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	CLEANER PRODUCTION IN SOUTH AFRICA / 1. OVERVIEW / 2. POLICY AND LEGISLATION

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Policy and legislation

Man's activities are impacting negatively on the environment on which society depends for its survival. These negative environmental impacts are not necessarily restricted locally, but frequently have a ripple effect on environments far distant from their source. Recognising this, governments increasingly are developing and implementing legislation and regulations to restrict and control polluting activities in order to slow and decrease environmental impacts both locally and globally.

The South African government is no exception and over recent years has been engaged in significant environmental law reform. Setting the tone for this environmental legal framework is our Constitution, which states that the people of South Africa have the right to an environment that is not detrimental to human health.

Everyone has the right

a. to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being; and

b. to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that:

	prevent pollution and ecological degradation;

	Promote conservation; and

	Secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development - Article 24, Bill of Rights, Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.

Cleaner Production per se is not specifically legislated in South Africa at present. Similarly, there are no legal instruments that can be used to enforce the reduction in the wastage of electricity and water. (Although the National Water Act No 36 of 1998 prohibits wastage of water, it does not specify what wastage means or how this section will be enforced). There are however a number of laws and overarching policies that are aimed at sustainable development and sound environmental management, and which are relevant to waste and minimising waste & wastage through Cleaner Production. These include:

	The publication of the Environmental Management Policy for South Africa (1998);

	The preparation of the White Paper on Integrated Pollution and Waste Management (IPWM) (2000);

	The National Water Act (1998);

	The promulgation of the National Environmental Management Act (1998).

	The development of the National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS) for South Africa (2000).

	The National Air Quality Management Bill translates the IP&WM policy into an implementation action plan.

More recently (2002/3) the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) is in the process of developing a Bill on Integrated Waste Management, which encapsulated in legislation the initiatives set out in the IPWM Policy and the NWMS. The IPWM strategy sets the following specific goals in respect of waste and pollution:

The IPWM strategy sets the following specific goals in respect of waste and pollution:

	To prevent, reduce and manage pollution of any part of the environment due to all forms of human activity;

	To set targets to minimise waste generation and pollution at source and to promote a hierarchy of waste management practices;

	To regulate and monitor waste production, to enforce waste control measures, and to co-ordinate the administration of integrated pollution and waste management through a single government department; and

	To promote cleaner production and to establish mechanisms to ensure continuous improvement in all spheres of environmental management

CLEANER PRODUCTION IN SOUTH AFRICA / 1. OVERVIEW / 2. POLICY AND LEGISLATION