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A joint letter from 23 environmental and social organisations to the South African Minister of Energy expressing serious objections to the process surrounding the draft Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) and the draft update to the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for Electricity, specifically regarding a planned 'energy indaba' in December 2017.

This October 2017 report by the Centre for Environmental Rights, groundWork, and the Highveld Environmental Justice Network evaluates the failure of the Highveld Priority Area (HPA) to improve air quality in South Africa. Despite the 2007 declaration of the HPA and the 2012 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP), the report concludes that air quality remains poor and non-compliant with health-based standards, largely due to industrial emissions, inadequate monitoring, and a lack of government capacity and enforcement.

This document contains the legal and technical submissions made by a coalition of eight appellants (including Earthlife Africa Johannesburg and BirdLife South Africa) on August 14, 2017, appealing an environmental authorisation (EA) granted to Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd for the Yzermyn underground coal mine in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

This case study examines the state of e-commerce in South Africa as of 2017, analyzing its scale, regulatory environment, and potential for economic inclusion. It highlights a growing market dominated by a few key players and a legislative framework primarily governed by the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 2002. The document identifies significant supply-side infrastructure gaps and demand-side trust issues as primary barriers to growth, while suggesting that e-commerce could be a vital tool for the empowerment of women and the poor.

This report by GreenCape identifies business opportunities for adding value to livestock waste streams, specifically manure and abattoir waste, within the Western Cape of South Africa. It details the regional distribution of waste sources, current disposal methods, and the regulatory and technical barriers to implementing value-addition technologies like anaerobic digestion and composting.

This report by GreenCape identifies business opportunities for value addition from industrial organic wastewater in the Western Cape, South Africa. It highlights the potential for recovering resources like biogas, starch, and whey from the agro-processing sector, while noting significant barriers related to wastewater volumes and capital requirements.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) submitted a briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs on 12 June 2017, detailing the failure of the Highveld Priority Area (HPA) to meet national air quality standards. The CER argues that postponements of minimum emission standards (MES) granted to Eskom and Sasol have hindered progress, and that the national air quality monitoring network is severely dysfunctional.

This policy brief by the Institute for Security Studies argues that South Africa's reliance on reactive criminal justice spending is ineffective at reducing violent crime and advocates for a radical shift toward investment in preventive social programmes.

This research paper examines the rapid pace of urbanisation in Africa, forecasting population trends and identifying the structural challenges that hinder sustainable urban development. It focuses on the emergence of megacities and the disconnect between urban growth and economic structural transformation.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) wrote to the Minister of Environmental Affairs on 25 October 2016 to follow up on a request to strengthen the National Dust Control Regulations. The CER expresses concern over the Department of Environmental Affairs' narrow focus on monitoring methods rather than health impacts, and objects to a proposal to increase the allowable dust limit for residential areas.

This briefing by Friends of the Earth International advocates for a legally binding UN treaty to hold transnational corporations (TNCs) accountable for human rights and environmental violations, specifically highlighting systemic impunity and access-to-justice barriers in Africa.

South Africa's 2nd Biennial Update Report (BUR-2) provides a comprehensive overview of the country's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2000 to 2012, its mitigation strategies, and the financial and technical support received to transition toward a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy by 2030.

The 2016 SAIIA Young Leaders Declaration is a statement of recommendations from South African youth aimed at implementing the COP 21 Paris Agreement, the African Union's Agenda 2063, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The document outlines specific demands for municipal, provincial, and national governments across five key areas: accountability, education, basic needs, economic development, and stakeholder engagement, while concluding with a pledge of youth commitment to these global and national goals.

The Centre for Environmental Rights submitted a request to the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD) for records concerning captive elephant facilities in Gauteng, specifically targeting registration certificates, permits, and management plans.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, acting for Earthlife Africa Johannesburg, submitted comments on the Background Information Document (BID) for the proposed Mokolo Crocodile (West) Water Augmentation Project Phase 2 (MCWAP-2). The submission expresses significant reservations regarding the project's sustainability and feasibility, citing climate change and water scarcity, and requests further clarity on the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process and public consultation.

This research paper by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) examines the challenges of measuring and understanding public violence in South Africa. It critiques existing data sources, such as the South African Police Service (SAPS) IRIS system, and presents preliminary findings from the ISS's own Public Violence Monitoring project (2013-2015). The paper explores the drivers of collective violence, including socio-economic inequality and government unresponsiveness, and analyzes the roles of local government, community leadership, and the police in escalating or mitigating public disorder.

WWF South Africa's 2016 report 'Water: Facts and Futures' details the critical state of the country's water security. It highlights that while only 8% of land generates 50% of river flow, these Water Source Areas are under-protected. The report identifies severe threats from invasive alien plants, failing engineered infrastructure (with 37% urban water loss), and widespread pollution from sewage and mining. It calls for a 'Water and Sanitation Revolution' focusing on nature-based solutions, groundwater management, and decentralized service delivery to ensure equitable access to safe water.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) issued an open letter to Anglo American plc on February 29, 2016, urging transparency and public participation regarding the company's plans to divest its coal and iron ore assets in South Africa to prevent the creation of further derelict and ownerless mines.

This report by the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) for the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) investigates the root causes of poor audit outcomes in 60 'red zone' municipalities for the 2013/14 financial year. Through qualitative research and workplace observations, the report identifies systemic failures in leadership, governance, basic administration, and capacity, concluding that current interventions often focus on surface symptoms rather than structural issues.

The National Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Report 2015/16, published by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), provides a comprehensive overview of environmental law enforcement activities in South Africa. It details the capacity of the Environmental Management Inspectorate (EMI), national compliance statistics, provincial performance, and specific case studies regarding industrial pollution and biodiversity crimes, particularly rhino poaching.