Started without authorisation? Rectify it properly.
Section 24G rectification for listed activities and waste activities commenced without environmental authorisation. We lodge fast, argue the administrative fine down on the facts, and answer the directives and compliance notices that come with it. One fixed all-in fee, with departmental fees and specialist studies included.
A section 24G rectification application is the process under section 24G of the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 that allows a person who started a listed activity without environmental authorisation to apply retrospectively, subject to an administrative fine of up to R10 million. It does not remove liability for any harm already caused.
Governing legislation: Section 24G of the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-17
This is the first step of your section 24G rectification. No payment is needed to begin, and the eligibility check is step one inside the application.
Compliance notice, directive or an inspector on site? Call or WhatsApp us now — section 24G files are triaged the same day.
The fine is argued, not assumed.
Most section 24G files are lost twice: once by delaying the lodgement, and once by submitting an application with no representations on the fine. Both are avoidable. The authority is weighing harm, intent, cooperation and remediation — those have to be put in front of it properly.
Same-day triage
Inspector on site, notice received or work already commenced? We give you a written exposure position within 3 business days.
Rectification application
The full section 24G application, assessment reports and rehabilitation plan, prepared and lodged with the competent authority.
Representations on the fine
Harm, intent, cooperation, remediation and financial capacity put to the authority to keep the penalty as low as the facts allow.
Directives & compliance notices
Responses to directives, pre-directives and compliance notices, and dealings with the environmental management inspectorate.
Remediation & conditions
Rehabilitation programmes and post-authorisation conditions negotiated to something the operation can actually live with.
Appeals
Section 43 internal appeals against a directive, a refusal or an unreasonable condition, lodged inside the statutory window.
Free assessment
Six questions. We tell you whether this is a section 24G matter and how urgent it is.
Written exposure position
What was commenced, the realistic fine range, and what to stop or record immediately.
We lodge fast
Application, assessment reports and rehabilitation plan lodged with the competent authority.
Through to decision
We argue the fine, answer every query and negotiate the authorisation conditions.
Fixed fees, even on urgent files.
Urgent matters are triaged the same day. Every mandate is quoted upfront in writing, all-in — departmental fees and the specialist studies included.
An urgent written position on your exposure where an inspector has been on site, or a notice has landed, and you need to know where you stand today.
- Which listed activities were commenced without authorisation, and when
- Realistic exposure range on the administrative fine
- Whether to lodge a section 24G application, and how fast
- Immediate holding steps: what to stop, what to record, what not to say
- Written position delivered within 3 business days
- Credited in full against the rectification fee if you mandate us
The full rectification application prepared and lodged with the competent authority, with representations on the fine, run to decision.
- Section 24G application prepared and lodged with the competent authority
- Representations on the administrative fine to keep the penalty as low as the facts allow
- Environmental impact and specialist reports commissioned and managed
- Rehabilitation plan and environmental management programme
- Directives, compliance notices and pre-directives answered
- Liaison with the environmental management inspectorate
- All departmental application fees and specialist study costs included
Where the file is already in enforcement: directives, compliance notices, criminal referral risk and remediation obligations.
- Responses to directives and compliance notices under NEMA
- Representations to the environmental management inspectorate
- Remediation and rehabilitation programme scoped with specialists
- Post-authorisation conditions negotiated to something operable
- Section 43 appeals against a directive or an unreasonable condition
- Support to your attorneys where a criminal referral is on the table
All-in fixed fees, with no hidden fees. Our professional work, the drafted application and reports, the departmental application fees, the specialist studies included in the package and all dealings with the authority until a decision are covered. The administrative fine itself, and the physical cost of rehabilitation or construction, fall outside the fee.
How long it actually takes.
We separate our preparation time, which we control, from the authority's decision time, which we do not. Ranges are based on comparable files.
Same-day exposure triage
Section 24G rectification (enforcement live)
Section 24G rectification (voluntary)
Directive or compliance notice response
Section 43 appeal
We cannot guarantee a government decision date. What we do guarantee is a complete file, lodged on time, with every query answered until a decision is issued.
Environmental enforcement team
Led by a named advisor on every file
Dynamic Legal Services (Pty) Ltd
Offices in Pretoria (Faerie Glen) and Sandton (Sandown) — serving all nine provinces
087 153 6207 · support@dlegal.co.za
Why clients hand us the file.
- Speed is the single biggest lever on the fine — voluntary, early lodgement reads very differently to a file the inspectorate had to chase.
- We put representations on the fine in every application. An application without them invites the authority's own worst-case assumptions.
- Directives and compliance notices carry hard deadlines. Missing one converts an administrative problem into an enforcement problem.
- We coordinate the specialists so the assessment work actually supports the rectification rather than confirming the harm.
- Where a criminal referral is live, we work alongside your attorneys and support the technical record. We are an advisory firm, not attorneys.
Your application starts here.
One application. Answer a few questions, see exactly which route applies to you and what it costs, then send it through. Documents can follow later, and nothing is payable to open the file.
Start your section 24G application.
Six quick questions. We tell you whether this is a section 24G matter, how urgent it is, and what to do first. Nothing to pay to start.
Step 1 of your application
What has happened so far?
Guides
Understand the process before you commit.
Section 24G rectification
Your exposure, how the administrative fine is calculated, and the route back to a lawful operation.
Read the guideThe EIA process, explained
Which listed activities you trigger, basic assessment vs scoping and EIR, and the statutory timeframes.
Read the guideEnvironmental authorisation
The lawful route: screening, basic assessment, scoping and full EIA, and what each one costs.
Read the guideQuestions
Straight answers before you apply.
What is a section 24G application?
Section 24G of NEMA is the rectification route where a listed activity was commenced without the required environmental authorisation, or a waste activity without a waste management licence. You apply to the competent authority to have the activity assessed after the fact. The authority determines an administrative fine, then decides whether to authorise the activity, refuse it, or order rehabilitation.
How much is the administrative fine?
The Act sets a maximum administrative fine of R10 million, but the amount actually imposed depends on the facts: the environmental harm caused, whether the commencement was deliberate or through ignorance, the level of cooperation, remediation already carried out, and how quickly the applicant came forward. Fines on straightforward, well-presented files are usually a small fraction of the maximum. Early, voluntary lodgement with proper representations is the single biggest lever you have.
How long does it take?
We lodge within 10 business days where enforcement is already live, and typically within 4 to 8 weeks where the specialist assessment work has to be done first. The authority's decision, including the fine determination, usually takes 6 to 12 months.
Where do you work?
From our offices in Pretoria (Faerie Glen) and Sandton (Sandown) we act on section 24G and environmental enforcement matters in all nine provinces.
Inspector on site or a notice in hand? Call us today.
Book a confidential consultation. We respond within one business day.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-17
Written and reviewed by Dynamic Legal Services (Pty) Ltd, registration 2016/074955/07. Registered with the Department of Water and Sanitation, EAPASA applicant. Offices in Faerie Glen, Pretoria and Sandown, Sandton. Telephone 087 153 6207, support@dlegal.co.za. General information on South African regulatory practice, not advice on a specific matter — the first consultation is free.