NT55 Investments CEO Francois Nortjé says infrastructure must comply with the law and that bypassing environmental regulations ultimately shifts costs onto the public. Picture: Supplied Port of Gauteng developer Francois Nortjé has brought an application before the Joburg High Court challenging the lawfulness of the Gauteng provincial government’s environmental approval for a new K148 road linking the N3 toll road to the Tambo Springs area south of Johannesburg. The proposed 5km road cuts through a sensitive wetland ecosystem that is home to five Red Data bird species, as well as critical watercourses and environmental buffers.
Nortjé was previously granted an interdict, but the request for a judicial review of the decision was rejected. The provincial government is appealing the interdict and Nortjé is appealing the court’s decision to turn down the review, arguing that the decision-making process that enabled the project to proceed was fraught with procedural, legal and environmental irregularities. The Department of Environmental Affairs changed the environmental conditions for the new road without considering the impact on the wetlands, thereby making it easier for this road to be built.
“There are material inconsistencies and omissions in the approvals process,” says Nortjé. “In the base environmental application for the land development, environmental specialists appointed by the developer of that land originally recommended a 200m buffer around the wetland due to its ecological importance and sensitivity. “This was inexplicably reduced to 30m by officials in the Department of Environmental Affairs in the development’s environmental application approval in 2012. “Now there are wannabe competitors to the Port of Gauteng, who have serious environmental and service issues, and they want to push the cost of the environment and road construction to the public,” adds Nortjé.
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