ISimangaliso wins groundbreaking court case

A NATURE conservation authority’s right to police “buffer zones” around parks was confirmed in a groundbreaking court decision this week.

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority objected to a developer building holiday homes on a buffer zone on the banks of Mgoboseleni Lake.

iSimangaliso objected to the development because the company didn’t have necessary permission for building in that area.

Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Daya Pillay ruled on Friday that the two homes built on the site must be torn down, and the owners had until the end of December to vacate the area.

Judge Pillay also ordered that the legal costs of iSimangaliso and the KZN Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs, the second respondent in this matter, be paid jointly by the respondents.

The respondents included the developers Feasey Property Group Holdings and 12 others.

The development happened in the Sodwana Bay section of the park, which was declared South Africa’s first World Heritage site in 1999. The park is home to an array of unique eco-systems.

Buffer zones are located on or outside park boundaries and are restricted areas.

At iSimangalio, buffer zones protect water sources.

The lake is considered extremely important as a nursery for marine life dependent on fresh and sea water.

It emerged in court that iSimangaliso had objected when the development was proposed in 2010 and asked the developer to acquire the necessary consent.

But the developer began to sell sites, regardless of iSimangaliso’s objections.

Judge Pillay said iSimangaliso had acted within its statutory duty by taking “effective and active measures to protect and conserve natural heritage”.