High Court rules Msunduzi dump mismanagement unconstitutional

The court has given the municipality one month to file a plan of action for the dumpsite. This plan of action needs to be detailed and comprehensive; address all non-compliances identified; provide the steps the municipality will take to comply with the Revised Compliance Notice and the Variation Waste Management Licence.

The municipality is also required to set measurable, periodic deadline as well as monthly progress which all parties in the application will provide monthly comment on.

This ruling follows after The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) submitted an application against Msunduzi Municipality’s management of the England Road Landfill Site last year, calling the dump site’s mismanagement unconstitutional and a human rights violation.

The Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled that Msunduzi Municipality, which is the first respondent was in breach of Section 24 of the Constitution; the Waste Management Act, the Environmental Management Act and the National Water Act, as well as in violation of the municipality’s Waste Management License (WML).

The ruling is a massive victory for residents and schools in the city schools that have been fighting for action to be taken against the management of the dump, resulting in frequent hazardous fires omitting noxious fumes into the air and directly impacting on residents’ health and ability to perform daily duties. St John’s and St Charles had previously sought legal counsel regarding the dumpsite management which resulted in the SAHRC involvement in the matter.

The court order concluded that, based on the findings presented, the municipality’s operation of the dumpsite was “disturbing”.

“It shows scant regard for the health and wellbeing of its citizens and environment. The environmental harm caused by violating the terms of its WML and failing to fulfil its constitutional duty constitutes, in my view, a harm to its citizens,” concluded Judge J Seegobin.

“The issue of the landfill site is but a microcosm of the many other problems facing the citizens of Pietermaritzburg. This municipality like so many others in the country has simply lost touch with its citizens. The officials who are in charge of the municipality seem to forget that they are there only to serve the interests of everyone who lives and works in the municipality’s jurisdiction,” he said.

The judge commended the SAHRC and its team of investigators and legal representatives for “taking up and highlighting the issues surrounding the landfill site…in order to vindicate the constitutional rights of the citizens of Pietermaritzburg.”