(Municipal Notice 63 of 2020)
The eThekwini Scheduled Activities By-law applies to all areas which fall under the jurisdiction of the eThekwini Municipality and is binding on all persons to the extent applicable. This By-law was published in the Provincial Gazette on the 13th of August 2020 and came into effect six months from this date (13th of February 2021). The purpose of this By-law is to regulate the commencement certain activities, occupations, callings, businesses, conduct, processes, or trades which, owing to their nature, are likely to impact on human or environmental health; provide measures for minimising any impact on human or environmental health or any nuisance arising or likely to arise from any scheduled activity as contemplated in this By-law; and provide penalties for the breach of its provisions.
Scheduled activities (Schedule 1) listed below:
| Abattoirs |
| Acid works |
| Alkali works |
| Ammonia works and bulk transportation |
| Animal and fish products processing, including the manufacture of meal for animal feeding |
| Asbestos transportation, handling and storage, and the manufacture and bulk-storage of |
| products containing asbestos |
| Asphalt plant, permanent and mobile |
| Battery manufacturing, reconditioning and servicing |
| Bitumen works, including the transportation and operation of mobile bitumen kettles |
| Breweries |
| Brick and tile works |
| Carbon black manufacture |
| Cement products and pre-mixing works |
| Ceramic works |
| Chemical product processing, including any process involving a chemical reaction |
| Container washing and reconditioning works |
| Chrome and chromate works including storage and handling of chrome |
| Coal, charcoal and coke storage and handling |
| Composting |
| Crematoria |
| Distillery |
| Engineering works |
| Fertilizer works |
| Food manufactory |
| Foundries and metal works |
| Fungicide manufacture, and bulk-handling, storage and commercial usage of fungicides |
| Furniture manufacture and re-conditioning |
| Gas works |
| Glass-fibre manufacture, storage, moulding and finishing |
| Glass works |
| Hazardous substances (as defined in the Hazardous Substances Act, No. 15 of 1973) – |
| manufacture and bulk-blending, transportation and storage. |
| Hazardous substances include road, rail tanker and isotainer washing and maintenance |
| Health care risk waste transportation |
| Herbicide manufacture, and bulk-handling, storage and commercial usage of herbicides |
| Hide and skin processing |
| Laundries excluding in-house laundries located within accommodation establishments |
| Lead works |
| Manganese storage and handling |
| Marine food processing |
| Mattress-maker |
| Metal products manufacture |
| Metal buffing, electroplating, enameling and galvanising |
| Milling |
| Ore processing works, or handling and storage of ores |
| Pesticides manufacture, and bulk-handling, store and commercial usage of pesticides |
| Pigment works |
| Plastic product works |
| Power or energy generation |
| Printing works |
| Quarrying |
| Refining |
| Refuse collection, storage, removal, processing or disposal |
| Removal of human remains |
| Rubber moulding or vulcanising |
| Sand, shot and grit blasting |
| Sandwinning |
| Sewage treatment, transportation or disposal |
| Scrap yard |
| Ship building |
| Sludge works |
| Spray-painting |
| Stone crushing and dressing works |
| Stone masonry |
| Tannery |
| Teasing or shredding works dealing with coir, flock or textiles |
| Timber yard and works |
| Upholsterer |
| Vegetable oil extraction or processing |
| Vehicle or vehicle parts manufacturing |
| Waste material salvaging, collecting, sorting, storing, treating, processing or |
| recycling/reclaiming |
| Welding works |
| Wood pulping |
| Yeast manufacture |
| Any other activity as determined by the provisions of section 5(10) of this by-law |
In essence, the by-law states that no person may commence or operate, extend, or build, any of the above scheduled activities without the written permission of the Municipality. However, the Municipality may in writing require any person who deals with an activity which is not listed under schedule 1 to submit an application if it reasonably believes that such activity could negatively impact on environmental or human health or cause a nuisance.
To obtain permission, scheduled activities must submit an application which includes the information that is listed in section 5(2) of the by-law. The applicant must also provide documentary evidence that they are compliant with applicable legislation relating to the control, management or mitigation of nuisances associated with a scheduled activity in terms of Schedule 1 to this By-law. These include but are not limited to:
- a) Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993(Act No. 85 of 1993);
- b) Hazardous Substances Act, 1973(Act No. 15 of 1973);
- c) National Environmental Management Act, 1998(Act No. 107 of 1998);
- d) National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, 2004(Act No. 39 of 2004);
- e) National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act, 2008(Act No. 24 of 2008);
- f) National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008(Act No. 59 of 2008);
- g) KwaZulu-Natal Planning and Development Act, 2008(Act No. 6 of 2008);
- h) Disaster Management Act, 2002(Act No. 57 of 2002);
- i) National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004(Act No. 10 of 2004); and
- j) National Water Act, 1998(Act No. 36 of 1998)
Furthermore, in terms of Section 5, Application of Permit, a permit will only be valid for a period of 5 years, thereafter a new application must be submitted 60 days prior to the expiry of the permit. A public participation process must be conducted as part of the application and must include newspaper adverts, notice boards accessible by the public in the premises where the activity is to be undertaken, and communication with interested and affected parties. In terms of Section 6, Affected Persons, any person intending to make any representation on, or to object to, the application may do so in writing within 14 days of the date of publication.
In terms of Section 9, Compliance Notices, the Municipality may issue a compliance notice if it has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has not complied with a provision of this By-law; or with a condition of the permit issued in terms of this By-law. If a person fails to take steps stipulated in the compliance notice; is violating any condition of a permit; has not been issued a permit, the municipality may suspend or withdraw any permit granted in terms of this By-law; apply for a court order to close down any activity or process which constitutes a violation of the permit; and cause the responsible person to be prosecuted for an offence in terms of this By-law.
Any person who is convicted of an Offence under Section 12 of this By-law shall be liable to a fine of an amount not exceeding R100 000, or/and imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years. In the case of a continuing offence, an additional fine of an amount not exceeding R1000 or/and imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 days, will be imposed.
Lastly, according to Section 17, Transitional provisions, scheduled activities must submit their applications to the eThekwini Municipality within 12 months of the promulgation of this by-law (13th of August 2021)
If you are undertaking a scheduled activity and are yet to submit a Scheduled Activity Permit or apply for the permit to be converted into a Scheduled Activity Permit under the new by-law, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our consultants via mail info@kcmenviro.co.za or call 061 568 5510, to assist you in the application process.