Policy Coordination and Implementation Branch Home Page

The Policy Function of the Environmental Management Department is responsible for the coordination and implementation of the Environmental Management System (EMS) for the eThekwini Municipality. In 1998 the Environmental Management Policy for the Durban Muncipal Area was developed as a vehicle for ensuring internal municipal compliance with environmental legislation and policy.

Through a stringent 18 month public participation process, 6 themes and corresponding goals and objectives were identified:

Environmental Management System (EMS)

• To institute an EMS in the Durban Municipal Area (DMA) that enables the implementation of the Policy;
  

Development and Planning

• To ensure the sustainability of the DMA through integration of environmental, social and economic principles into all planning and development processes;

Human Health and Safety

• To ensure a safe and healthy living, working, recreational and built environment for all people through effective management of the environment;
  

Pollution and Waste Management

• To contribute to a sustainable economy and a clean and healthy metropolitan environment through establishing an integrated system of pollution and waste management;

Environmental Resource Management

• To provide for sustained delivery of services and a sustainable economy by protecting and managing the renewable and non-renewable resources on which delivery depends;

Education, Training and Awareness

• To create a culture of learning about the environment to enable the effective participation of all in managing the environment.

The Policy also identified 15 principles, similar to those contained in the National Environmental Management Act (No. 107 of 1998) www.environment.gov.za.


The Environmental Management Policy for the Durban Metropolitan Area(1998) was amended in 2005 to reflect the legislative and technical changes within municipal functions which had occurred since 1998. This Policy has been released as the Environmental Management Policy for the eThekwini Municipality (EMPEM)(2005).

The function of the EMS is to provide an ongoing cycle of review, objective setting, implementation and monitoring. The operation of this cycle guides strategies, programmes and projects which are directed by Municipal and Departmental policy. These policies are the Municipality’s IDP’s 8 Point Plan (link to IDP Home Page), the eThekwini Environmental Services Management Plan (EESMP), or as it is more commonly known, the DMOSS, (Durban Metropolitan Open Space System) Plan and the EMPEM. These policies and the strategies, programmes and projects which flow from them are then subject to audit assessment through targets which feed back into the IDP performance assessment process as legislated by the Municipal Systems Act (No. 32 of 2000) www.dplg.org. Below is the diagram of the EMS and its links to the IDP

Environmental Management System

The Policy Function of the Environmental Management Department is dynamic and responds to different priorities of the EMEMP at different times. Currently the need for a strategic and cohesive approach to communicating the work of the Department and its focus on Biodiversity has emerged as critical in going forward with any plan or project implementation by the Department. This communication focus is ever evolving and this website is important in keeping you up to date on any new programmes and documents.

Click here for access to our documents.