In an official letter to the Mayor of the Emalahleni Local Municipality (ELM), Conny Nkalitshana , and the director of Local Environmental Affairs, Nonkululeko Mthombeni, the FF Plus requested an urgent investigation into construction activities that may have a detrimental impact on nearby marshlands.
The marshlands in Reynoridge in EPM (Kriel, Ogies, Phola, Emalahleni / Witbank) are slowly draining dry after a local guesthouse started constructing a wedding venue in the marshlands, across the street from the guesthouse, in March last year.
The FF Plus has not yet been able to confirm whether there are indeed legal building plans or that an environmental impact study has been conducted.
The FF Plus requested evidence for this from the Municipality.
If the Municipality fails to provide the necessary documentation, the FF Plus will lodge a formal complaint with the Green Scorpions and request an investigation.
There are various compelling reasons to prevent the drying up and loss of marshlands. When there are fewer marshlands to filter pollutants from surface water, the concentrations of those pollutants can increase significantly in the remaining marshlands.
The loss of marshlands can also reduce natural habitat, landscape diversity and symbiosis between aquatic resources.
According to the Bill of Rights, the environment must be conserved for the sake of current and future generations by preventing ecological decline.
The FF Plus will pressure the Municipality to fulfil its responsibilities in this regard.
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