Thesis (LL.M. (Environmental law and Management)) --University of Limpopo, 2007. / The purpose of this thesis was to critically examine the enforcement of environmental regulations with special reference to the enforcement of offences in the National Water Act 36 of 1998. “Enforcement” was conceptualized as “power” the exercise of which is constrained by the constitutionally guaranteed rights, especially the rights contained in Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 108 of 1996 – the Bill of Rights. “Compliance” was conceptualized as a rational action. The polluter is both a rational economic actor as well as a rational political actor. “Enforcement” and “Compliance” were further considered as economic activities with costs and benefits. The “responsive enforcement and compliance” model was also adopted in this thesis. Environmental regulation is contentious because of the failure to adequately distinguish environmental crimes (mala prohibita) from common law crimes (mala in se) and the erroneous believe in the immutability of law especially pro-defendant procedural rights in criminal prosecution. This failure to distinguish environmental crimes from common law crimes resulted in the requirement of the proof of mens rea in criminal prosecution for breach of environmental law. Arguments were advanced to show that mens rea can easily be proved in environmental law areas of land use and development and resource conservation while it is a Herculean task for the prosecutor to prove mens rea in waste disposal and pollution offences. Arguments were also advanced, in terms of s. 24 of the 1996 Constitution and s. 2 of the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998, to show that “sustainable development” and the principles derived therefrom, especially the “precautionary principle” and the “polluter–pays principle”, are part of the corpus of South African constitutional and statutory laws. The “precautionary principle” and the “polluter-pays principle” have assumed the status of customary international law, and consequently part of South African laws in terms of s. 232 of 1996 Constitution. The provisions of s. 24(b) of 1996 Constitution prescribed both positive and negative duties for the state in respect of environmental regulation and prescribed the ambit of environmental regulation in South Africa. The “precautionary principle” is interpreted as deliberation guiding in form and a legal rule in content. The “precautionary principle” as a rule guides the actions of organs of state and other environmental stakeholders. The “polluter-pays principles” is interpreted as a legal rule which should be applied in the “all-or-nothing” sense. Arguments were advanced for the application of the “polluter-pays principles” in criminal prosecution. The legal effect of the application of “polluter-pays principle” in criminal prosecution for environmental crimes is to negative mens rea and transform environmental crimes to strict liability offences. In the environmental law areas of land use and development and resource conservation where mens rea is easily provable, the application of the “polluter-pays principle” would limit the prosecutor’s duty to proving, beyond reasonable doubt, the acts that constitute the offence against the accused. Thereafter, it is opened to the accused to prove, on scale of probabilities, that he lacks the mens rea (dolus or culpa) necessary for conviction. In the area of waste disposal and pollution control where proof of mens rea is difficult, the application of the “polluter-pays principle” should result in the application of the rule in Rylands Fletcher. All the prosecutor need do to obtain conviction is to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, the acts that constitute the offence against the accused. The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) is identified and recognized as the dominant social paradigm (DSP) in South Africa. It is within the context of this DSP that environmental regulation is situated. Examining the penal provisions in the National Water Act 36 of 1998 against the background of the DSP, one is not left in doubt why the water pollution and degradation offences in the Act are fault-based. The DSP also partly accounts for the subordination of criminal law to administrative and civil judicial procedures in the enforcement of offences in the NWA 36 of 1998. Offences in the NWA 36 of 1998 were classified into 5 groups– failure crimes, reporting crimes, fraud crimes, obstruction crimes and environmental injury crimes. The failure crimes, reporting crimes, fraud crimes and obstruction crimes are common law crimes (mala in se) in the environmental law context, they are therefore subject to criminal prosecution like any other common law crime. Most of the environmental injury crimes are subject to administrative and civil judicial penalties, that is, the criminal sanction is subordinated to administrative and civil enforcement. The water pollution and degradation offences in s. 151 (1)(i)(j) of NWA 36 of 1998 are fault-based. In a water stressed country, this is a subsidy to industry for job creation and poverty eradication as dictated by the DSP– the RDP. However, in the prosecution for water pollution and degradation offenses, the application of the “polluter-pays principle” would negative mens rea. The legal effect is that in any prosecution for water pollution or degradation, to secure conviction, the prosecutor is only expected to prove the acts constituting the offence beyond reasonable doubt. It is thereafter open to the accused to the prove, on scale of probabilities, that he lacked either the dolus or culpa required to ground conviction. Since different cast of players are responsible for environmental protection and criminal prosecution (the National Prosecution Authority), coordination amongst the environmental agency, the prosecuting authority and the police is recommended. This can be achieved, inter alia, through joint participation in national enforcement conferences and joint participation in environmental task forces.

M. Tech. Comparative Local Development. Department of Economics. / In his budget speech of 2005, the then South African Minister of Finance, Mr Trevor Manuel, announced that the Regional Services Council levies would be eliminated in 2006. He stated that the Regional Services Council levies were being disbanded because they were inefficient, inequitable and a poorly administered local tax instrument. This move by the Minister resulted in widespread discomfort and generated vigorous objections by organised local government and other stakeholders. They claimed that, rather than abolishing their source of revenue, the Minister should rather have enhanced the tax by legislation, since the reasons he provided for labelling the Regional Services Council levies as inefficient, inequitable and poorly administered were incorrect. The rationale for this study is to determine whether the Regional Services Council levies do in fact meet the criteria for being a decentralised local tax. Nkangala District Municipality's situation was used as a case study.

The aim of this dissertation is to provide a detailed and critical commentary on and analysis of South African tax legislation affecting the different offshore business or investment structures available to residents of South Africa so as to establish which is the most tax efficient structure. The different business structures analysed in this dissertation included the following: • Sole proprietorships. • Partnerships. • Companies. • Trusts. The principle provisions of the Income Tax Act dealt with in this dissertation include the following: • Section 9D. • Section 9E. • Section 9F. • Section 25B(2A). • Paragraph 80 of the Eighth Schedule. The following three countries have been selected as countries of investment choice: • The United Kingdom (a ' designated country'). • Kenya (not a ' designated country'). • The Isle ofMan (a tax haven). / Thesis(M.Acc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

The aim of this research is to analyse the approach of the courts in determining the capital and revenue nature of income and expenditure. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2002.

No abstract available. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2002.

This paper entails a critical analysis of the development of water law in South Africa. It examines the historical development process of the law, discussing the tendencies followed in Roman and Roman Dutch Law systems. The principles of water allocations which had been adopted into the South African law system by the courts and legislature is analysed. A review of the water allocation mechanism of the Water Act 54 of 1956 indicate that the water law thereunder is outdated, no longer reflecting the needs of our society. Especially since it was based on antique systems of water allocation derived from European countries where the climate and hydrology are different to South Africa. With the advent of a new democratic Government, the principles of fairness and equity as embodied in the Constitution, demanded that South African water law be reviewed. This mammoth task was undertaken by the Minister of Water and Forestry Affairs, Professor Kader Asmal. After a two year consultative period process, the National Water Act 36 of 1998 was enacted. The provisions of this Act indicate a radical departure from the previous system of water allocation. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

New regulations have been published under the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act ('the Biodiversity Act') that regulate activities regarded as 'restricted activities' by that Act involving listed species of flora and fauna. The regulations include several provisions relating specifically to five species of large predator (lions are a notable exception) and to black and white rhinoceros and represent the end of a lengthy law reform process. The regulations came into force on 1 February 2008. South Africa is a signatory to several international instruments concerned with the protection of biodiversity including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ('CITES'), the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and the SADC Protocol on Wildlife Conservation and Law Enforcement in the Southern African Development Community. The Biodiversity Act is the key national law concerned with management of large predators from a conservation and biodiversity protection point of view. Several Acts administered by the Department of Agriculture, such as the Animals Protection Act and the Performing Animals Protection Act, provide for the welfare of animals in captivity. However, the management of wild predators has up to now been regulated at provincial level by a series of outdated nature conservation ordinances that are inconsistent with one another and with the provisions of CITES. It is clear from the Game Theft Act, from national policy instruments such as the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and from the draft Game Farming Policy that hunting and game farming are seen as important contributors to the South African economy with the potential to address rural poverty and create employment. Hunting is itself a multimillion rand industry in South Africa and a substantial part of that industry is trophy hunting. Large predators in South Africa are most affected by trophy hunting practices, but other animals and other predators are also affected. Large predators are also the subject ofboth national and international trade. In recent years captive breeding of large predators has increased dramatically in order to supply the trophy hunting industry. During the late 1990s concerns began to be raised in the press regarding so-called 'canned hunting' practices and the law reform process mentioned in the first paragraph was partially a result ofthis focus on canned hunting. The new regulations provide, among other things, for greater control of the wildlife industry and for the setting ofhunting off-take limits, but they have several weaknesses. On the most basic level, the regulations contain drafting errors, are overly complex and may conflict with existing provincial legislation. They are likely to impose a greater administrative burden on provincial authorities already struggling to implement the existing provincial legislation. It is submitted that the provisions relating to animal welfare (for example, those dealing with prohibited methods of hunting) should have been enacted elsewhere. The provisions relating to self-regulation of the hunting industry and black economic empowerment are ineffectual as currently drafted. Most importantly, the new regulations do not represent a significant departure from the utilitarian approach to wild animals that has characterised South African law since its earliest days. In this sense, the regulations conform to the current policy of 'making conservation pay'. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

No abstract available. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

M.Phil. / Past apartheid policies promoted separate development and inevitably affected the economic and social growth of the majority of the South African population. Furthermore, the massive inequalities in income, unemployment, education, health, housing, roads, water and sanitation and the status created by these policies also affected social cohesion, undermined efficiency and economic growth and contributed to a higher level of social unrest and crime, which in turn undermined democracy and development. Two years into the democratic dispensation, the government felt obliged to constrain the pursuit of its ambitious programme and to adhere to the imperatives of a stabilization programme, which restricted the degree to which government proactively pursued a social reform agenda and developmental strategy. A number of reasons are offered for the fundamental shift in policy from the pre-1994 developmental state-led agenda to the post- 1996 market-based approach to both social and economic policy. Even today, the legacy of apartheid is still visible as it was during the height of the apartheid era, and this is reflected in the mushrooming of informal settlements and the illegal occupation of some land demarcated for other purposes. Even now the concepts of providing social security and the obligation of South African government to provide for social security are still new. The issue of social security has developed rapidly since the latter part of the 20 th century. In most democratic states, the obligation to provide social security is entrenched in their constitutions. Before it was entrenched it was up to the individual and the family to provide adequate protection for their families, but today things have changed. The problem with the current South African social security system is that it does not cover rural and urban poor, non-citizen migrant workers and the informally employed. The informally employed and the urban and rural poor do not enjoy any social security protection, unless they are able to meet the most stringent qualifying conditions for any of the social grants. Non-citizen migrant workers also fall largely outside the social security framework that exists in South Africa. Due to the lack of definition, presently there is no uniform definition of social security and this has resulted in various international definitions being used. On the other hand, in an attempt to address the disparity, the South African White Paper for Social Welfare defines social protection as "policies that ensure adequate economic and social protection during unemployment, ill health, maternity, child rearing, widowhood, disability and old age". Social security is one of the means by which people circumvent destitution: it provides for their basic needs when their income stream has ceased, has been disrupted or has not developed sufficiently. The concept of social security has been defined as the "body of arrangements shaping the solidarity with people facing (the threat of) a lack of earnings (i.e. income from paid labour) or particular costs"'. Moreover, it embraces the sphere of complete protection against human damage, an adequate standard of living and social safety net against destitution through preventative measures. In light of the above challenges, it is important that we should have a comprehensive integrated social security structure. This is so because the traditional approach or the Western-oriented approach is used in South Africa and as a result it does not cover the characteristics of the African context efficiently. This includes, among other things, the formal sector-based orientation of the traditional social security model and the risks to which many Africans are exposed. It is of great importance for South Africa to develop its own definition of social security for historical reasons and the country's unique social and economic characteristics. The general objective of this dissertation is to look at possible amendments to the present system in order to provide for a more comprehensive scope of coverage of the present social security. It is also important for South African purposes, and/or in accordance with latest developments internationally, to adopt a wider social protection approach rather than rely on a more limited social notion. Therefore, this dissertation will develop a global analysis of the position of non-citizen migrants in South Africa social security law and its impact on employment relations and labour law in South African. This will provide the basis for developing a future strategy for extending higher levels of protection to non-migrant workers who are entering the country and to meet international social security obligations by introducing changes to national legislation. This will also include possible scenarios for improving the position of many people in South Africa. The dissertation will also cover the issue of how our courts have dealt with these violations. The other aim of the study is to analyze the position of the rural and urban poor and the informally employed from a comparative and empirical point of view. This will offer indigents the prospect of a future strategy for extended levels of protection by the creation of specific mechanisms and by introducing changes in national legislation. Finally, the lack of a coherent approach in South Africa social security is clearly discernible and needs to be researched properly and rectified. The present system suggests an archaic and rigid distinction between social insurance and social assistance. In light with the above challenges, it is important that we should have a comprehensive integrated social security structure. This is so because the traditional approach, or the Western-oriented approach, is used in South Africa and as a result it does not cover the characteristics of the African context efficiently.

M.Comm. / This study summarises certain of the more important legal issues of which the small business person should be aware and concentrates on three distinct areas, namely: The opening and registration of the business with specific reference to the business entities under which such business can be operated with the advantages or disadvantages of each of such entities; b) The daily operation of such business with specific reference to agreements which the small business person are likely to enter into; and c) The liquidation of the business with specific reference to the liquidation process, be that as a result of failure or as a harvesting mechanism where the business is sold. Each of the areas abovementioned are discussed in theory and with reference to either specific case law or examples of every day occurrences to indicate the seriousness of possible ignorance of the various issues discussed.