The Department of Water and Sanitation made its intentions clearer when it fined Nigel Blaker, a farmer in Estcourt, R1.5-million for using water illegally.
The administration fee was for the violation of the National Water Act. Blaker broke the law and violated his water use licence when he went beyond a set boundary and built an illegal dam in one portion of his Winchester farm. This he did without acquiring authorisation from the department.
The farm is located under the Pongola and uMzimkhulu water management area in KwaZulu-Natal.
The department said: “The unlawful activity was discovered during a compliance monitoring inspection carried out back in 2018, and subsequently a notice of intention to issue a directive in terms of section 53[1] [a] of the National Water Act of 1998 was issued.
“A directive was later issued, instructing Mr Blaker to cease unlawful water uses and demolish the unlawful dam.”
After exhausting all avenues, the department opened a criminal case against the farmer at the Estcourt police station.
Thandi Mopai, director for compliance, monitoring and enforcement at the department, said: “On 19 January 2023, a mediation agreement between Mr Blaker and the department was reached, and as a result an administrative fee of R1.5-million was paid by Mr Blaker to the department’s account.”
The parties also agreed that Blaker will apply for water use authorisation for the illegal dam within 60 days, which will be subjected to normal processes.
This is part of the ongoing work by the department as a regulator of the water and sanitation sector, to uproot and eradicate all unauthorised and illegal use of water resources, said the department.
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