Drilling a borehole is not a free for all and there are laws to adhere to, a legal expert warns.
South Africans are drilling boreholes at a pace not seen in years as households look for alternatives to unreliable municipal supply, rising tariffs and infrastructure failures, but many homeowners are doing so without meeting the legal requirements - and in some cases, without realising they are breaking the law.
This is according to law expert Cor van Deventer, director at law firm Van Deventer Dowlath & Marx Incorporated. He says the surge in private boreholes has created a growing compliance gap evidenced by municipalities tightening enforcement and recent incidents with serious legal and financial consequences.
“There’s a perception that if you own the land, you can drill wherever you want. But that’s not how the law works. Groundwater is a national resource, and both the National Water Act and municipal bylaws set out clear obligations. Homeowners are often unaware of these requirements, which is where the risk lies."
In February last year, an illegally drilled borehole above a section of the Gautrain tunnel in Killarney caused structural damage and triggered legal action. The driller had not obtained the required permissions, had not checked for servitudes, and they had drilled in a restricted zone. The incident triggered soil and water seepage, which led to the suspension of services between Park and Rosebank stations, and repairs estimated at over R1 million.
