UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA (UNISA)
College of Law
⋄
Environmental Authorisation, Public
Participation
and the Duties of the EAP
Assignment 01 — Semester 2, 2026
⋄
Module Code: LEG2601
Module Name: Environmental Law
Assignment No.: Assignment 01
Due Date: 24 August 2026
Semester: Semester 2, 2026
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Environmental Law
at the University of South Africa.
,UNISA | LEG2601 Environmental Authorisation and Impact Assessment
Question 1: Environmental Authorisation and the Purpose of the EIA
Green Horizon Developments (Pty) Ltd cannot lawfully commence with the shopping centre,
fuel station, parking areas, access roads or waste disposal site outside Polokwane before it
has obtained an environmental authorisation. Section 24 of the Constitution1 entrenches the
right to an environment that is not harmful to health or well-being and to ecologically sustain-
able development, and the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA)2 is
the framework statute that gives effect to that right through the listing of activities that may
not proceed without prior authorisation.
1.1 Listed activities triggering authorisation
Sections 24 and 24D of NEMA3 empower the Minister and the MEC to identify, by notice, ac-
tivities that may not commence without an environmental authorisation from the competent
authority. These activities are set out in Listing Notices 1, 2 and 3 to the Environmental Im-
pact Assessment Regulations, 2014.4 Each element of Green Horizon’s proposal falls within
this net. The construction of the shopping centre and its parking areas disturbs a footprint
that, given the proximity to a wetland, will very likely trigger the listed activity for the trans-
formation of land and the clearance of indigenous vegetation. The fuel station requires the
construction of a facility for the storage, handling or transfer of a dangerous good, which is
itself a listed activity because of the pollution risk that petroleum products pose. New access
roads constitute the listed activity of road construction outside an urban edge. The waste
disposal site is separately regulated, since NEMA and the National Environmental Manage-
ment: Waste Act 59 of 2008 require a waste management licence in addition to environmen-
tal authorisation where waste is stored, treated or disposed of. Because the wetland is a
watercourse for purposes of the National Water Act 36 of 1998, any activity that impedes or
diverts its flow, or that takes place within its regulated area, will additionally require a water
use licence, and if the wetland forms part of a protected ecosystem the National Environ-
mental Management: Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004 (NEMBA) may impose a further layer of
control. The cumulative effect is that Green Horizon requires environmental authorisation,
and in all likelihood a full scoping and environmental impact assessment rather than a basic
1
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, s 24.
2
National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998, s 2.
3
National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998, ss 24, 24D.
4
Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, GN R982 in GG 38282, 4 December 2014 (as amended), read
with Listing Notices 1–3.
Page 1 of 16
, UNISA | LEG2601 Environmental Authorisation and Impact Assessment
assessment, given the sensitivity of a wetland receiving environment and the combination of
activities proposed.
Proposed activity identified
Screen against Listing Notices 1–3
lower risk
Listed activity near a wetland? Basic assessment report
yes, high sensitivity
Scoping and full EIA report
Public participation and I&AP comment
Competent authority decision: grant or refuse EA
Figure 1: Pathway from a listed activity to an environmental authorisation decision
1.2 Purpose of the environmental impact assessment
The EIA is not a formality that precedes an already-decided project. Its purpose is anticipatory
and precautionary: it forces the identification, prediction and evaluation of the biophysical,
social and economic consequences of a proposed activity before a single spade enters the
ground, so that irreversible harm to a resource such as a wetland can be avoided rather than
remedied after the fact. The Constitutional Court in Fuel Retailers Association of South Africa
(Pty) Ltd v Director-General: Environmental Management, Department of Agriculture, Conser-
vation and Environment, Mpumalanga Province5 confirmed that environmental authorities are
under a substantive obligation to consider the environmental and socio-economic impact
of an activity before authorising it, and that this obligation exists precisely so that develop-
ment and environmental protection are reconciled at the planning stage rather than litigated
after construction has already caused damage. Applied to Green Horizon’s development,
the EIA should establish the extent of the wetland’s buffer zone, the risk of hydrocarbon con-
5
Fuel Retailers Association of South Africa (Pty) Ltd v Director-General: Environmental Management, Department
of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Mpumalanga Province 2007 (6) SA 4 (CC) paras 44–45.
Page 2 of 16
College of Law
⋄
Environmental Authorisation, Public
Participation
and the Duties of the EAP
Assignment 01 — Semester 2, 2026
⋄
Module Code: LEG2601
Module Name: Environmental Law
Assignment No.: Assignment 01
Due Date: 24 August 2026
Semester: Semester 2, 2026
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Environmental Law
at the University of South Africa.
,UNISA | LEG2601 Environmental Authorisation and Impact Assessment
Question 1: Environmental Authorisation and the Purpose of the EIA
Green Horizon Developments (Pty) Ltd cannot lawfully commence with the shopping centre,
fuel station, parking areas, access roads or waste disposal site outside Polokwane before it
has obtained an environmental authorisation. Section 24 of the Constitution1 entrenches the
right to an environment that is not harmful to health or well-being and to ecologically sustain-
able development, and the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA)2 is
the framework statute that gives effect to that right through the listing of activities that may
not proceed without prior authorisation.
1.1 Listed activities triggering authorisation
Sections 24 and 24D of NEMA3 empower the Minister and the MEC to identify, by notice, ac-
tivities that may not commence without an environmental authorisation from the competent
authority. These activities are set out in Listing Notices 1, 2 and 3 to the Environmental Im-
pact Assessment Regulations, 2014.4 Each element of Green Horizon’s proposal falls within
this net. The construction of the shopping centre and its parking areas disturbs a footprint
that, given the proximity to a wetland, will very likely trigger the listed activity for the trans-
formation of land and the clearance of indigenous vegetation. The fuel station requires the
construction of a facility for the storage, handling or transfer of a dangerous good, which is
itself a listed activity because of the pollution risk that petroleum products pose. New access
roads constitute the listed activity of road construction outside an urban edge. The waste
disposal site is separately regulated, since NEMA and the National Environmental Manage-
ment: Waste Act 59 of 2008 require a waste management licence in addition to environmen-
tal authorisation where waste is stored, treated or disposed of. Because the wetland is a
watercourse for purposes of the National Water Act 36 of 1998, any activity that impedes or
diverts its flow, or that takes place within its regulated area, will additionally require a water
use licence, and if the wetland forms part of a protected ecosystem the National Environ-
mental Management: Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004 (NEMBA) may impose a further layer of
control. The cumulative effect is that Green Horizon requires environmental authorisation,
and in all likelihood a full scoping and environmental impact assessment rather than a basic
1
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, s 24.
2
National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998, s 2.
3
National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998, ss 24, 24D.
4
Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, GN R982 in GG 38282, 4 December 2014 (as amended), read
with Listing Notices 1–3.
Page 1 of 16
, UNISA | LEG2601 Environmental Authorisation and Impact Assessment
assessment, given the sensitivity of a wetland receiving environment and the combination of
activities proposed.
Proposed activity identified
Screen against Listing Notices 1–3
lower risk
Listed activity near a wetland? Basic assessment report
yes, high sensitivity
Scoping and full EIA report
Public participation and I&AP comment
Competent authority decision: grant or refuse EA
Figure 1: Pathway from a listed activity to an environmental authorisation decision
1.2 Purpose of the environmental impact assessment
The EIA is not a formality that precedes an already-decided project. Its purpose is anticipatory
and precautionary: it forces the identification, prediction and evaluation of the biophysical,
social and economic consequences of a proposed activity before a single spade enters the
ground, so that irreversible harm to a resource such as a wetland can be avoided rather than
remedied after the fact. The Constitutional Court in Fuel Retailers Association of South Africa
(Pty) Ltd v Director-General: Environmental Management, Department of Agriculture, Conser-
vation and Environment, Mpumalanga Province5 confirmed that environmental authorities are
under a substantive obligation to consider the environmental and socio-economic impact
of an activity before authorising it, and that this obligation exists precisely so that develop-
ment and environmental protection are reconciled at the planning stage rather than litigated
after construction has already caused damage. Applied to Green Horizon’s development,
the EIA should establish the extent of the wetland’s buffer zone, the risk of hydrocarbon con-
5
Fuel Retailers Association of South Africa (Pty) Ltd v Director-General: Environmental Management, Department
of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, Mpumalanga Province 2007 (6) SA 4 (CC) paras 44–45.
Page 2 of 16
