MEC Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Environment and Another v HTF Developers (Proprietary) Limited

The present case is concerned primarily with the interaction of two sections in the Environment Conservation Act No. 73 of 1989 ("the ECA"), which allowed the provincial Department for Agriculture, Conservation & Environment in Gauteng ("the Department") to prevent the development of a housing estate as a result of the Department's understanding that the development threatened the existence of certain Red Data species and naturally existing corridors that are formed by naturally formed geological ridges in Gauteng. The Constitutional Court, hearing an appeal from the Supreme Court of Appeal on the matter, dealt with the manner in which South African courts should approach environmental law and reiterated its views on the interaction between sustainable development and the right to an environment that is not detrimental to one's health or well being. The Constitutional Court held that section 2 of the National Environmental Management Act No. 107 of 1998 (NEMA) sets out "a series of principles that give effect to the understanding that 'the environment is a composite right, which includes social, economic and cultural considerations in order to ultimately result in a balanced environment. Therefore, the principles in NEMA, primarily in section 2 of NEMA, inform directly the manner in which decision making processes should be made in respect of issues that deal, directly or indirectly, with the environment.This does not only apply to the decision making processes of a court but also to the decision making processes of a court but also to the decision making processes of a board of directors or a company in its day-to-day affairs in respect of any development that it intends to take that may have an impact upon the environment.