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The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) has written to the Minister of Water and Sanitation to inquire about the delayed publication of an annual report on compliance monitoring and enforcement. The CER argues that public reporting is essential to prevent companies from hiding poor environmental compliance and to protect local communities near mines and industrial facilities. The request follows a September 2015 briefing where the Department indicated the report would be published in October 2015.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) has written to the Minister of Environmental Affairs to address the absence of mining sector compliance data in the 2014-2015 National Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Report (NECER). Despite a July 2015 parliamentary commitment from the Minister of Mineral Resources that mining sector data would be included in the annual report published by the Department of Environmental Affairs, the CER notes that this information was missing from the November 2015 publication. The CER argues that the failure to make this data public allows companies with significant environmental impacts to hide their compliance status, which negatively affects local communities. The letter requests confirmation that arrangements are in place to include this data in the 2015-2016 NECER.

The document examines why parents in South Africa struggle to engage with evidence-based parenting programmes, such as the Sinovuyo Caring Families Programme (SCFP) and the Parent Centre’s Positive Parenting Skills Training (PPST). It identifies low socio-economic status as the primary structural barrier, manifesting as lack of transport funds, hunger, and childcare needs. Personal barriers include poor health, lack of interest, and alcohol abuse, while programmatic barriers involve discomfort with group sharing. Conversely, family buy-in, a sense of commitment, and the support-group nature of the programmes act as facilitators. The brief recommends house-to-house recruitment, the provision of shuttle services, and the integration of programmes into existing services like ECD centres to increase engagement.

The document assesses the role of South Africa's informal waste sector, which recovers 80-90% of paper and packaging waste, in the context of planned mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). It warns that traditional EPR models could marginalize waste pickers by creating competition for recyclables. Based on regional workshops, the note identifies four integration scenarios: maintaining the status quo, providing increased support and monitoring, formalizing pickers into co-operatives and SMEs, or absorbing them as employees in the formal sector. It highlights the significant economic value informal pickers provide to municipalities by diverting waste from landfills, while noting the high failure rate of waste co-operatives.

The report examines the growth of the South African energy services market, driven by rising electricity costs and energy security concerns. It highlights significant growth in rooftop PV, opportunities for energy efficiency in municipal wastewater treatment and public buildings, and the role of Energy Service Companies (ESCOs). The document also details the regulatory landscape, including tax incentives like the 12L allowance and the Western Cape's specific initiatives to reduce energy demand.

The report highlights the Western Cape's status as a water-stressed region where demand is projected to surpass supply by 2019 in the Western Cape Water Supply System (WCWSS). It identifies diverse business opportunities in the green economy, including precision irrigation, desalination, water reclamation, and the reduction of non-revenue water. The document details the institutional structure of South African water management and outlines specific funding incentives and grants available for greentech manufacturers and infrastructure projects.

The document examines the psychological and social drivers of climate action, arguing that values, social norms, and trust are more influential than scientific knowledge alone. It provides strategic principles for communicators, emphasizing the need to avoid alarmism, tailor messages to specific audiences, and leverage trusted messengers to overcome political polarization and the 'information deficit' myth.

The document outlines a diverse landscape of climate financing for cities, categorised into local internal revenues, external third-party sources, and international funds. Local options include property and land taxes, user fees, development charges, and Tax Increment Financing (TIF), as well as 'intracting' for energy retrofits. External sources feature Energy Performance Contracting (EPC), green bonds, and crowdfunding. International support is available through climate funds like the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Global Environment Facility (GEF), Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), and philanthropic organisations, though the authors note that most international funds require cooperation with national governments due to strict fiduciary and creditworthiness standards. The guide emphasizes that while international funds are necessary for large-scale projects, local sources foster greater municipal autonomy and sustainability.

This document is a manual produced by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) in December 2015 to comply with Section 51 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (PAIA). It outlines the CER's role as a non-profit law clinic, identifies the Executive Director as the head for PAIA purposes, and details the procedures, fees, and categories of records available to the public for accessing information held by the organisation.

The document assesses SEI's global urban research portfolio to identify strengths and gaps that can be leveraged for a new programme in sub-Saharan Africa. It finds that while SEI has diverse expertise across 64 projects, there is a lack of cross-centre collaboration and significant research gaps in Central and West Africa, as well as in specific areas like urban solid waste management and green infrastructure in the Global South. The report recommends replicating successful global projects in Africa and expanding research into under-studied regions and strategic themes such as urban governance and inclusive cities.

The project 'Public, Private, People Partnerships for Climate Compatible Development' (4PCCD) focused on the Chamanculo C neighbourhood in Maputo to test participatory planning methods. By establishing a community-led Climate Planning Committee (CPC), the project enabled residents to integrate climate concerns with local development priorities, such as drainage and waste management. The findings suggest that local citizens are eager to engage in climate action and that participatory methods can bridge the gap between technical climate information and the lived experience of vulnerable urban populations.

The report investigates water constraints in the Berg Water Management Area (WMA) and Saldanha Bay, South Africa. It finds that traditional linear planning—based on generalized growth percentages—fails to account for the 'stepped' water demand of large industrial projects, potentially leading to supply shortfalls between 2017 and 2019. The document argues for a 'smart' allocation model that links water productivity (GDP/jobs per drop) to resource allocation and explores a Water Exchange Network (WEN) to reduce freshwater intake by up to 15% through industrial water cascading. It also highlights that high salinity in the Berg River poses a significant operational cost and production risk to the steel processing industry in Saldanha.

The document outlines a pilot project by Natural Justice and partners to implement biocultural community protocols (BCPs) in four countries to safeguard community rights against extractive industries. It details specific regional efforts—addressing infrastructure and oil/gas/coal in Kenya, diamond mining in Zimbabwe, lithium mining in Argentina, and various mining forms in India—while identifying BCPs as tools for internal consensus and external rights assertion. The report highlights successes in community mobilization and challenges such as political will, safety threats, and the difficulty of defining 'community' in non-homogenous groups.

The South African energy efficiency market is driven by constrained electricity supply, rising tariffs, and government targets, such as the National Energy Efficiency Strategy (NEES) 2005 goal of reducing primary energy consumption by 12% by 2015. The market is served by consultants, technology suppliers, and Energy Service Companies (ESCos), with the latter's market estimated by the IDC to potentially reach R8 billion per annum by 2022. In the Western Cape, the market is projected to reach R1.3 billion by 2019, supporting approximately 1,000 jobs. Key challenges include accessing funding, though various tax incentives (e.g., S12I, S12L) and grants are available. The regulatory landscape is complex, involving multiple departments and standards (SANS) to mandate efficiency in buildings and appliances.

The report assesses the feasibility of a greentech SEZ in Atlantis, concluding that demand is sufficient for a small-scale zone. It evaluates four development options, identifying 'high road refurbishment' as the most financially attractive. The document details the necessary legal governance, spatial planning, and infrastructure requirements, while highlighting critical disaster risks including fire, socio-cultural instability, and proximity to the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station.

The paper applies second-generation social network analysis to map a criminal network centered on security racketeering in Cape Town's central business district. By analyzing 112 nodes and 224 interactions based on media reports from 2010 to 2013, the study identifies a highly centralized network where a small number of 'grey' agents—individuals operating across both lawful and unlawful sectors—exercise significant control. The analysis highlights that the network's operation relies more on lawful economic interactions, such as business investments and employment, than on overt violence, posing significant challenges for traditional law enforcement.

The study applies second-generation social network analysis to a court case involving 'The Americans' gang in Cape Town, identifying a network of 46 nodes and 179 interactions. It finds that the network is characterized by high levels of violence and a low level of resilience, as a small number of key actors control a majority of the interactions and information flows. The authors argue that law enforcement often has an oversimplified view of such structures by focusing on violent 'dark nodes' while overlooking the 'grey nodes' that provide economic and political support.

The report provides a guide for city practitioners to build climate resilience in African cities, specifically focusing on the challenges of informality and inequality. It proposes an eight-step process for climate compatible development that integrates climate dynamics with socioeconomic and political dimensions, ranging from developing a vision and mapping linkages to the informal sector to assessing vulnerabilities and tracking progress.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, Centre for Applied Legal Studies, and the Open Democracy Advice Centre argue that the 2014 Mining Lekgotla and similar industry forums exclude critical stakeholders and lack transparency. They highlight the difficulty of accessing essential environmental and mining documents and call for more inclusive governance to ensure natural resources benefit all South Africans.

The report assesses the feasibility of a greentech SEZ in Atlantis, South Africa. It identifies high-potential opportunities in wind turbine components, solar PV components, and solar water heaters, driven largely by government programs like the REIPPP. The study recommends a business case that prioritizes refurbishing existing industrial property over greenfield development to reduce costs and risk. It projects that a moderate demand scenario could create 1,440 direct permanent jobs and attract R650 million in FDI by 2030.