Competing rights in focus in Silverton Ridge case

The case concerned an application by the MEC and the Head of the Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment for an interdict restraining the respondents from proceeding with the intended development of a series of three or four-storey cluster units on an undeveloped portion of Silverton Ridge in Pretoria. The respondents had disregarded a pre-compliance notice followed by compliance notices and directives issued in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) on the basis that they had not been validly issued and continued with the development despite serious objections by the applicants. The court held that the respondents were obliged to comply with the compliance notices and their decision to disregard them was seriously misconceived. The respondents should have made use of the internal remedies provided for in NEMA, including lodging an objection against the compliance notices or taking the notices on judicial review. The court, in granting a final interdict, noted that the development had the potential to cause serious and irreparable harm to the environment, ecology and biodiversity and that, if this occurred, it would have far-reaching and irreversible consequences for the broader society. Visit the EnAct International Web site Download the judgment