The legal framework for environmental auditing in the public sector in South Africa

Abstract

Environmental auditing allows an entity to demonstrate concern for environmental matters and principles and to improve its compliance with environmental laws, regulations, policies etcetera. Environmental auditing may also lead to substantial cost savings and permit the entity to determine its environmental progress. These benefits are particularly attractive in South Africa in reaction to the situation described in recent reports documenting environmental performance and related environmental challenges. As the custodian or trustee of South Africa’s environmental resources, the government must execute the sustainable use and protection thereof for the benefit of all the people of South Africa and in accordance with its constitutional mandate. As a regulator, the government may conduct environmental auditing to govern other entities’ environmental performance. Likewise, environmental auditing may be conducted in organs of state as regulated entities. In both instances environmental auditing, as an environmental governance instrument, may typically foster public sector compliance with environmental law, improved environmental practice, and operational environmental efficiency. In this context, this study aims to interrogate the legal framework for environmental auditing in and by the public sector in South Africa. Through an analysis of South Africa’s suite of environmental framework and sector legislation, the study explores and assesses the extent to which South African law provides for and regulates environmental auditing in and by the public sector