R5m fine and Thaba Chweu guilty of seven charges of polluting the environment
A task team investigation by political parties, the Mpumalanga Environmental Affairs' Green Scorpions and the Department of Water and Sanitation's Blue Scorpions reaped the rewards of two years' hard work in the Lydenburg Regional Court on Monday June 13.
The court found Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM) guilty of seven charges in terms of the National Environmental Managing Act (Nema) 107 of 1998 and the National Water Act 36 of 1988. This included pollution of the Dorps and Spekboom rivers in wards 2, 12 and 14, and the mismanagement of the Lydenburg landfill site and the two water treatment plants.
NPA spokesperson, Monica Nyuswa, says the docket was brought to the Director of Public Prosecutions’ office in 2021 for a decision to institute criminal charges. The matter was enrolled in April.
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The sentence
Municipal manager, Sphiwe Matsi, as accounting officer of TCLM, pleaded guilty to these seven charges. Charges one, four and five were combined. TCLM was sentenced to an R10m fine of which R5m was suspended on the condition that TCLM is not convicted under Nema and the National Water Act in the next five years. R4.8 million of the fine must be utilised to upgrade the sewerage infrastructure before November 1. The remaining R200 000 must be paid to the Department of Water and Sanitation and the Department of Environmental Affairs. Charges two, three, six and seven were combined and a fine of R5m or five years’ imprisonment was imposed. The sentence was suspended for five years on the condition that TCLM is not convicted under Nema and the National Water Act in the next five years. Magistrate MJ Ngobeni imposed several strict deadlines by which the progress of the reinstatement of infrastructure will be monitored by the Department of Water and Sanitation and the Department of Environmental Affairs.
Role players overjoyed
Spiros Couvaras, DA councillor of Ward 12 in TCLM, said the party is overjoyed by the sentencing. “We work hard for the community and to improve the quality of life. I want to thank the Green Scorpions and Blue Scorpions for their continued support and investigation in this case that lead to the guilty sentence today.” Couvaras spearheaded the investigation from Lydenburg.
He and other DA councillors, as well as Pompies Ledwaba of the Mashishing Civic Coalition and George Viljoen of Kellysville Concerned Citizens, took the investigation teams from Mbombela to different sites in and around Lydenburg where the degradation was the most evident. Ledwaba said,
“This is the happiest day. I prayed that this day would come. The issues are illegal waste sites, illegal dumping of waste, poorly performing water treatment sites and the landfill site creating air pollution. Sewerage is pumping through our houses in Mashishing, partly because of manholes that are blocked and broken. The magistrate ordered TCLM to make improvements and he wants the relevant department to be updated with its improvements. I sat with my Bible in the court and I think my prayers were heard today”.
Reaction from DA, member of parliament
“The court ruling that was passed against the accounting officer of TCLM is welcomed by the DA and is indeed a victory not just for us, but for the broader public. Justice has prevailed and the DA will continue to serve the people who elected it into office without fear or favour. I would like to thank every stakeholder involved in securing this victory. Without them, this case could have been dismissed. I call on every stakeholder to ensure that the municipality is held to account with regard to the judgement,” said Sonja Boshoff, DA Member of Parliament. Couvaras, Ledwaba, Boshoff, Viljoen and Gravett Herbst, recently retired DA Ward councillors, opened the cases against TCLM at the Lydenburg SAPS on different dates in 2020.
