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Presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj has confirmed that President Jacob Zuma has referred legislation affecting the mining industry back to the national assembly. Maharaj has said in a statement that “After careful consideration of the bill and the submissions received, the president is of the view that the bill as it stands would not pass constitutional muster.”
Peter Leon, the head of Webber Wentzel’s mining regulatory group, has commented on the referral by President Jacob Zuma on the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act amendment bill which provides for strict beneficiation requirements set by the Minister of Mineral Resources back to the assembly.
Leon said: “Until we see the President’s reservations about the bill which would take the form of a letter to the speaker, of the national assembly Baleka Mbete, this is all conjecture.”
The substantive grounds were likely, however, to include the ministerial discretion as this “potentially offends the rule of law section of the constitution which are part of its foundational provisions”, said Leon.
Following a three-year legal battle, the Shell Petroleum Company of Nigeria (SPDC) have agreed to pay $35m in compensation the the people in Bodo, Nigeria.
Although SPDC have insisted that most of the oil pollution in the Niger Delta region was caused by sabotage, theft and illegal refining they are set to clean up the affected area. Chief Sylvester Kogbara, chair of the Bodo council of chiefs and elders, said his community was happy the case had finally been laid to rest and hoped it would forge better relations between Shell and other Delta communities. “We are hopeful that the clean-up of the Bodo environment will follow suit in no distant time,” he said.
SPDC managing director Mutiu Sunmonu said the company had accepted responsibility for the “deeply regrettable” operational failures on the Bomu-Bonny pipeline “from the outset”. “We’ve always wanted to compensate the community fairly and we are pleased to have reached agreement,” he said. “We are fully committed to the clean-up process. Despite delays caused by divisions within the community, we are pleased that clean-up work will soon begin.”
The clean-up is expected to begin over the next two to three months.
Due to the reduced cost of the rooftop Photovoltaic (PV) installations and the levelised cost of electricity of these systems reaching parity with the domestic and commercial tariffs, there is growing interest from South African electricity consumers to install rooftop PV systems in order to reduce their electricity bill and supplement their consumption. South Africa’s energy regulator is looking at developing a framework that would enable homes and business with installed rooftop PV systems to receive credits for feeding surplus power generated into the electricity grid.
The introduction of such a plan means South Africa, whose sole power utility is struggling to meet demand in the continent’s second-biggest economy, would be emulating countries such as Germany, Spain and the US, which have had small-scale renewable generation that included feed-in tariffs or credit programmes through banks. “Their governments also securitised the tariff by government guarantees, which is something that the South African government cannot engage in at this stage with so many programmes where guarantees are currently offered,” the paper said.
The Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has identified some views and concerned by various stakeholders regarding rooftop PV development.
Two men were seriously injured when a petrol tanker that they were re-fueling exploded in Primrose Park, Cape Town, on Friday 12 December 2014.
ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring had said that a small explosion occurred while the men were working on the tanker and that set it alight alight. Both men had sustained serious burn wounds to their heads and chests.
Sasol’s industrial sludge bioremediation project will move into full commercial scale over the next two years and will have the capacity to treat its 200 000 t/y of industrial sludge. The projects makes use of aerobic composting to convert sludges from Sasol’s Bioworks water treatment plant in Secunda into fertilisers, which would be used for the growing sugar graze. The process was designed to be labour intensive and the full scale project would provide employment for 150 people in the community.
Sludges were previously disposed of either by incineration or it was sent to a hazardous waste site, in compliance with the Air Quality Act and the National Waste Act. Dr Sarushen Pillay – Environmental Manager at Sasol Technology, explained that since the development of the bioremediation process the Secunda plant is a zero-effluent plant. The bioremediation process was developed as a means to reduce energy consumption for the incineration process and the cost of waste disposal.
Pillay said: “This bioremediation process, which will use 200 000 t/y of sugar graze to convert 200 000 t/y of sludges into 80 000 t/y of fertiliser, will reduce our energy consumption and costs for waste disposal.”
“We have designed and tested this process over two years. Our sugar graze growing lands were monitored prior to and after being dosed with the fertilisers, and our results show an improvement in soil conditions.”
“Sasol will use 2 000 ha of land, dosed with this bioremediated fertiliser, around its Secunda plant to grow the sugar graze. The land is not currently under cultivation.”
The mine health and safety summit was held in Johannesburg on Wednesday 19 November 2014, convening under the theme “Every worker returning from work unharmed every day”. The Chamber of Mines had announced an initiative to make mining safer and to provide skills to workers, resonating the summits theme: achieving “zero harm” to mine workers.
Spokesperson Zingaphi Matanzima had said in a statement that “The industry has prioritised the health and safety of workers as an integral part of being in business and being good corporate citizens and the sector’s moral obligation to do all that is possible to achieve zero harm.”
Chairperson of the Mine Health and Safety Council and chief inspector of mines, David Msiza, said that mining fatalities had been reduced from 615 in 1993, to 270 in 2003, and then further reduced to 93 in 2013.
Eco Impact endorses fantastic TUV Rheinland ISO 9001 Workshop!
TUV Rheinland will be presenting an exciting half day workshop on the ISO 9001:2015 changes from the ISO 9001:2008 version. The course will take place on the 27 November 2014 at the TUV Rheinland offices in Century City, Cape Town from 8.30 am – 12.30 pm. The cost of the workshop is R550 per person excluding vat.
Information gained at attending this workshop will assist certified companies in timeously updating their QMS’s where necessary, to maintain compliance to the standard.
For more information or bookings contact: contact: Steven Lashmar – 021 551 3777 / 073 203 0229 / steven.lashmar@za.tuv.com Or Jessica Le Roux – 021 671 1660 / jessica@ecoimpact.co.za (Eco Impact training department).
Eco Impact Legal Consulting Pty Ltd is looking for a young, inspired, junior legal professional to join our dynamic professional services team. Any environmental, health and safety legal expertise would be beneficial to your application. If you hold a legal qualification and have recently graduated or if you have completed your Articles of Clerkship send a comprehensive curriculum vitae to admin@ecoimpact.co.za as soon as possible. Candidates will be interviewed from 08 December 2014, and the position will become available from 05 January 2015.
Eco Impact endorses excellent TUV Rheinland ISO 9001 Implementation Course!
TUV Rheiland is offering an exciting ISO 9001 Implementation Course in Cape Town. The course will be running from the 19 – 21 November 2014, at their offices in Century City. The course will be facilitated by an excellent tutor and experienced ISO 9001 auditor and consultant: Gary Naude.
Secure your booking today!
For more information contact: Steven Lashmar – 021 551 3777 / 073 203 0229 / steven.lashmar@za.tuv.com Or Jessica Le Roux – 021 671 1660 / jessica@ecoimpact.co.za (Eco Impact training department).
It has been reported that two people were killed when a crane collapsed at the building site of a new solar plant in Upington in the Northern Cape on Monday 03 November 2014.
Police spokesman Jacques September told the public broadcaster that a 26-year-old woman died at the scene and a 31-year-old man died in hospital. He said four other people remained in a critical condition at an Upington hospital. An inquest has been opened.
