A report in the Business Day has sparked a response from the Federation for a Sutainable Environment.  Mariette Liefferink, the CEO states that Mike Muller, a former Director General of the Department of Water Affairs is "unlikely to acknowledge that there are currently significant AMD risks resulting from the flooding of the mining basins in the Witwatersrand Gold Fields"

The Development Tribunal, established under the Development Facilitation Act (DFA) will no longer be able to side-step the zoning and planning frameworks put in place by local authorities. 

Northern Farm, situated on the declared Diepsloot Nature Reserve  in Gauteng, is a working farm, adjunct to the water treatment works,  and a popular recreational site just outside the city of Johannesburg.  And it is under threat of being dismantled.

A chronicle of events lists the sad demise of open space and a litany of senseless decisions which sadly, impact on the poor, stifle skills transfer, bring to an end a valuable agricultural research programme and make living in Joburg a little less rewarding.

South Africa's first Green Economy Summit ended with delegates calling for the development of green growth policies and regulations which support the development of clean technologies.

As part of the declaration, the 650 delegates - including international guests - resolved to put the brakes on carbon emissions and other forms of pollution that have proved to be a hurdle to green economy development. The summit, held in Sandton, ended on Thursday.