Makana Municipality is considering taking the Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Agency (ECPHRA) to court after the agency notified the municipality that their permit to erect a bus terminus on Bathurst Street has been withdrawn.
Makana Municipality is considering taking the Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Agency (ECPHRA) to court after the agency notified the municipality that their permit to erect a bus terminus on Bathurst Street has been withdrawn.
According to Makana Municipal spokesperson Thandy Matebese, the permit was initially not approved by ECPHRA as the application did not include an environmental impact assessment (EIA). They were therefore advised by the South African Heritage Resources Agency to re-apply. They did so and received the permit.
"On Tuesday, 29 June, they [ECPHRA] told us verbally that the permit was invalid." Matebese added that they requested a written statement which communicates that the ECPHRA wants to withdraw the permit as it is invalid.
Matebese said that the municipality wrote to ECPHRA on Wednesday 14 July stating that if they do not receive a letter within 14 days, they will go ahead with construction. But a written letter was only received it on Monday, 18 October stating that the permit was invalid.
The letter, which was signed by the ECPHRA chairperson Cameron Dokoda, states that it has come to the attention of the ECPHRA council that the consultant appointed by the municipality on the bus terminus project submitted an application for a permit although the application that had been submitted earlier was not approved.
"According to the National Heritage Act, the applicant should have appealed to the full ECPHRA council, instead of re-applying. In view of this, you are hereby informed that the permit issue for the above project is invalid and you are advised to appeal and wait for the results of the appeal," the letter read.
Matebese said that ECPHRA withdrew the permit on the basis that the municipality did not follow the correct procedures. Matebese added that the ECPHRA should have notified the municipality the moment they detected a procedural fault.
"Their negligence should not be an excuse. Something must have gone wrong from their side." Matebese said that the legal action they are considering will look at the costs and time incurred by proceeding with the plans for the bus terminus while the municipality was under the impression they were in possession of a permit.
Meanwhile, Dokoda confirmed that he did write a letter to the municipality informing them that their permit has been withdrawn. He said that there was no proper recording of this permit as they "erroneously issued the permit". "What they need to do is to appeal to a full council meeting," he said.
Dokoda added that this would assist in understanding why the permit was rejected. He added that the municipality does not have to take them to court because once the municipality follows the procedure to appeal, their request will be considered by the council.
Legal representatives for both the municipality and the Commemoration Methodist Church will be present during the appeal and the project will be re-evaluated. The church is heavily objecting to the project as the proposed location for the bus terminus is near a heritage site- the Anglo Boer War memorial statue as well as the church itself which is a national monument.
