Appeal on water licence
Margret Molomo
Community leaders of KOPANO FORMATION attended the oral hearing appeal of the water tribunal court in Polokwane. Against the integrated water use license by the DWS( Department of Water and Sanitation) in favor of Ivanplats.The DWS and ivanplats have both failed to notify us of the application for a water use license and issuance of the water use license.
The DWS advised that the quickest way to decide on whether or not to appeal is when we request the mine to provide a copy of the WUL(Water use Licence). But the mine delayed in providing WUL. After the mine provided the WUL, Kopano formation filed a notice of intention to appeal.
However, the attempts to seek assistance from NGOs to compile the actual appeal were successful. We tried Legal Aid SA, CER, and LRC. Accordingly, we proceeded without legal representation until in March 2024, Thabela Attorneys agreed to assist with legal representation on a pro bono basis. However, in July 2024Thabela Attorneys indicated that it lacked capacity as the counsel(team of junior and senior advocates) was no longer available.
Madira Attorneys came on board only on 19 August 2024 on the provision that the hearing of the appeal is postponed to allow organizing Android to steady the matter. Madeira Attorneys submitted a formal application for the postponement but the Ivanplats mine proposed the postponement. Instead, it proposed that the tribunal hears its preliminary points which may be dispositive of the appeal.
The preliminary points are that the Kopano formation committee lacked locus standing because we did not file a written objection during THE IWULA and that when we appealed out of time, we failed to apply for condonation. In reply to the opposition to the application for condonation, the chairperson of THE WT set down a hearing on this aspect for 2 September 2024. This changed the schedule set out in the directives issued in May 2024 that on Monday 2nd September 2024, there would be a site inspection, but that never happened.
