Submitted by KaraboRabothata on March 9, 2026

FLEXIBLE EIA MULTI-STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION

11 MARCH 2026 - 23 APRIL 2026

INTRODUCTION

South Africa is initiating a national consultation to improve the efficacy of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system. The proposed reform is set to strengthen the EIA by allowing it to work in tandem with other integrated environmental instruments. It will introduce a smarter, risk-based screening system that aligns the level of assessment with the actual environmental risk of a project. The objective is to ensure:

Stronger protection in sensitive environments
Faster decisions for low-risk projects
Better use of state capacity
Improved sustainability outcomes

The development of a Flexible EIA System is consistent with the recommendations of: The Evaluation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) System that was concluded in 2019 (DPME/DEA, 2019); and The recommendations flowing from the Report “The consideration and prioritisation of Integrated Environmental Management Instruments to facilitate the increased use thereof” (the IEM Instruments Report) (DFFE, 2023).

PURPOSE

There is a clarion call for change in environmental assessment to cater for more flexibility:

The 2008 Review of the EIA System.
The 2014 Environmental Impact Assessment and Management Strategy for South Africa (EIAMS).
The 2019 EIA Review Study (system review). The 2023 IEM Report on the use of alternative IEM Instruments.
National and international academic literature.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

THE INFLEXIBILITY OF THE EXISTING REGULATED EIA SYSTEM IS RESULTING IN THE RIGID AND INFLEXIBLE APPLICATION OF THIS REGULATORY INSTRUMENT.

Components thereof:

EIAs (used as stand-alone instruments) often operate within a poorly defined strategic context, making it difficult to address cumulative impacts or consider strategic impacts that extend beyond the scope of project-specific EIAs.
As a trigger for when an assessment must be done, the wording of identified activities (including the thresholds) is inadequate in responding to (and differentiating between) different sensitivities of the receiving environment.
The current EIA triggers for identified activities are largely threshold-based and do not sufficiently account for the sensitivity of the receiving environment.
The processes are too robust (i.e., too long, too short, too onerous, or too costly).

NATIONAL STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION SCHEDULE

DATE	PROVINCE	CITY/TOWN
11 March 2026	Eastern Cape	Mthatha
16 March 2026	North West	Mahikeng
17 March 2026	North West	Rustenburg
24 March 2026	Limpopo	Polokwane
25 March 2026	Gauteng	Johannesburg
26 March 2026	Northern Cape	Kimberley
31 March 2026	Eastern Cape	Gqeberha
8 April 2026	KwaZulu-Natal	Newcastle
9 April 2026		Richards Bay
10 April 2026		Durban
16 April 2026	Mpumalanga	Mbombela
21 April 2026	Western Cape	Cape Town
23 April 2026	Free State	Bloemfontein