Bhisho wants municipal officials charged for environmental violations

Bhisho wants officials from three Eastern Cape municipalities to be criminally prosecuted for failing to ensure municipal trucks and people did not illegally dump outside a tip site, failing to ensure fires were put out at a tip site and failing to prevent raw sewage spilling into rivers.

The portfolio committee on economic development, environmental affairs & tourism (Dedeat) visited tip sites in Buffalo City, Inxuba Yethemba and Walter Sisulu municipalities in September and discovered a raft of environmental law violations.

The officials saw fires burning for days at the Beacon Bay dumpsite in East London and raw sewage flowing into the Fish River in Cradock, which supplies drinking water to residents.

The committee said the continued violation of environmental laws had compelled it to hand over a docket to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for possible prosecution of municipal officials.

For much of the year there were regular fires at the Beacon Bay tip site, while the Berlin tip has not been used for months. Residents and even BCM trucks dumped piles of rubbish just metres from the gate.

The Dukathole tip in Aliwal North was in a similar state.

In a report tabled in Bhisho last week, Dedeat portfolio committee chairperson Pumelele Ndamase said: “The department handed over case dockets related to the non-compliance of environmental laws to the NPA.”

Ndamase's report recommended that the department update the committee on steps taken by the NPA within 30 working days.

Questioned further, Ndamase said he was on holiday and did not readily have the information pertaining to the docket.

DA MPL Yusuf Cassim, who serves on the Dedeat committee, said in Cradock the case of raw sewage flowing into the Fish River was one of the cases referred to the NPA.

In BCM, he said, the case dockets related to negligence of the handling of the Beacon Bay landfill site. “It’s a breach of legislation,” Cassim said.

“There was negligence and some of these officials were accessories to the flouting of environmental laws. “The biggest issue is that the department doesn’t have enough environmental inspectors — they only have 27 throughout the province.”

Beacon Bay councillor Marion Mackley, who has been at war with BCM over its solid waste practices for several years, said: “I've been dealing with this at a ward level. This is a step in the right direction.”

Dedeat provincial spokesperson Ncedo Lisani said: “We are unfortunately unable to disclose this in information [of how many officials are implicated] at this stage as it relates to personal information of individuals.”

Lisani said the NPA had not yet formally charged anyone.

BCM spokesperson Samnkelo Ngwenya said it would be “ill-advised” for the municipality to comment or publicly engage on the matter for a number of reasons, including its sensitivity.

“The norm is that we have standard operating procedures between ourselves and the department on the management of such sites and we are also guided by intergovernmental relations frameworks that have very clear lines of communications.”

Inxuba Yethemba municipality mayor Ray Shweni and municipal manager Xolela Msweli could not be reached for comment.

DA MPL Retief Odendaal, who opened a criminal case in July regarding the Fish River spillage, welcomed the committee's move.

“It will take a while to close the matter because it's very complicated. It will be the first time that criminal charges are brought against officials who don't take action.

“This is groundbreaking,” he said.