City mulls legal action against former Isipingo councillor
The municipality said protected trees were cleared from the site in Cato Crescent.
ETHEKWINI Municipality has confirmed that it is exploring legal options after excavation work to clear a vacant site of vegetation in Cato Crescent resulted in a protected and endangered forest being destroyed, (Ex councillor denies violating nature – December 10).
ALSO READ: Former councillor denies damaging greenbelt
The property’s owner, former ward 90 councillor, Sunil Brijmohan, denied any wrongdoing when asked about the developments. He indicated that his plan for the 13 000m² site is to build housing units, but will only use 2 500m² of it. The land borders a greenbelt next to the Amanzimtoti River.
Concerned residents raised the alarm after an excavating machine, under Brijmohan’s supervision, rolled in and uprooted trees, removing all vegetation on the stand.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, said the destruction of the natural forest on the site triggered Section 7 (1) of the National Forests Act.
“The National Department of Forestry has been alerted. A number of specimens of a specially protected species have been destroyed. This too has been sent to the mandated authority. There may be possible environmental impact assessment triggers in the matter and the provincial environmental authorities have been alerted to the issue for further investigation,” said Mayisela.
Dead birds and nests were found in the debris as well. Mayisela said an assessment was done on the site by the Biodiversity Management Department (BMD) and the previous owner was informed of the results. It was found to contain a number of specially protected and endangered species on it, including a functioning riparian system.
“A developable footprint was allocated to the previous land owner and that would have given them about 20-25% of the property to develop on. This would have been the area directly off the road. The remainder of the property was not to be impacted upon and protected as a biodiversity asset. An environmental impact assessment process was launched, but not pursued when the erstwhile land owner agreed to the proposed footprint. The current land owner chose to clear a large portion of the site including a good quality primary forest,” he said. Since a portion of the property falls under the Durban Metropolitan Open Space System (D’MOSS), Mayisela said an application would have had to have been forwarded to BMD for assessment prior to any excavation or development taking place. With the site being very steep, there is some concern about the danger to the remaining greenbelt and the river from erosion and sediment deposition. The city is exploring legal options in this matter,” concluded Mayisela.
In response, Brijmohan said there was no way the municipality could tell that he is to blame for the dead birds and destruction of the forest. “They only came to site 20 days after people complained. If they were doing their job as building inspectors efficiently then we would have not gone into the protected land,” he said.
DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics. To receive news links via WhatsApp or Telegram, send an invite to 061 694 6047.
The South Coast Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram – why not join us there? Do you have more information pertaining to this story? Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.
(Comments posted on this issue may be used for publication in the Sun)
