Residents and taxpayers living near the Clay Oven and Ginger Park informal settlements have issued a formal legal notice to the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), accusing the municipality of breaching its constitutional and statutory obligations.

The notice, dated August 31 and addressed to Mayor Dada Morero, describes what the residents call a ‘systematic failure to discharge its constitutional and statutory obligations regarding environmental health, service delivery, and administrative justice in relation to the Clay Oven and Ginger Park informal settlements’.

Read more: Councillor petitions city to act over informal settlements

In the document, the residents argue that the city has failed to comply with Section 152 of the constitution, which requires municipalities to ensure the ‘sustainable provision of services’ and to ‘promote social and economic development’.

Further, they add that under Section 153, the city has ‘breached its developmental duty to structure and manage its administration, budgeting, and planning processes to give priority to the basic needs of the community’, by neglecting sanitation and environmental health for both informal settlement residents and surrounding suburban communities.

The legal notice further accuses CoJ of failing to meet legislative requirements under the Municipal Systems Act, the National Health Act, the Air Quality Act, the Waste Act, and the Water Services Act.

It highlights issues such as sewage flowing into the Braamfontein Spruit, ongoing illegal dumping and burning, and insufficient air and water quality monitoring.

The residents state that ‘the systematic illegal dumping and waste burning violates waste hierarchy principles, generator duties, and enforcement provisions that CoJ is obligated to implement through its Waste Management By-law (2013)’.

On the administrative front, the residents say the city has failed to respond adequately to their written complaints, passing responsibility between departments without resolution. “The documented passing of responsibility between departments without resolution violates residents’ rights to lawful, reasonable, and procedurally fair administrative action,” the notice reads.

Also read: Clay Oven informal settlement waste site finally gets government attention

The economic impact is also a key concern. The notice argues that ‘the documented property value declines, vacant units, and business impacts at Bryan Brook Estate, surrounding properties within a 5km radius, a Porsche dealership, and St Peter’s School, establish clear economic damages resulting from CoJ’s breach of statutory duties’.

Environmental concerns extend to wildlife in the greenbelt, which, the residents, say are being placed at risk. “We have an established plethora of wildlife that lives on the greenbelt, such as birdlife, buck, dassies, hedgehogs, porcupines, and many more, which are being hunted by the illegal land invaders. These animals need our protection as well.”

The residents are demanding urgent intervention. They have given the city 30 days to produce a remedial action plan addressing air quality compliance, water quality protection, waste management enforcement, and environmental health responses.

The petition has singed been signed by 1 000 supporters so far. This is the link: Here

We have reached out to the city and mayor’s office for comment, but none was received at the time of going to print, despite following up.

Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok for the latest updates