ACCOUNTABILITY GAPS: Environmental ‘watchdog’ barks, but hides names of malpractice offenders
The statutory body charged with regulating the professional competence and ethical conduct of South Africa’s environmental consultants and assessors has cracked open the door to its secret disciplinary chambers – but just by a fraction.
The Environmental Assessment Practitioners Association of South Africa (Eapasa) has finally released a partial record of disciplinary actions against its members, five years after Daily Maverick started questioning the association's role in policing ethical conduct. Eapasa was established in 2018 after government insistence, but compulsory registration only took effect in 2018 and a formal malpractice policy appeared in 2019.
Only five out of more than 2,500 registered Eapasa members have been found guilty of malpractice after receiving a total of 69 complaints, according to Eapasa Registrar and CEO Patrick Sithole. Sithole refused to disclose the names of the transgressors, citing administrative and legal reasons, contradicting the association's earlier commitment to naming and shaming offenders.
Eapasa's original malpractice policies required publishing all findings and sanctions on its website, but it changed this in May 2026 to a discretionary policy. When asked about the identity of the five sanctioned practitioners, Sithole stated: "Eapasa is not in a position to provide the names of those five individuals due to a number of administrative and legal reasons."
The association received 25 informal complaints, 23 withdrawn or stagnant ones, and 21 referred to the Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) for formal inquiry. Out of the 21 complaints, 16 were dismissed, and only five were upheld, with sanctions imposed on the five unidentified offenders ranging from fines to temporary suspension and mentorship requirements. The relatively low number of formally lodged and upheld complaints is attributed to some informally raised concerns and matters falling outside Eapasa's mandate.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
