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Part 1 of this Chapter sets out various powers and duties of the Minister which are of a general nature, such as the powers of delegation and expropriation, and intervention in litigation. More specific powers and duties are dealt with elsewhere in the Act.
63.(1): The Minister may, in writing and subject to conditions, delegate a power and duty
vested in the Minister in terms of this Act to -
63.(1)(a): an official of the Department by name;
63.(1)(b): the holder of an office in the Department;
63.(1)(c): a water management institution;
63.(1)(d): an advisory committee established under section
99; or
63.(1)(e): a water board as defined in section 1 of the Water Services Act, 1997
(Act No 108 of 1997).
63.(2): The Minister may not delegate the power -
63.(2)(a): to make a regulation;
63.(2)(b): to authorise a water management institution to expropriate under section 64(1);
63.(2)(c): to appoint a member of the governing board of a catchment management agency; or
63.(2)(d): to appoint a member of the Water Tribunal.
63.(3): The Minister may, in writing and subject to conditions, permit a person to whom a
power or duty has been delegated to delegate that function to another person.
63.(4): The Minister may give a directive to the Director-General in relation to the
exercise of any of the Director-General's powers or performance of any of the
Director-General's duties, including any power delegated to the Director-General.
63.(5): The Director-General must give effect to a directive in terms of subsection (4).
64.(1): The Minister, or a water management institution authorised by the Minister in
writing, may expropriate any property for any purpose contemplated in this Act, if that
purpose is a public purpose or is in the public interest.
64.(2): Subject to this Act, the Expropriation Act, 1975 (Act No. 63 of 1975), applies to
all expropriations in terms of this Act.
64.(3): Where the Minister expropriates any property under this Act, any reference to
``Minister'' in the Expropriation
Act, 1975, must be construed as being a reference to the Minister.
64.(4): Where any water management institution expropriates property under this Act, any
reference to ``Minister'' and ``State'' in the Expropriation Act,
1975, must be regarded as being a reference to that water management institution.
65.(1): If a person who is required under this Act to undertake rehabilitation or other
remedial work on the land of another, reasonably requires access to that land in order to
effect the rehabilitation or remedial work, but is unable to acquire access on reasonable
terms, the Minister may -
65.(1)(a): expropriate the necessary rights in respect of that land for the benefit of the
person undertaking the rehabilitation or remedial work, who will then be vested with the
expropriated rights; and
65.(1)(b): recover all costs incurred in connection with the expropriation, including any
compensation payable, from the person for whose benefit the expropriation was effected.
65.(2): Where a servitude of abutment, aqueduct or submersion is expropriated under this
section, the Minister or water management institution responsible for the expropriation
has the same rights as those vesting in the holder of a servitude under section 128.
The Minister may, in exceptional circumstances and for a good reason, extend a time period or condone a failure to comply with a time period.
67.(1): In an emergency situation, or in cases of extreme urgency involving the safety of
humans or property or the protection of a water resource or the environment, the Minister
may -
67.(1)(a): dispense with the requirements of this Act relating to prior publication or to
obtaining and considering public comment before any instrument contemplated in section 158(1) is made or issued;
67.(1)(b): dispense with notice periods or time limits required by or under this Act;
67.(1)(c): authorise a water management institution to dispense with -
67.(1)(c)(i): the requirements of this Act relating to prior publication or to obtaining
and considering public comment before any instrument is made or issued; and
67.(1)(c)(ii): notice periods or time limits required by or under this Act.
67.(2): Anything done under subsection (1) -
67.(2)(a): must be withdrawn or repealed within a maximum period of two years after the
emergency situation or the urgency ceases to exist; and
67.(2)(b): must be mentioned in the Minister's annual report to Parliament.
The Minister may intervene in litigation before a court or in a hearing before the Water Tribunal with regard to any matter contemplated in this Act.
Part 2 requires the Minister to consult with the public when making regulations under this Act, and also to submit regulations for scrutiny by the National Assembly and by the National Council of Provinces. If the National Assembly rejects a regulation it must be repealed or amended.
69.(1): The Minister must, before making any regulations under this Act -
69.(1)(a): publish a notice in the Gazette -
69.(1)(a)(i): setting out the draft regulations; and
69.(1)(a)(ii): inviting written comments to be submitted on the proposed regulations,
specifying an address to which and a date before which the comments must be submitted,
which date may not be earlier than 60 days after publication of the notice;
69.(1)(b): consider what further steps, if any, are appropriate to bring the contents of
the notice to the attention of interested persons, and take those steps which the Minister
considers to be appropriate; and
69.(1)(c): consider all comments received on or before the date specified in paragraph
(a)(ii); and
69.(1)(d): on request by the National Assembly or the National Council of Provinces or a
committee of the National Assembly or the National Council of Provinces report the extent
to which a specific comment has been taken into account, or if a comment was not taken
into account, provide the reason why it was not taken into account.
69.(2): Any regulation made under this Act may provide that a contravention of or failure
to comply with a regulation is an offence and that any person found guilty of the offence
is liable to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 5 years.
70.(1): The Minister must, within 30 days after making any regulations under this Act,
table the regulations in the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces for
consideration.
70.(2): In considering regulations -
70.(2)(a): tabled in the National Assembly, a committee of the National Assembly must
consider and report to the National Assembly; and
70.(2)(b): tabled in the National Council of Provinces, a committee of the National
Council of Provinces must consider and report to the National Council of Provinces,
whether the regulations -
70.(2)(b)(i): are consistent with the purposes of this Act;
70.(2)(b)(ii): are within the powers conferred by this Act;
70.(2)(b)(iii): are consistent with the Constitution; and
70.(2)(b)(iv): require clarification.
70.(3): The National Council of Provinces may reject regulations tabled before the
National Council of Provinces in terms of subsection (1) within 14 days after the date on
which the regulations were so tabled, and should the National Council of Provinces reject
any regulation, the rejection must be referred to the National Assembly for consideration.
70.(4): The National Assembly may, not later than the twentieth sitting day of the
National Assembly after the date on which the regulations were tabled and after
considering any rejection of a regulation by the National Council of Provinces, reject
those regulations.
70.(5): If the National Assembly or the National Council of Provinces rejects any
regulations, it must state its reasons.
71.(1): The Minister must, within 30 days after being informed in writing that the
National Assembly has rejected any regulations, repeal or amend those regulations so as to
address the matters raised by the National Assembly.
71.(2): Any regulations rejected by the National Assembly remain in force until repealed
or amended.
The Minister has the responsibility to manage and authorise the use of the nation's water resources. This means that the Minister fulfils the functions of a catchment management agency in a water management area for which no catchment management agency is established, or where such an agency has been established but is not functional. The Minister may dispense with certain requirements of this Act for as long as is necessary to deal with an urgent situation or an emergency.
72.(1): In areas for which a catchment management agency is not established or, if
established, is not functional, all powers and duties of a catchment management agency,
including those powers and duties described in sections
79 and 80 and in Schedule 3, vest in the Minister.
72.(2): In areas for which a catchment management agency is established, those powers and
duties described in Schedule 3 which have not
been assigned by the Minister to the catchment management agency, vest in the Minister.
73.(1): The Minister may, after consultation with the catchment management agency
concerned, by notice in the Gazette, assign to that catchment management agency -
73.(1)(a): a power or duty of a responsible authority; and
73.(1)(b): any power or duty listed in Schedule
3.
73.(2): In assigning any power or duty under subsection (1), the Minister may -
73.(2)(a): limit the area within which an assigned power may be exercised or duty may be
performed; and
73.(2)(b): attach conditions to that assignment.
73.(3): Before assigning a power or duty to a catchment management agency under subsection
(1), the Minister must consider -
73.(3)(a): the capacity of the catchment management agency to exercise the power or
perform the duty; and
73.(3)(b): the desirability of assigning that power or duty.
73.(4): The Minister must promote the management of water resources at the catchment
management level by assigning powers and duties to catchment management agencies when it
is desirable to do so.
74.(1): The Minister may give a directive to a water management institution in relation to
the exercise of any of the institution's powers or the performance of any of the
institution's duties, including any power or duty assigned or delegated to that
institution.
74.(2): The Minister must give a water management institution not less than 14 days'
notice of the Minister's intention to give a directive under subsection (1) if it relates
to any assigned power or duty, and must allow the institution an opportunity to comment.
74.(3): Every directive, or a summary thereof, given to a water management institution by
the Minister and which relates to an assigned power or duty -
74.(3)(a): must be published by the Minister in the Gazette; and
74.(3)(b): must be included in the annual report of the institution.
74.(4): A failure to comply with subsection (3) does not affect the validity of the
directive.
74.(5): A water management institution must give effect to a directive given to it by the
Minister under subsection (1).
The Director-General may, for the purposes of this Act, in writing and subject to
conditions, delegate a power, including a power granted or delegated to the
Director-General under this Act, to -
75.(a): an official of the Department by name;
75.(b): the holder of an office in the Department; or
75.(c): a water management institution.
76.(1): The Director-General may, when necessary, appoint employees on contract outside
the provisions of the Public Service Act, 1994 (Proclamation No. 103 of 1994).
76.(2): Appointments made under subsection (1) must be limited to persons to perform
duties at sites where the Department -
76.(2)(a): is engaged in actual construction or investigatory work; or
76.(2)(b): is associated with specific projects relating to actual construction or
investigatory work.
76.(3): The Director-General must, from time to time, and after consultation with the
Department of Public Service and Administration, determine the conditions of employment of
such employees.
76.(4): Such employees shall be remunerated from money appropriated for that purpose by
Parliament.
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