Landscaping in KwaZulu-Natal

eThekwini's Biodiversity Protection By-law starts on 17 March 2027

The by-law was published in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Gazette on 17 September 2026 and takes effect six months later. Three parts of it touch ordinary gardens:

• Indigenous bush. Without the municipality's written consent you may not cut, disturb or destroy naturally occurring indigenous plants in listed areas, including watercourse buffers, river reserves, critical biodiversity areas and natural forest.
• Conservation servitudes. Where a non-user conservation servitude is registered over part of a property, landscaping, planting and dumping garden waste there all need written consent, unless the work is rehabilitation under an agreed plan.
• Invasives. Nobody may keep, propagate, transport or sell a NEMBA-listed invasive species without authority, and removal methods must not be unlawful or damage surrounding biodiversity.

Before you clear: what to check

On conviction, an offence carries a fine of up to R100,000, up to three years' imprisonment, or both, with higher maximums for repeat offenders. That's a real cost if a landscaper clears the wrong strip of bush along a stream.

Check your title deed for servitudes, and if your erf borders a watercourse or a green corridor, ask the municipality's biodiversity department before work starts; it's the department that processes consent applications. Ask the landscaper how they'll dispose of cut material, since dumping garden waste in a servitude is itself restricted.

Clearing invasives on Durban's slopes

eThekwini's own practical guide to invasive alien plants has advice that suits Durban's steep gardens. It recommends starting with the lightly infested parts of a property, which recover faster and cost less, and clearing from the top of slopes and watercourses downward so seed isn't washed into clean ground.

On steep, densely infested ground it suggests working along the contours in bands about 3 m wide, leaving uncut strips between them to slow run-off. Skip the follow-up and you start again from scratch: the guide expects regrowth and seedlings after every clearance and suggests going back every three to six months.

• Ask whether the quote includes follow-up visits, not just the first clearance.
• Ask which herbicide will be used and whether it's registered for the target plants.
• Plan replacement planting quickly, so bare slopes aren't left to erode in summer storms.

Water restrictions in parts of eThekwini

In October 2026 eThekwini imposed restrictions on areas supplied by the Durban Heights water treatment works, including parts of the north, the south and Pinetown South, after high demand drained reservoirs. If you're in an affected area, delay planting that needs daily watering until supply is stable.