Sibongakonke Shoba

General Reporter

Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa has been asked to institute an inquiry into the agriculture, conservation and environment department’s approval of at least eight multimillion-rand developments.

The developments include a golf estate on Gary Player’s farm.

The call was made by the Democratic Alliance (DA). The DA’s Hendrika Kruger said: “These developments involve huge amounts of money that has probably made it very tempting to cut corners or even bribe people of influence.”

She said the Blair Atholl golf estate was worth more than R800m with 329 stands at R2,3m-R9m each.

The Clearwater Estate in Boksburg and the Ebotse Golf Country Club in Benoni, where developers allegedly ignored development restrictions, were worth R300m and R500m respectively.

The DA said that agriculture, conservation and environment MEC Khabisi Mosunkutu overruled environmental decisions and advice from experts in his department against certain developments.

“We believe that a commission of inquiry chaired by a senior advocate or a judge is needed to examine all the allegations surrounding these developments, including specifically the role of MEC Mosunkutu and top department officials,” Kruger said yesterday.

Department spokesman Sizwe Matshikiza said the DA had asked Shilowa for a commission of inquiry, and the department did not wish to pre-empt his response.

“We remain convinced that decisions taken by MEC Mosunkutu are guided by the constitution of the country, national policies and the Gauteng provincial government’s strategic objectives,” Matshikiza said.

Kruger said developers of the Blair Atholl golf estate, on Player’s land in Fourways, got a positive record of decision in 2005 without the necessary support from experts, who were against the development. The developer began construction in 2004 without approval from local and provincial authorities.

The Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy and the Environmental Conservation Association objected and appealed against the development, and wrote to Mosunkutu and Environment Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk, but to date nothing had happened.

In another case, a developer who allegedly got an illegal positive record of decision in 2005 to build a petrol station on a Boksburg wetland, said Mosunkutu gave him verbal permission to go on with construction as the department lost evidence against him during a fire, Kruger said.

She said that the department had investigated construction of the station after a public outcry, and applied to the Johannesburg High Court for an interdict against the developer to stop construction.

Court papers showed that the then departmental head, Trish Hanekom, gave a negative record of decision, but the developer managed to get a positive decision with Hanekom’s forged signature. Kruger mentioned a number of developments where developers had ignored restrictions and had built “right at the floodline”.

Concerned parties were ignored or had their appeals turned down when they raised their objections.

Source: Business Day