Flaws in SAS environmental law to come under spotlight in Shell SA court review

The document argues that South Africa's environmental governance of mining is hindered by a "perilous lack of clarity" resulting from an unsynchronised transition to the 'One Environmental System'. This legislative obscurity is exemplified by the legal dispute over whether Shell's 2014 exploration right required a NEMA environmental authorisation in addition to an MPRDA-approved Environmental Management Programme (EMPr). The author contends that the current framework creates a "legislative vacuum" and risks environmental degradation by placing enforcement responsibility within the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, whose primary mandate is to promote mining.

• The transition to the 'One Environmental System' intended to align the MPRDA and NEMA but resulted in a convoluted legislative structure and a lack of clarity regarding which statutes govern environmental approvals during interim periods.
• Under the 'One Environmental System', the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMR) was given full responsibility for granting, monitoring, and enforcing environmental authorisations for mining, which critics argue is risky because the DMR's primary mandate is to promote mining.
• There is a significant legal dispute over whether an EMPr approved under section 39 of the MPRDA constitutes a full environmental authorisation under NEMA, particularly for rights granted before the 2008 NEMA Amendment Act (NEMAA) requirements became enforceable on 8 December 2014.
• The document identifies a specific failure in the MPRD Amendment Act where section 38B, intended to deal with authorisation status, is described as "nonsensical" because it references dates that make it impossible for any EMPrs to have been approved as described.

APA

Acton, H. (2022). Flaws in SAS environmental law to come under spotlight in Shell SA court review. Good Governance Africa. https://gga.org/flaws-in-sas-environmental-law-to-come-under-spotlight-in-shell-sa-court-review/

Chicago

Acton, Helen. Flaws in SAS environmental law to come under spotlight in Shell SA court review. Good Governance Africa, 2022. https://gga.org/flaws-in-sas-environmental-law-to-come-under-spotlight-in-shell-sa-court-review/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Acton |first1=Helen |title=Flaws in SAS environmental law to come under spotlight in Shell SA court review |publisher=Good Governance Africa |date=9 March 2022 |url=https://gga.org/flaws-in-sas-environmental-law-to-come-under-spotlight-in-shell-sa-court-review/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{acton2022flaws, author = {Acton, Helen}, title = {{Flaws in SAS environmental law to come under spotlight in Shell SA court review}}, institution = {Good Governance Africa}, year = {2022}, month = mar, url = {https://gga.org/flaws-in-sas-environmental-law-to-come-under-spotlight-in-shell-sa-court-review/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }