GroundUP
The Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal application by Makana mayor, Mzukisi Mpahlwa and Municipal Manager, Moppo Mene, who were earlier found in contempt of a Grahamstown High Court order.
Their appeal was dismissed on Monday after the judges found that there was no possibility of success and no compelling reasons provided why it should be heard.
The application followed a hard-hitting judgment in March in which the Mayor and Municipal Manager were sentenced to six-months imprisonment for failing to heed a 2015 court order that they improve the landfill site outside the city.
The contempt of court application was brought by the civic organisation, the Makana Unity League in June last year and in March this year, acting judge Mickie Mfenyana found Mphalwa and Mene to be in contempt of the court for willfully ignoring the earlier ruling.
She sentenced them to six months imprisonment, which could only be wholly suspended on condition that they comply with the relevant municipal and environmental legislation regarding the management of the landfill site.
In her earlier ruling, Judge Mfenyana stated that Mene and Mphalwa were fully aware of the conditions of the site, the environmental hazard posed by the toxic state of the site and recurrent fires”
The judge also sent a copy of Mene’s affidavit to the office of the national director of public prosecutions for investigation "on the grounds of committing perjury' after he argued that the municipality had met the terms of the 2015 court order.
(Picture: Lucas Nowicki for © 2020 GroundUp.)
