Anthropogenic processes have led to high levels of reactive nitrogen entering freshwater ecosystems. This increase in reactive nitrogen levels has caused several adverse environmental and health effects and has resulted in higher deposition rates of nitrates to freshwater ecosystems. The costs and benefits associated with nitrate deposition have been analysed by the European Nitrogen Assessment (ENA) for European countries. However, no studies similar to this have been done for the South African context. The aim of the study was to present a cost analysis of nitrate deposition originating from power station NOx emissions. The objectives were: to examine the changes in nitrate deposition for the years 1980, 2005, 2006 and 2014; to determine the costs associated with nitrate deposition to freshwater ecosystems for the South African context; to calculate the costs of power station emissions to the Vaal River; to consider how European costs differ from South African costs; to consider the impact of the NEMAQA of 2004 and finally, to evaluate the likelihood of these costs being incurred. The years that were selected for this study were chosen due to availability of data, which were supplied by EScience Associates. Three scenarios were considered for each of these years: Scenario 1 was a case in which Eskom operated as usual without any retrofits of power stations, Scenario 2 considered the implementation of the Eskom air quality management strategy and Scenario 3 considered full compliance with the minimum emissions standards set out in the NEMAQA of 2004. The costing method followed the ENA approach, whilst considering the South African context by consulting the relevant literature. The monetized annual costs for the South African context were: mitigation options for improving water quality; increased coal consumption due to power station interventions; agricultural costs; water purification and waste treatment; health impacts and loss of biodiversity as a result of acidification and eutrophication. Power station interventions were found to be the only capital expenditure. The nitrate deposition per unit of electricity generated was expected to decrease, due to changes within the electricity mix of Eskom during this period. Furthermore, the least costly option was expected to be a scenario in which no intervention was made by Eskom to reduce emissions, due to the high capital cost associated with retrofitting low NOx burners in the older power stations. The final expected outcome was that the National Environment Management: Air Quality Act (NEMAQA) of 2004 would have led to a significant decrease in the emissions and, therefore, nitrate deposition to the Vaal River. The costs that were calculated for the South African context differed greatly from the costs in the ENA, indicating that the European costs could not be used directly for the South African context. Furthermore, the results showed that the costs of nitrate deposition increased between 1980 and 2005, decreased between 2005 and 2006 and increased again between 2006 and 2014. Between 1980, 2005 and 2006, a clear link is seen between electricity generated and nitrate deposition. Even though electricity generation increased from 2006 to 2014, the 2014 emissions data show that emissions decreased over the same period. The cost of a fine for non-compliance to emission limits is R10 million. The lowest cost calculated for each year and scenario was found to be Scenario 1 for 1980, and was approximately R 70 million of costs arising from nitrate deposition from power station emissions. The R 70 million, therefore, does not include mitigation options for water quality, increased coal consumption and power station interventions. Therefore, the fines associated with non-compliance, which occur in Scenario 1 and Scenario 2, should be increased to force compliance. The total cost associated with Eskom’s air quality strategy, calculated as part of scenario two, was the lowest cost option for 1980, 2006 and 2014. In 2005, the lowest cost option was scenario 1, where no retrofits were done by Eskom. This indicated that there was a trade-off between capital expenditure for low NOx burners and the annual costs, listed previously. This study concluded that when air quality policies, such as the NEMAQA of 2004 are implemented without stringent enforcement, the desired result is not achieved. The findings in this study show that no significant decrease in nitrate deposition occurred between 2005, when the NEMAQA of 2004 was released, and 2014, which was almost 10 years after the policy was implemented. This study makes a valuable contribution to informing policy makers on the impact of reactive nitrogen addition to the environment. Future research should be done on the cost of agricultural nitrate deposition to the Vaal River, considering that these inputs to the Vaal River are several times larger than those of deposition from power station emissions and could, therefore, have costs of a larger scale associated with them.

The South African mining industry is viewed as the locomotive of the economic development in South Africa and has been a leading contributor to the economy for more than a century. However, the price paid for economic growth has left South Africa with a "mining legacy" and mining companies now face an upsurge of politically and regulatory induced challenges. Directors of mining companies have to act with a certain level of duty of care, skill and diligence in order for them to navigate through these various challenges. The heightened awareness of environmental degradation caused by mining has seen a rise in stricter mining liability legislation in South Africa, with a specific focus on company and director liability. The result is that directors are now faced with the possibility of personal liability when performing their executive function. According to the business judgment rule, directors will be shielded from liability if they acted with the necessary duty of care. The objective of this dissertation is to examine to what extent the business judgment rule will offer protection to a director of a mining company where the director caused environmental damage. The analysis of this study will be conducted in the context of the environmental damage caused by a mining company due to the decision making and 'governance' of the mining company's director or directors. / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Public Law / LLM / Unrestricted

This dissertation examines nursery/garden centre compliance with Invasive Alien Plant (IAPs) legislation in eThekwini and uMsunduzi, South Africa. Despite South African governmental programmes, an apparent lack of public awareness regarding IAPs persists. The cost to clear IAPs in South Africa is estimated to be 12 billion Rand over 20 years. Nurseries/garden centres should be able to increase customer awareness of IAPs. However, Government regulation/instruction of nurseries/garden centres seems inadequate. A mixed methods approach involving quantitative and qualitative analyses of questionnaires, observations and interviews was used in this study. There was little evidence that nurseries/garden centres stocked/sold CARA plants. However, they were stocking/selling NEMBA plants in spite of knowing CARA, NEMBA and indigenous alternatives. There is little interaction with relevant government/industry programmes. It is recommended that the Department of Environmental Affairs institute a IAPs Advisory Committee to see to the dissemination and provision of relevant information and training concerning IAPs to the industry.

This dissertation examines nursery/garden centre compliance with Invasive Alien Plant (IAPs) legislation in eThekwini and uMsunduzi, South Africa. Despite South African governmental programmes, an apparent lack of public awareness regarding IAPs persists. The cost to clear IAPs in South Africa is estimated to be 12 billion Rand over 20 years. Nurseries/garden centres should be able to increase customer awareness of IAPs. However, Government regulation/instruction of nurseries/garden centres seems inadequate. A mixed methods approach involving quantitative and qualitative analyses of questionnaires, observations and interviews was used in this study. There was little evidence that nurseries/garden centres stocked/sold CARA plants. However, they were stocking/selling NEMBA plants in spite of knowing CARA, NEMBA and indigenous alternatives. There is little interaction with relevant government/industry programmes. It is recommended that the Department of Environmental Affairs institute a IAPs Advisory Committee to see to the dissemination and provision of relevant information and training concerning IAPs to the industry.

This dissertation critically reviews the quality of South African environmental authorisations through the application of a methodology adopted from the Lee and Colley (1999) environmental impact assessment (EIA) report review package. The literature review shows that to date limited research has been conducted on the quality of environmental authorisations nationally. Anecdotal evidence suggests that environmental authorisations are of weak quality; hence the development of guidelines on the compilation of environmental authorisations by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA). In this dissertation, the quality of the environmental authorisations is critically reviewed against the requirements of the National Environmental Management Act (Act No. 107 of 1998) and departmental guidelines. The research concludes that only 64% of reviewed authorisations are deemed satisfactory, while 36% were unsatisfactory. When the basic assessment report (BAR) and scoping and environmental impact assessment (S&EIA) process authorisations are compared it is concluded that the there is a minimal difference in quality. The BAR achieved a 69% satisfactory rating while the S&EIA process achieved a 61% satisfactory rating. The dissertation concludes by making recommendations to improve the quality of authorisations. / M (Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

It is common-cause that South Africa can be regarded as a country that is rich in diversity of natural resources. Moreover, it is generally accepted that South Africa has the best legislation with regard to the regulation of the environment in various fields such as water, air, biodiversity and waste management. However, there is to date, no specific legislation regulating renewable energy in South Africa. As a result of the high unemployment rate, poverty and the rural population not having adequate access to electricity, these communities depend heavily on the traditional use of biomass, which refers to the direct combustion of wood, charcoal, leaves, agricultural residue, and animal/human waste for their basic energy needs, which include cooking, drying and charcoal production. The traditional use of biomass results in a host of detrimental side-effects such as environmental degradation and negative social impacts. The latter necessitates that the use of renewable energy sources will need to be regulated in terms of law and policy reflective of section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South-Africa, 1996. In terms of section 24 of the Constitution, the State must establish and implement reasonable legislative measures to promote sustainable development and the sustainable use of natural resources while providing for the protection of the environment for the benefit of present and future generations. It is immediately evident that the legislative measures mandated by section 24 of the Constitution should be geared towards the facilitation of environmental protection. Falling within the ambit of such legislative measures is framework legislation. An example of framework legislation is the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (the NEMA). In this dissertation an overview of the concept of framework legislation will be provided with specific reference to the NEMA and its role as such in South African environmental law. This will be followed by an analysis of existing South African renewable energy policy documents, during which norms and/or principles common to these documents will be identified. The question subsequently arises: What should be included in framework legislation aimed at regulating renewable energy in South Africa? These identified norms will be proposed as the general basic norms which should be included in renewable energy framework legislation aimed at regulating the supply of renewable energy in South Africa. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This dissertation critically reviews the quality of South African environmental authorisations through the application of a methodology adopted from the Lee and Colley (1999) environmental impact assessment (EIA) report review package. The literature review shows that to date limited research has been conducted on the quality of environmental authorisations nationally. Anecdotal evidence suggests that environmental authorisations are of weak quality; hence the development of guidelines on the compilation of environmental authorisations by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA). In this dissertation, the quality of the environmental authorisations is critically reviewed against the requirements of the National Environmental Management Act (Act No. 107 of 1998) and departmental guidelines. The research concludes that only 64% of reviewed authorisations are deemed satisfactory, while 36% were unsatisfactory. When the basic assessment report (BAR) and scoping and environmental impact assessment (S&EIA) process authorisations are compared it is concluded that the there is a minimal difference in quality. The BAR achieved a 69% satisfactory rating while the S&EIA process achieved a 61% satisfactory rating. The dissertation concludes by making recommendations to improve the quality of authorisations. / M (Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

It is common-cause that South Africa can be regarded as a country that is rich in diversity of natural resources. Moreover, it is generally accepted that South Africa has the best legislation with regard to the regulation of the environment in various fields such as water, air, biodiversity and waste management. However, there is to date, no specific legislation regulating renewable energy in South Africa. As a result of the high unemployment rate, poverty and the rural population not having adequate access to electricity, these communities depend heavily on the traditional use of biomass, which refers to the direct combustion of wood, charcoal, leaves, agricultural residue, and animal/human waste for their basic energy needs, which include cooking, drying and charcoal production. The traditional use of biomass results in a host of detrimental side-effects such as environmental degradation and negative social impacts. The latter necessitates that the use of renewable energy sources will need to be regulated in terms of law and policy reflective of section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South-Africa, 1996. In terms of section 24 of the Constitution, the State must establish and implement reasonable legislative measures to promote sustainable development and the sustainable use of natural resources while providing for the protection of the environment for the benefit of present and future generations. It is immediately evident that the legislative measures mandated by section 24 of the Constitution should be geared towards the facilitation of environmental protection. Falling within the ambit of such legislative measures is framework legislation. An example of framework legislation is the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (the NEMA). In this dissertation an overview of the concept of framework legislation will be provided with specific reference to the NEMA and its role as such in South African environmental law. This will be followed by an analysis of existing South African renewable energy policy documents, during which norms and/or principles common to these documents will be identified. The question subsequently arises: What should be included in framework legislation aimed at regulating renewable energy in South Africa? These identified norms will be proposed as the general basic norms which should be included in renewable energy framework legislation aimed at regulating the supply of renewable energy in South Africa. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) significantly enhanced the scope and potential effectiveness of the international legal regime for the conservation of biological diversity world wide together with the sustainable use of its components. It goes beyond the conservation of biological conservation per se and comprehends such diverse issues as sustainable use of biological resources, access to genetic resources, the sharing of benefits derived from the use of genetic material and technology, including biotechnology. The CBD has three objectives, which are the conservation of biological diversity, secondly the sustainable use of its components and thirdly the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources. The third objective includes the sharing of benefits by means of appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over such resources and technologies as well as appropriate funding. As part of the process of achieving these goals, the CBD establishes a new international framework for access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits from their use. In addition to its conservation measures, the CBD is also an economic treaty in the sense that it develops and regulates the ongoing exchange of genetic resources and, in particular, the emerging trade in biotechnology. During the negotiations of the CBD the concept of the trade in biotechnology dominated much of the discussions surrounding the Convention. This was the cause of deep differences between the technologically rich north and the biodiversity rich south. It was and still is apparent that developed countries, or corporate companies in these countries, exploit natural recourses only found in developing countries, without sharing the resulting proceeds. It is shown that uneven distribution of natural, technological and economic resources occur in relationships between the northern hemisphere and its southern counterpart. It is a well-known fact that the northern hemisphere is financially and technologically superior to its southern counterpart. Intellectual property rights ("IPR"), with specific reference to patent law, enables developed countries andlor companies in those countries to exploit this economic discrepancy. Developed countries accordingly acquire biological recourses and exploit them with resulting benefits thereby circumventing the sharing of such benefits through IPR systems. Benefits are thereby withheld from developing countries that provide such genetic recourses. The author will mainly focus on the question that arises as to how the CBD addresses benefit sharing in the light of the differences between the northern developed- and southern developing countries. South Africa will be studied as an example of a developing country that incorporated the provisions of the CBD in its national legislation as it promulgated the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (BDA), which embodies the guidelines and principles for bioprospecting and benefit sharing, captured in the CBD and the Cartagena Protocol. The provisions contained in the BDA will be used as a practical example of the application of the CBD in the municipal law of developing countries. / Thesis (LL.M. (Import and Export Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) significantly enhanced the scope and potential effectiveness of the international legal regime for the conservation of biological diversity world wide together with the sustainable use of its components. It goes beyond the conservation of biological conservation per se and comprehends such diverse issues as sustainable use of biological resources, access to genetic resources, the sharing of benefits derived from the use of genetic material and technology, including biotechnology. The CBD has three objectives, which are the conservation of biological diversity, secondly the sustainable use of its components and thirdly the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources. The third objective includes the sharing of benefits by means of appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over such resources and technologies as well as appropriate funding. As part of the process of achieving these goals, the CBD establishes a new international framework for access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits from their use. In addition to its conservation measures, the CBD is also an economic treaty in the sense that it develops and regulates the ongoing exchange of genetic resources and, in particular, the emerging trade in biotechnology. During the negotiations of the CBD the concept of the trade in biotechnology dominated much of the discussions surrounding the Convention. This was the cause of deep differences between the technologically rich north and the biodiversity rich south. It was and still is apparent that developed countries, or corporate companies in these countries, exploit natural recourses only found in developing countries, without sharing the resulting proceeds. It is shown that uneven distribution of natural, technological and economic resources occur in relationships between the northern hemisphere and its southern counterpart. It is a well-known fact that the northern hemisphere is financially and technologically superior to its southern counterpart. Intellectual property rights ("IPR"), with specific reference to patent law, enables developed countries andlor companies in those countries to exploit this economic discrepancy. Developed countries accordingly acquire biological recourses and exploit them with resulting benefits thereby circumventing the sharing of such benefits through IPR systems. Benefits are thereby withheld from developing countries that provide such genetic recourses. The author will mainly focus on the question that arises as to how the CBD addresses benefit sharing in the light of the differences between the northern developed- and southern developing countries. South Africa will be studied as an example of a developing country that incorporated the provisions of the CBD in its national legislation as it promulgated the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (BDA), which embodies the guidelines and principles for bioprospecting and benefit sharing, captured in the CBD and the Cartagena Protocol. The provisions contained in the BDA will be used as a practical example of the application of the CBD in the municipal law of developing countries. / Thesis (LL.M. (Import and Export Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.