Guest lecture at Stellenbosch University Faculty of Law

The Chairperson at Stellenbosch University Faculty of Law invited environmental and other experts to the LLB final year class

During her tenure at the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), Dr. Amanda van Reenen interacted with several NWU lecturers and occasionally delivered lectures to students. Through this work, she came to know Prof Anél du Plessis, who lectured at North West University for many years before recently joining Stellenbosch University. In August 2026, Prof Anél invited Amanda to participate in a guest lecture for final-year LLB students, where professionals in environmental law shared their career experiences. Amanda said she was honored to be one of the guest speakers and was asked to discuss her work in DFFE’s law reform section. The lecture covered legal career opportunities in government and Amanda shared some of her experience as an environmental legal drafter. This work contributed, among other things, to the current Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, amendments to the National Environmental Management Act, and several other regulatory instruments now in force. She also explained about being a registered environmental assessment practitioner, a qualification that grew out of the experience gained in the environmental field at DFFE. Approximately two years ago, she moved from government to consultancy at CES. During this time she noted that CES undertakes Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and other environmental assessments for clients ranging from developers to government entities and organs of state. When asked why Amanda wrote the thesis for which NWU recently awarded her an LLD, she explained that it focused on improving the drafting of subordinate environmental legislation—a responsibility she held at DFFE. At CES, she now implements and interprets that same legislation. The other speakers included environmental lawyers working in private practice and NGOs.