Author Description

The thesis provides a theoretical literature review of a number of approaches to, categories of and different perspectives on environmental rights in general. As part of this review a number of generic elements is identified for the fulfilment of constitutional environmental provisions, generally. The literature review attends also to the notions of local environmental governance and 'local politics of pollution', amongst other concepts related to local government.Secondly, this thesis critically considersthe Constitution or Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1949 (Grundgesetz) and relevant developments in Germany with reference to the European context and a local government case study on the municipality of Heidelberg. It considers also the Constitution of Namibia of 1990 and relevant developments in Namibia with reference to the African and Southern African contexts and a case study on the Walvis Bay municipality. The South African position is subsequently analysed, first with a focus on section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, environmental law and related developments, then shifting the focus to the constitutional provisions on local government, local government law, related developments and the case of the Drakenstein Local Municipality.Thirdly, based on the lessons learned from and lacunae identified in all three of the countriesconsidered, this study concludes with a set of recommendations for the South African context.