SCA dismisses 'meritless' appeal by two environmental organisations

TimesLIVE

29-05-2025

The Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed with costs an appeal by two environmental organisations against the awarding of a water use licence issued to Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd in 2016.
The SCA said the Endangered Wildlife Trust and the Federation for a Sustainable Environment vexatiously pursued the appeal under section 149(1) of the National Water Act (NWA) and it had no merit.
The court said the organisations could not be insulated from costs orders regarding two considerations.
One was the Biowatch principle, namely that the general rule in constitutional litigation is that an unsuccessful litigant ought not to be ordered to pay costs to the state.
The organisations had argued that the high court proceedings were instituted to vindicate environmental rights which were genuine and not frivolous. The second was that they acted reasonably in the protection of the environment.
The SCA said Biowatch did not assist the organisations.
The Constitutional Court, in the Biowatch case, said a party should not be immunised from appropriate sanctions if its conduct had been 'vexatious, frivolous, professionally unbecoming or in any other similar way abusive of the processes of the court'.
'That is the case here. The appellants, who throughout have been represented by senior and junior counsel, vexatiously pursued the section 149(1) appeal, which has no merit,' said judge of appeal Ashton Schippers in a unanimous judgment of the full bench.
Atha-Africa Ventures, the owner of Yzermyn Underground Coal Mine outside Wakkerstroom in Mpumalanga, had acquired coal-prospecting rights to an area of 8,360ha, covering 12 privately owned farms in Mpumalanga. In 2013, it was granted a mining right in respect of only five farms.