Environmental Management Department Home Page

Welcome to the Environmental Management Department web site!

The environmental management function of the municipality was first established in 1994. The intervening years have been full of challenge and change. We have grown from a single staff member to a fully-fledged Department with a total potential staff complement of 25 (link to organogram with pics of staff). 

At the same time we have seen our area of jurisdiction increase as the municipal area grew in size from 300km2 to 2290 km2  - extending from a highly urbanised city core to a tribally controlled rural periphery.

Not surprisingly the priorities of local government have also changed during this time. Local governance structures have realigned themselves to respond to the necessity of building a new and democratic South Africa.

As a result, poverty reduction and meeting basic needs became key local government objectives, paralleling growing global awareness that environmental management and protection are not possible in a world of inequity and poverty. An increase in the complexity and scope of South Africa’s environmental legislation has posed further challenges and opportunities.

In response to these changing circumstances, our role as an environmental management function has also transformed considerably over time. The original sustainable development mandate of the EMD (effective 1994-2002 link to order form for LA 21 book) has now been mainstreamed through the city-wide Integrated Development Planning (IDP) process.

This means that sustainable development has become the core business of every municipal official and department, not just the EMD. This in turn has allowed us to refocus our activities (2002 onwards) on a more specialised area of environmental management i.e. the planning and protection of the city’s rich natural resource base.

In short, the role of the EMD is now to assist the Municipality and its partners in meeting the developmental needs of all of our residents, while ensuring the sustainability and viability of the city’s natural resource base - a critical foundation for all existing and future development.

Structure of the EMD

Given that form follows function, the structure of the EMD has been re-conceptualised to respond to this new, more specialised mandate. The Department now consists of three branches: Biodiversity Planning, Development Assessment and Policy Implementation and Co-ordination (with the proposal for a Climate Protection Branch currently being considered).

• The Biodiversity Planning Branch undertakes the spatial planning and strategy development related to the city’s natural resource base. It also ensures effective implementation of these plans and strategies.
• The Development Assessment Branch ensures that these plans and strategies are considered and applied during the development assessment and approval processes undertaken by the municipality.
• The Policy Co-ordination and Implementation Branch ensures that other municipal sectors consider biodiversity and other related issues in their policy development and implementation processes.
• The proposed Climate Protection Branch will manage the further development of the municipality’s Climate Protection campaign. This programme is currently managed by Deputy Head: Environmental Management and focuses on ensuring that climate change considerations influence the future planning, development and management of the city.

As with all departments in the municipality, the success of the EMD in undertaking these activities is measured against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) outlined in the IDP. The KPIs for the EMD can be found in Plan 1 of the IDP: “Sustaining the built and Natural Environment” in:

• Programme 3: “Ensure the long term sustainability of the natural resource base” and
• Programme 7: “Develop and implement municipal pollution reduction and climate protection” (Click here for IDP)