National Water Act, 1998 (Act No. 36 of 1998)

Chapter 12 : Safety of Dams

117. Definitions

Purchase

In this Chapter—

"approved professional person"

means a person registered in terms of the Engineering Profession of South Africa Act, 1990 (Act No. 114 of 1990), and approved by the Minister after consultation with the Engineering Council of South Africa (established by section 2 of that Act);

"dam"

includes any existing or proposed structure which is capable of containing, storing or impounding water (including temporary impoundment or storage), whether that water contains any substance or not;

"dam with a safety risk"

means any dam—

(i)

which can contain, store or dam more than 50 000 cubic metres of water, whether that water contains any substance or not, and which has a wall of a vertical height of more than five metres, measured as the vertical difference between the lowest downstream ground elevation on the outside of the dam wall and the non-overspill crest level or the general top level of the dam wall;

(ii)	belonging to a category of dams declared under section 118(2) to be dams with a safety risk; or

(iii)

declared under section 118(3)(a) to be a dam with a safety risk;

"owner of a dam" or "owner of a dam with a safety risk"

includes the person in control of that dam; and

"task"

includes a task relating to designing, constructing, altering, repairing, impounding water in, operating, evaluating the safety of, maintaining, monitoring or abandoning a dam with a safety risk.