Environmental and Compliance Management Department

The Environmental and Compliance Management Department is responsible for monitoring and enforcement of environmental legislation on land development activities; environmental pollution monitoring and control (land, air, water); control of illegal business operations; ensuring environmental good governance and facilitate education and awareness on environmental matters.
 
The Department is also responsible for the development of the ELM Climate Change Response Plan, the Air Quality Management Plan and to ensure that the municipal activities are aligned to the sustainable development goals. The status on the ELM climate dynamics, air quality management, environmental good governance and mining activities is discuss below.
ELM Climate Dynamics
ELM has a sub-tropical climate with hot summers and cold winters. The average daily temperature during the December, January and February (summer) months is 22.4ºC, while in the June, July and August (winter) months it is 12.1ºC. The average rainfall in the area ranges between 700 and 750mm per annum, with 65% of the rain occurring during the summer, mostly in the form of thunderstorms.
 
During the summer months, the primary wind direction is from the north or east; during autumn, winds are mostly from the east and during winter the primary wind direction is from the south. Wind calm periods occur mostly during dry months. The predominant cause of climate and atmospheric change are human activities.
 
ELM has adopted the Nkangala District Municipality climate change strategy, which will assist on how to avert the climate change issues and is planning to develop an ELM climate change strategy. The climate change champion has been appointed, and related projects have been identified with the aim of addressing the climate change issues.