Sabelo B Nkosi is a Senior Environmentalist at eThekwini Municipality in the Biodiversity Impact Assessment Branch of the Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department. His work is mainly focused on the review of the review of private EIAs and various land use planning applications with the aim of protecting the Municipality’s biodiversity assets. He has been involved in several strategic EIA projects within the Municipality such as the King Shaka International Airport (KSIA), Dube Trade Port, Durban Harbour, Cornubia and Inyaninga Integrated Human Settlement projects, Clairwood Logistics Hub, Auto Supplier Park, the Gateway N2 Interchange, and various section of the N2 and N3 upgrades.

Sabelo has been involved in biodiversity offsets planning, implementation, and monitoring within the Municipality, and has an interest in the implementation of biodiversity offsets.

Furthermore, he is a member of the Municipal Planning Tribunal (MPT) and is also a Grade 2 Environmental Management Inspector (EMI).

Currently, Sabelo is responsible for the Biodiversity Planning function in eThekwini Municipality as the Acting Senior Manager.

Sabelo’s professional experience in the Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) sector over the last 14 years ranges from private consulting, construction, research, and local government. In addition, Sabelo has held various voluntary roles as a member of the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIAsa) over the last 6 years. He is a Past President, has been a Treasurer for two terms, was the symposium chair in 2020, and assisted with conference planning and implementation: with the IAIAsa 2017 conference in Goudini, IAIA18, IAIAsa 2019 conference in Bela Bela, and IAIAsa 2021 online conference being memorable. Lastly, Sabelo has been a strategy development lead for IAIAsa’s 2025 vision.

Sabelo has a Masters in Environmental Management from the North-West University where his research was focused on the implementation of biodiversity offsets. Sabelo also holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours degree in Entomology, where he studied plant-animal interactions such as pollination systems and biological control, and a BSc degree in Botany and Entomology, both from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. In addition, Sabelo has completed courses in project management, leadership, environmental law, facilitation, and workshop preparation.

He is a registered professional ecologist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) since 2015 and a registered Environmental Assessment Practitioner with the Environmental Assessment Practitioners Association of South Africa (EAPASA) since 2020, where he is also an accredited Assessor.

Lastly, Sabelo enjoys team sports, especially rugby, which has earned him some amateur colours and has won a number of trophies within the KZN Rugby Union structures. He also has taken up road running and enjoys travelling, music, photography, and cooking, particularly for his wife and three children.