DURBAN – The High Court in Pietermaritzburg has rejected an application by the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality for leave to appeal a landmark ruling that declared its handling of wastewater infrastructure unconstitutional and unlawful.
The full court bench, comprising judge M.J. Mathenjwa, judge president T.P Poyo-Dlwati, and judge P. Olsen, unanimously dismissed the city’s bid to take the matter to the supreme court of appeal, ordering eThekwini to pay punitive legal costs.
Leave to appeal presented on nine grounds
The underlying judgment, delivered in December 2025 following an application by the DA, found eThekwini in widespread breach of Section 24 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to an environment that is not harmful to health or well-being.
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The court had established that the municipality committed systemic violations of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), the National Water Act, the Waste Act, and the Integrated Coastal Management Act by allowing raw, untreated sewage to pour into residential areas, public rivers, and ocean beaches.
In seeking leave to appeal, eThekwini presented nine grounds, contending that the court failed to conduct a “reasonableness assessment” of the municipality’s repair efforts and erred in declaring its actions unlawful. The municipality pointed to financial limitations, rapid population growth, and infrastructure destruction caused by the April 2022 floods to defend its performance.
Severe compliance failures date back 5 to 7 years
However, Judge Mathenjwa found that regulatory directives issued by environmental authorities exposed severe compliance failures dating back five to seven years, well before the 2022 floods.
The judgment detailed appalling incidents of prolonged pollution, including unresolved sewage overflows into private homes in Phoenix that persisted since 2017, recurring contamination of the uMngeni River, and untreated effluent discharges at the Hillcrest and Northern Wastewater Treatment Works.
The court emphasised that eThekwini could not rely on vague financial constraints without providing full budgetary transparency regarding its resource allocations.
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The court also affirmed findings that eThekwini operated at least ten Wastewater Treatment Works without valid coastal discharge licenses, directly violating Section 69 of the Integrated Coastal Management Act.
Judge Mathenjwa upheld the court order requiring eThekwini to publish weekly E. coli bacterial readings for public beaches, noting that elevated contamination posed severe public health hazards. Dismissing all nine grounds of appeal, the court concluded that eThekwini lacked any reasonable prospect of success, ordering the municipality to pay the DA’s costs, including the expense of two counsel on Scale C.
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