Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
ActionSA accuses City of misleading public about waste
WITH just four days since the start of the City of Cape Town's public participation meetings, on its pumping of sewage into the ocean, Action SA is already expressing dissatisfaction with the process.
The party has accused of lying to the public on compliance.
Sandie MacDonald, ActionSA's Western Cape provincial executive member, said the City did not comply with the terms and requirements outlined in the Hout Bay Marine Outfall Permit issued to the City in 2019.
He said during the meeting in Hout Bay on Thursday evening, the public was informed by a consultant appointed by the City to oversee the public participation process on the City's behalf that the City was fully compliant with the permit requirements. “ActionSA strongly disagreed with this assertion.”
The meetings for public participation came after Forestry, Fisheries and Environmental Affairs Minister Barbara Creecy ordered that there be a second round of meetings after deeming the first round, in 2015, as “inadequate, outdated, and should be redone to give effect to the right to just administrative action”.
MacDonald said, “The public participation process is intended to enhance transparency and accountability in the authorities' decisionmaking regarding the issuance of these permits. Thus far, we have not witnessed much of either.”
He said ActionSA submitted an application for and received information from the City regarding the 2019 permit for the Hout Bay Marine Outflow Pipeline, and that based on the information obtained from the city, it was evident they had failed to meet many of the requirements.
“The most crucial provisions of the permit pertain to effluent quantity (flow) monitoring and quality monitoring. According to City records from January 2022 to January 2023, the City consistently exceeded the permitted quantity and quality requirements. During the recent meeting, a City official the City issues of stated that no more than 5000m³/ day is discharged at the Hout Bay pipeline.
“This statement contradicted the City's own records, which showed flows of up to 12 500m³ a day. Furthermore, the City has not fulfilled any of the reporting obligations.
“They are obligated to report to the department each instance of discharge that exceeds the prescribed limits,” said MacDonald.
McDonald said that following these admissions, Action SA intended filing criminal charges against the City.
Mayco member for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, said the minister was considering appeals to her department regarding the granting of permits for the three marine outfalls in the City of Cape Town.
“Unfortunately, the decision to uphold the appeal is being made eight years after the initial public participation was conducted. The minister has determined that the city should collate fresh public inputs for all three marine outfalls to enable her to decide the merits of the appeal,” said Badroodien.
“There is a public participation process under way where stakeholders can give input into the Marine Outfalls Operating Licenses,” he said.
“We encourage all interested stakeholders to participate in the public process and ensure that their inputs are recorded to form part of the public participation process.”
The most recent public participation meeting was held on Thursday, and the next one is taking place at the City's council chambers today.
The public participation process is intended to enhance transparency and accountability in the authorities’ decisionmaking regarding the issuance of these permits. Thus far, we have not witnessed much of either.
SANDIE MACDONALD
ActionSA Western Cape provincial executive member