The two parties were initially charged with six counts of having contravened the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 and the National Environmental Management Waste Act 59 of 2008 but it was later reduced to three counts. On Thursday, September 21, Southern Sky Hotel and Leisure (Pty) Ltd, was fined R3 million and Rinderknecht R5 million or five years imprisonment of which R3 million or three years imprisonment was suspended for a period of five years, on condition that she is not convicted of a similar offence during the period of suspension.

Rinderknecht will subsequently have to pay a R2 million fine. An unconfirmed report said that Rinderknecht has settled the fine. According to an anonymous source, environmental law enforcement officers had for a number of years warned Rinderknecht of sewage spillages from her former hotel, the Hans Merensky Hotel, Golf and Spa, which she allegedly ignored.

Also read: Former Hans Merensky employees left in the dark

“When the hotel was initially built, the sewer system went through the Palabora Mining Company (PMC), but as the hotel grew and developed, the sewer system or infrastructure was not upgraded to accommodate the new development, and as a result, sewage started spilling into the rivers which run through the Kruger National Park,” the source said.

The Hans Merensky Hotel, Golf and Spa has been in the news in the last few years after it was bought by Indalo Hotels and Leisure and Afrirent Holdings, which is owned by businessman Senzo Tsabedze. Tsabedze bought the hotel at a public auction in November 2021. Although he had ownership of the facility, he had to fight to get access to his hotel as Rinderknecht refused the new owner access.

The hotel is now called BaPhalaborwa Hotel, Golf, and Spa, which is currently under renovation. The golf course will soon open and the hotel is expected to open next year. In recent weeks the Herald has published a number of stories on the sewage problems facing Phalaborwa and the tourism sector.