Convictions slump worrying

2009-11-25 18:34

Michael Hamlyn

Cape Town - A slump in the number of convictions for environmental crimes, from 748 to 258, is worrying Minister for Water and Environmental Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica.

Releasing the National Compliance Enforcement Report in Pretoria on Wednesday, she pointed out that this decrease in convictions is a cause for concern, particularly in light of the increase in the total number of criminal dockets registered during the year under review.

But she pointed out that many cases have experienced substantial delays within the prosecution system, confirming the urgent need for dedicated courts to deal with these cases.  

Nevertheless the report cheered her up by mentioning that the number of acquittals dropped from 441 in the previous year to 18.

A total of 4 661 environmental cases were reported nationally for the year to the end of March 2009.

More money

During this period the number of criminal dockets registered was 2 412 compared with 1 762 in the previous reporting period.  

The total amount of money raised by admission of guilt fines nearly doubled from 2007/08 from R744 706 to approximately R1.4m in 2008/09.

At the same time the total amount of money paid in relation to administration fines has more than doubled from about R6.8m to nearly R15.5m.

These fines are paid as part of the administrative process to rectify the illegal commencement of activities subjected to environmental impact assessments.
 
Inspections of emissions

The report also described further compliance raids carried out at industrial premises. Further inspections were undertaken at facilities that had not been previously inspected as part of Operation Ferro and the refineries project.

Such inspections continue to detect non-compliance related to emissions exceeding their permitted levels, illegal waste sites and contraventions of conditions across the range of authorisations.

While commitment to address these issues has been received in response to the inspection findings, with fairly drastic measures in some cases, enforcement action needs to be stepped up.

A blitz on the cement sector identified dust pollution as the major problem. Following the inspections, management of all nine facilities committed to addressing this issue for instance by upgrading air pollution abatement equipment and further investigating possible fugitive dust emission sources as well as measures to minimise air pollution.

The Paper and Pulp Sector also came under the spotlight with a number of facilities being inspected.   

- I-Net Bridge (News24)