Some comments on the sweet and bitter of the National Environmental Law Framework for 'Local Environmental Governance'

Abstract

This article critically reviews the core of the statutory environmental law framework that currently regulates local environmental governance in South Africa in order to distill and critically reflect on some common strengths and weaknesses. Particular attention is paid to the suite of environmental legislation impacting upon or imposing duties on local government, the status quo of local authorities execution of the said duties and concerns regarding obstacles such as a lack of scientific environmental capacity and infrastructural support in the local government sphere. In order to contribute to the optimisation of LEG and to encourage further informed discourse on this topic, this contribution concludes with some recommendations for effective realisation of the material and substantive intersection between local government and environmental statute law