Big win for Save The Vaal

SEDIBENG.- SAVE the Vaal Environment (SAVE) and the River Property and Safety Association (RPSA) have been awarded a structural court order against the Ministers of Water and Sanitation, Finance and  Environment, Gauteng Premier and MEC’s COGTA and Finance and the Emfuleni Local (ELM) and its Municipal Manager (MM)to stop pollution of the Vaal River and its tributaries from the ELM’s wastewater treatment system.

This order was made by agreement between the parties and made an order of Court by the Honourable Judge Wright in the Gauteng High Court.

“This is a big win for Save the Vaal after the years of litigation and pressure placed on the authorities. We appreciate the support of the media which heightened awareness of sewage pollution and stimulated both the implementation of Section 63 of the Water Services Act (through which the then Water and Sanitation Minister took charge of the Emfuleni wastewater system) and the intervention by the SA Human Rights Commission. The latter issued a revealing report on the sewage pollution of the Vaal River in February
2021”, said Malcolm Plant, Chairman of Save the Vaal Environment.

The terms of the order highlight that the discharge of raw or partially treated sewage into the Vaal River is in contravention of the National Water Act and the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA).

The order requires the Minister of Water and Sanitation to provide an affidavit in 45 court days stating what has been done to deal with the problem and to attach an action plan with timelines.

In addition, the order requires:

• The Minister of Environmental Affairs to provide an affidavit concerning criminal
investigations relating to contraventions of the Environmental Act.
• The DWS Minister is directed to invite and allow both SAVE the Vaal and the River
Property & Safety Association to participate in quarterly engagement meetings to
update them on the progress of the action plan. Meetings are to include persons with
the technical expertise of the implementation and SAVE and RPSA must be given 7 days
notice of such meetings.
• All parties have agreed to approach the Deputy Judge President to appoint a case
manager to proceed with the matter.
• If SAVE and the RPSA are dissatisfied with the progress, they are entitled to
approach the court for further intervention.
• The question of costs was reserved.
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“We look forward to building a relationship with the relevant authorities because all parties
are working towards the same goal of a clean Vaal River within the Emfuleni jurisdiction”,
said Malcolm Plant.