GOVERNMENT DAMS: INPUT SOUGHT ON DRAFT RECREATIONAL USE REGULATIONS

GOVERNMENT DAMS: INPUT SOUGHT ON DRAFT RECREATIONAL USE REGULATIONS

• 11 April 2023
• Water & Sanitation
• SA Legal Academy

Please note: 1) On 19 May 2023, the Department of Water & Sanitation issued a media statement reminding stakeholders of the ‘looming’ deadline for input on the draft regulations. 2) On 9 October 2023, the Department of Water & Sanitation issued a media statement withdrawing the draft regulations. 3) On 21 May 2026, the department issued a media statement alluding to a broader public consultation process that ‘closed on the 15th of April 2026’. Input received during that process points to the need for ‘substantial amendments’ to what was originally proposed – and a further round of public consultation. The possibility of a ban on gill nets is being considered.

Stakeholders have until 23 May 2023 to comment on draft regulations for controlling access to and the use of government dams for recreational purposes. According to a recent Department of Water & Sanitation media statement on the proposed new regulations’, they seek to:

• introduce a ‘precautionary approach’ to state dam recreational use
• ensure that recreational water use in these areas is compatible with other water uses
• protect the dams’ biodiversity and broader ecosystems, among other things by minimising pollution
• provide for the safety of recreational water users
• minimise risks to the department associated with the recreational use of their dams and surrounding areas, and
• to the extent practicable, facilitate ‘broad and accountable participation in … resource management planning’.

This is noting the dams’ potential to contribute towards economic growth, human resource development, capacity building, employment creation and a ‘sound ecological balance’.

• draft regulations
• media statement

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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