| Summary: | Currently the entire South African industry of Environmental Control Officers (ECOs) is
unregulated, yet ECOs have the important task of checking and verifying compliance to
environmental regulatory and performance requirements. According to international best
practice principles for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the process should be
made credible through independent checks and verification (IAIA, 1999:3). According to
the Environmental Impact Assessment Management Strategy Subtheme 5, quality
assurance can only be attained when practitioners fulfil competence and ethical practice
criteria. In this document the South African Department of Environmental Affairs
(SADEA) also noted that there is currently no home for ECOs, yet this is where effective
monitoring and enforcement could significantly improve environmental outcomes. The
central objective of this dissertation was to investigate the need for regulation of the
South African ECO industry.
Data obtained from the questionnaires indicated that 100% of respondents were in
agreement that there is a need for regulation of the South African ECO industry. One of
the key motivational factors identified by respondents was quality assurance, which is
important, as the environmental legislative regime changes constantly. Various other
factors were identified other than quality assurance and were labelled “drivers”. These
include establishment of minimum standards in respect of qualifications and/or
experience (core competencies), establishment of a professional code of conduct and
ethics that enhances accountability and professionalism, skills improvement through
continual professional development (CPD), enhancement of credibility, independence of
practitioners, enhancement of skills for capacity building, protection of clients against
substandard work and overall lack of professionalism, and finally creation of a source of
information support and interaction. It was important to determine what drives the
regulation of an industry, in order to establish whether the South African ECO industry
has similar drivers justifying regulation.
The establishment of qualification and competency requirements was an important
objective of this research, as a set of these requirements is an essential toolkit for
operating ECOs and key stakeholders of the industry. Various registration and
competence requirements for ECOs were identified from the literature review and
responses to the questionnaires and interviews.
With this research the author also intended to establish which current accreditation
bodies could be considered for registration of ECOs and regulation of the South African
ECO industry. The dissertation concludes by emphasising the importance of regulating the South African ECO industry, as this will ensure that compliance monitoring takes
place effectively. === M Environmental Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
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