South Africa: Fuel Retailers Association v. Director–General

Submitted by John Knox on Fri, 06/08/2007 - 00:00
OLD_ID
2372
OLD_COUNTRY_DECISION
Africa
Status
Archived
Content

The Constitutional Court of South Africa found that South African environmental authorities did not comply with their obligation to consider the social, economic, and environmental impact of the construction of a filling station in White River, Mpumalanga. Though the authorities authorized the construction of the filling station, the Court stated that the authorities neglected their duty under section 24 of the constitution to consider the social and environmental impact of the proliferation of filling stations. This section “guarantees to everyone the right to a healthy environment and contemplates that legislation will be enacted for the protection of the environment.” The Court held that the section 24 contemplates the integration of environmental protection and socio-economic development through the principle of sustainable development.