Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has acknowledged a call by nongovernmental organisations and the private sector for the department to “take the lead” on pertinent issues in the environmental sector.

“What I am hearing from you, is that you want the departments of Water and Environmental Affairs to lead on certain aspects, and I consider this constructive criticism. We owe this to you,” she said at a stakeholder engagement forum on Thursday.

Molewa’s comments followed appeals from representatives of environmental organisations saying that greater clarity and coordination was required for the departments to achieve their strategic environmental objectives.

The Minister added that the success of departmental initiatives would also be contingent on private sector cooperation and collaboration.

“Ours is not a leadership by the department for the department, it is for the collective. Your input makes this role and our work easier,” she said.

In response to concerns around a lack of intergovernmental cooperation and compliance with environmental policies and procedures, Molewa emphasised that the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) was in a constant process of engagement with other national departments to ensure that the mandates of these departments were pursued in accordance with environmental legislation.

“[In particular], we are in constant engagement with the Department of Minerals to ensure that no mining takes places in no-go areas,” she said.

Moreover, Molewa averred that all State departments and private sector organisations were subject to the overarching National Environmental Management Amendment Act of 2008, which was overseen by the Environmental Management Inspectorate, also called the Green Scorpions.

With over 1 076 inspectors, the inspectorate was focused on increasing its capacity and further developing standard operating procedures for compliance monitoring and enforcement.

It had targeted specific high-profile industries to build expertise pertaining to the monitoring, enforcement and compliance of environmental legislation, while giving consideration to the possible economic impacts of such laws.

DEA acting chief director of enforcement Frances Craigie said in October that, while noncompliance with regard to environmental law was “widespread” in the country, the inspectorate had had a good impact, owing to its focused approaches to compliance.

It also relied on a hotline for tip-offs, and was assessing the need for further capacity to follow up on all the information received.

She said, at the time, that the inspectorate’s role was to coordinate with government departments and police regarding environmental law, act as a platform to share information, and to communicate with government and industry.