradicting the argument that the MPRDA exhaustively regulates mineral resources.
• The submissions highlight that specific mining permits and rights issued to Maccsand (Pty) Ltd explicitly state that the granting of such rights does not exempt the holder from complying with other laws of the Republic of South Africa.
• The Minister points to NEMA section 24(8)(a), introduced by the National Environmental Management Amendment Act 62 of 2008, which explicitly states that authorisations obtained under other laws do not absolve an applicant from obtaining NEMA authorisation unless an integrated authorisation is granted under section 24L.
• The Minister rejects the 'duplication argument'—that requiring both MPRDA and NEMA authorisations is an inefficient use of public resources—by arguing that NEMA's requirements for environmental impact assessments are significantly more detailed and rigorous than those in the MPRDA.
• The submissions argue that in cases of legislative ambiguity, the court must prefer the interpretation that best promotes the right to a healthy environment as guaranteed by section 24 of the Constitution.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (n.d.). minister-of-environmental-affairs-a99fe867c50029ea.pdf. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Minister-of-Environmental-Affairs.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. minister-of-environmental-affairs-a99fe867c50029ea.pdf. n.d. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Minister-of-Environmental-Affairs.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=minister-of-environmental-affairs-a99fe867c50029ea.pdf |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Minister-of-Environmental-Affairs.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrightsndministerofenvironmentalaffairsa99fe867c50029eapdf, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{minister-of-environmental-affairs-a99fe867c50029ea.pdf}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Minister-of-Environmental-Affairs.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }