National Environmental Compliance & Enforcement Report 2007-8

The National Environmental Compliance & Enforcement Report 2007-8 details a significant increase in reported environmental enforcement activities in South Africa, including a tripling of arrests and a five-fold increase in convictions compared to the previous year. It highlights systemic non-compliance across the iron, steel, and refinery sectors, alongside targeted efforts to combat illegal wildlife trade, particularly rhino horn trafficking. The report also outlines judicial precedents regarding environmental directives and the ongoing training of magistrates and prosecutors to improve the adjudication of environmental crimes.

• National statistics for 2007-8 show a sharp increase in enforcement actions compared to 2006-7, with reported arrests nearly tripling and convictions increasing by more than five times. However, the amount of admission of guilt fines issued more than halved during the same period.
• As of 31 March 2008, there were 866 Environmental Management Inspectors (EMIs) registered, with the vast majority (630) belonging to SANParks.
• Compliance inspections of 11 sites in the iron, steel, ferroalloy, and refinery sectors revealed widespread non-compliance; only the NATREF refinery in Sasolburg was found to be in substantial compliance with environmental legislation and permits.
• Specific industrial facilities were found to have serious environmental violations: Assmang's Cato Ridge plant had uncontrolled manganese dust emissions; ArcelorMittal's Vereeniging plant dumped hazardous waste on an unpermitted site; and Highveld Steel's Vanchem plant emitted 40 to 60 tonnes of sulphur dioxide daily.
• To combat the drastic increase in illegal white rhino hunting by Vietnamese hunters, MinMec approved a moratorium on the national trade in individual rhinoceros horn and its derivatives.
• Efforts to improve the legal system's handling of environmental crimes included training programmes for the judiciary; as of May 2008, approximately 230 magistrates and 204 prosecutors had attended specialized workshops and courses.
• The Constitutional Court ruled in MEC, Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Environment & another v HTF Developers (Pty) Ltd that the exercise of power to issue directives under section 31A of the Environment Conservation Act (ECA) is not constrained by the procedural requirements of section 32 of the ECA.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2008). National Environmental Compliance & Enforcement Report 2007-8. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/NECER-2007-8.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. National Environmental Compliance & Enforcement Report 2007-8. 2008. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/NECER-2007-8.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=National Environmental Compliance & Enforcement Report 2007-8 |date=2008 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/NECER-2007-8.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrights2008national, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{National Environmental Compliance \& Enforcement Report 2007-8}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2008}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/NECER-2007-8.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }