Water

National department steps in with tanks and trucks.

In response to the Covid-19 crisis, the National Department of Water Sector Insight and Sanitation (DWS) delivered 500 water tanks and 56 water trucks to several Mpumalanga municipalities. This was to ensure that residents had a reliable supply of water to wash their hands and for drinking. The Operations and Maintenance Division of Nafasi Water is Nafasi Water is a recent purchase for Infinity Partners. responsible for large water treatments plants at Middelburg and create 900 jobs in the Nkangala eMalahleni. Nafasi is a rebranding of Aveng Water which was purchased District Municipality. by Infinity Partners for R95-million in 2019. Infinity is owned by the The Imkomati-Usuthu Catchformer Aveng Water CEO Suzie Nkambule and E-Squared Investments. ment Management Agency

The Middelburg Water Reclamation Plant (MWRP) produces no covers Mpumalanga, parts brine and avoids energy-intensive methods, a world first for a mine of Limpopo and part of the water treatment plant. Phase 2 of the eMalahleni project produces Kingdom of Swaziland and is drinking water after treating mine water from one of the collieries of Anglo American Thermal Coal. Rapid growth in the Ehlanzeni District Municipality has persuaded the

Provincial Government of Mpumalanga to build a new dam on the Crocodile River in the City of Mbombela.

Citizens of the Thembisile Hani Municipality will get more immediate relief from water shortages with the construction of a treatment plant on the Moses River.

Acting on a disturbing report published by the Centre for Environmental Rights on the way some mining companies are using water, a provincial Environmental

Management Committee has been appointed to conduct environmental impact analysis and assess climate change threats.

NuWater was contracted to reduce waste at the Image: Nafasi Water water treatment plant for eMalahleni Municipality. An ultra-filtration technology was used to reduce waste from 20Ml/day. responsible for water usage

A total of 327 water infrastructure projects benefiting 350 259 issues relating to the following households have been completed, with a further 165 sanitation river catchment areas: Sabieprojects finalised. A bulk water supply system connecting villages Sand, Crocodile, Komati, within the Bushbuckridge area has been completed. Rand Water has Nwaswitsontso and Nwanedzi. taken over the operations of the Bushbuckridge Water Board. The Komati Basin Water

A joint project with Eskom related to rain-water harvesting will Authority (KOBWA) is an also create jobs. The Siyasebenza Job Creation Initiative is intended to important agency in controlling water resources in the region.

Online Resources Formed out of a cooperation

Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency: agreement between South www.iucma.co.za African and Swaziland, the

Komati Basin Water Authority: www.kobwa.co.za agency has built two large

National Department of Water and Sanitation: www.dwa.gov.za dams and is responsible for their

Water Research Commission: www.wrc.org.za upkeep. ■

Ensuring water for all in Inkomati-Usuthu

The Green Scorpions protect the environment.

The Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency is responsible for several functions related to water resources in the Mpumalanga Province. These include: • Water resource planning and operations. • Real-time river operations. • Adaptive operational water resource management framework. • Water resource protection. • Water resource utilisation. DR Thomas Gyedu• Public participation. Ababio, CEO

The Green Scorpions explained

The Environmental Management Inspectorate (EMI), commonly known to the public as the Green Scorpions, are government officials (from national, provincial and local government, including the parks authorities and relevant government entities) who are responsible for compliance and enforcement activities with environmental legislation. Simply put, the Green Scorpions represent the environmental compliance and enforcement capacity in respect of the National Environment Management Act (NEMA) and the Specific Environmental Management Acts. According to the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, the EMI must see to it that environmental legislation is followed and enforced. The EMIs have the powers to: Investigate: question witnesses, inspect and remove articles, take photographs and audiovisual recordings, take samples and remove waste. Inspect: enter premises to ascertain whether legislation is being followed and seize evidence of criminal activity. Enforce: search premises, containers, vessels, vehicles, aircraft and pack animals; seize evidence and contraband; establish roadblocks and make arrests. Administer: issue compliance notices and admission of guilt fines. The EMIs are not empowered to prosecute cases in court. All cases continue to be handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for prosecution. The EMIs therefore work closely with prosecutors country-wide to ensure the successful prosecution of offenders.

The South African Police Service

The South African Police Service continues to play a crucial role in enforcing environmental legislation and EMIs work closely with the SAPS in the investigation of environmental crimes. In terms of the National Environment Management Act, all police officers have the powers of an EMI.

Companies and the EMI Issue of a Directive

The biggest exposure most companies have is from technical non-compliances with conditions imposed in an Environmental Authorisation (often called RoDs) issued in terms of NEMA or similar permit conditions, such as the conditions contained in a Waste Management Licence issued in terms of the National Environmental Management, Waste Act, 2008 and others.

For this reason, it is important to carefully design an environmental management programme to ensure awareness and ongoing compliance with each of the conditions in any authorisation which the company has. A further exposure is undertaking a listed activity without an environmental authorisation.

There have been a number of changes to the activities which are listed over the years and it is important for companies to keep up to date with these changes and re-examine their operations from time to time, especially when undertaking any sort of expansion of an existing activity.

Issue of a Compliance Notice

Where a company is failing to comply with a permit condition or with some other provisions of an environmental statute, a non-compliance notice may be issued by the DEA. When issuing a non-compliance notice, the DEA does not have to believe there is any actual harm to the environment from the transgression but simply that there is non-compliance with a technical, legally-binding requirement. The DEA also has empowered EMIs to issue directives. Unlike a compliance notice, the authorities may only issue a directive if they believe that actions by the company are causing pollution or other damage or degradation to the environment. The obligation in the statutes is to take reasonable measures to avoid such pollution or damage. ■

Contact details

Postal address: PO Box X11214, Nelspruit 1200 Physical address: MAXSA Building, 13 Streak Street, Nelspruit. Tel: +27 13 753 9000 Email: information@iucma.co.za Website: www.iucma.co.za