AfriForum has won a five-year legal battle against Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM).
Themba Goba, Municipal Manager of RWCLM, who is currently on suspension but represented the municipality, pleaded guilty on May 17 in terms of a plea agreement following complaints of pollution in terms of the National Environmental Act (NAE).
Also read: MEC finds maladministration, fraud, corruption and malpractice in Rand West City Local Municipality
This follows after Matiam van Vuuren, chairperson of the AfriForum Randfontein branch, laid criminal charges against Goba in his official capacity in 2016 in terms of the NAE. The charges related to sewage pollution, and Magistrate Vivian Hawkins ratified the plea agreement in the Randfontein Regional Court.
The sentence entails a fine of R10 million of which R7 million has been suspended for five years, provided that the municipality complies with certain conditions in terms of the plea agreement. The Department of Water and Sanitation had launched their own investigation and issued directives against RWCLM.
AfriForum has been fighting this battle relentlessly since 2016, and today’s ruling is a huge victory for us as the Randfontein branch as well as for the community. We are confident that this success will open doors for other communities to hold their municipalities criminally responsible for pollution due to defective sewerage works,” said Van Vuuren.
According to Morné Mostert, Manager of Local Government Affairs at AfriForum, this victory must also be seen in the context of the green drop report which Senzo Mchunu, Minister of Water and Sanitation (DWS) issued recently.
“Today’s ruling is only our first success with such complaints. We see it as a good precedent, as both AfriForum and the government’s green drop reports show that only 22 of 850 (2,3%) of the sewerage plants comply with the green-drop standards. This ruling and the process that has been followed to make this a reality are part of our strategy to hold municipalities, and more specifically municipal managers, accountable to ensure that there are consequences for the mismanagement that currently prevails in many municipalities,” said Mostert.
The terms of the plea agreement include the following:
• That the fine of R3 million be spent on repairs
• That evidence of the repairs be sent to the DWS
• That qualified and experienced process controllers are appointment as prescribed by regulations
• That millwrights and electromechanical technicians be appointed to ensure proper maintenance of the works
• That the outflow is managed properly to ensure compliance
• That there is proper reporting to the DWS
• That 10% of all municipal infrastructure grants be fenced off for maintenance of the works
