DA welcomes courts intervention in ongoing eThekwini sewage case

24 January 2024

The Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal welcomes the order from the KwaZulu-Natal Judge President, Thoba Poyo-Dlwati in our case against the eThekwini Municipality for the ongoing sewage crisis plaguing our city and beaches ( view here).

The municipality had failed repeatedly to file answering affidavits by the set deadlines with the court to our papers that seek an action plan to resolve the sewage crisis once and for all.

It is unthinkable that the municipality can treat the court with such disrespect and disdain but it is entirely in line with how they treat the residents of this city.

The court has ordered that eThekwini must file an application for condonation for their repeated failures to submit answering affidavits by the 8th of March 2024. At that point, the DA will consider whether we will oppose this application and move for the case to be placed on the unopposed roll.

eThekwini has also been instructed to file any further answering affidavits to the court by the 23rd of February 2024 as well as its heads of argument by the 25th of March 2024.

It has been more than a year since the DA filed our case with the High Court to seek relief for the residents of the city and bring an end to the sewage crisis. During this time, the municipality has sought to delay and frustrate the court process while our beaches remain closed and our streets are knee deep in sewage.

The DA in KZN will continue to have this case heard as soon as possible so that we can provide a court binding solution to this crisis which has brought so much personal and economic suffering to the residents of eThekwini.

Issued by Dean Macpherson, DA KZN Chairperson, 24 January 2024