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

Chapter 4 : Use of Water

Purchase

(1)	An application for a licence for water use must—

(a)	be made in the form;

(b)	contain the information; and

(c)	be accompanied by the processing fee,

(2)	A responsible authority—

(a)	may, to the extent that it is reasonable to do so, require the applicant, at the applicant's expense, to obtain and provide it by a given date with—

(i)	other information, in addition to the information contained in the application;

(ii)	an assessment by a competent person of the likely effect of the proposed licence on the resource quality; and

(iii)

an independent review of the assessment furnished in terms of subparagraph (ii), by a person acceptable to the responsible authority;

(b)	may conduct its own investigation on the likely effect of the proposed licence on the protection, use, development, conservation, management and control of the water resource;

(c)	may invite written comments from any organ of state which or person who has an interest in the matter; and

(d)	must afford the applicant an opportunity to make representations on any aspect of the licence application.

(3)	A responsible authority may direct that any assessment under subsection (2)(a)(ii) must comply with the requirements contained in regulations made under sections 24(5) and 44 of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998).

[Subsection 3 amended by section 3(a) of Act No. 27 of 2014]

(4)	A responsible authority may, at any stage of the application process, require the applicant—

(a)	to give suitable notice in newspapers and other media—

(i)	describing the licence applied for;

(ii)	stating that written objections may be lodged against the application before a specified date, which must be not less than 60 days after the last publication of the notice;

(iii)

giving an address where written objections must be lodged; and

(iv)	containing such other particulars as the responsible authority may require;

(b)	to take such other steps as it may direct to bring the application to the attention of relevant organs of state, interested persons and the general public; and

(c)	to satisfy the responsible authority that the interests of any other person having an interest in the land will not be adversely affected.

(5)	The Minister must align and integrate the process for consideration of a water use license with the timeframes and processes applicable to applications for—

(a)	licenses, permits or rights for prospecting, exploration, mining and production in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (Act No. 28 of 2002); and

(b)	environmental authorisations in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998) or any specific environmental management act.

[Subsection 5 inserted by section 3(b) of Act No. 27 of 2014]

(6)	Notwithstanding the provisions of section 148, any applicant for a water use licence arising out of the integration process contemplated in subsection (5), who is aggrieved by a decision of the responsible authority, may lodge an appeal to the Minister against the decision.

[Subsection 6 inserted by section 3(b) of Act No. 27 of 2014]