A Summary Of Wetland Legislation In South Africa Over The Past Fifty Years

The deterioration of wetlands due to human activity has been a problem for many years. Under the old Water Act 36 of 1956 no provision of water was made for managing the environment. This idea was only introduced in the 1970s and focussed mainly on maintaining the floodplains and estuaries in the Kruger National Park, with small amounts being allocated to drinking water for wildlife. This was followed by the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act, 43 of 1983, the first legislation under which wetlands could be protected, and which today still provides an important legal platform for the protection of wetlands, through integrated conservation of the soil, water resource and vegetation. South Africa became a signatory to the Ramsar Convention in 1975, but until the late 1990s not much was done to enforce wetland conservation. With the introduction of the National Water Act, 36 of 1998, and the National Environmental Management Act, 107 of 1998, South African legislation  became  the  first  to  balance  human,  environmental  and  economic  interests,  for  the purpose of sustainable development. As part of this review I refer to case studies in Gauteng and discuss some of the challenges we still face.