IOL Newcastle Municipality found liable after High Court rules businesses were wrongfully shut down over unsupported pollution claims.
The Newcastle Municipality has been found liable for damages after a High Court ruled that it wrongfully shut down local businesses based on allegations of pollution that were not supported by evidence.
The ruling follows a legal challenge by Newcastle Industrial Launders CC, its owner Faizel Cassim, RF Screen Printers (Pty) Ltd, and Roelien Andie Venter, who sued the municipality for R18.6 million in damages.
According to the POST, the businesses argued that the municipality caused them financial losses after obtaining an urgent court interdict in October 2021 that stopped them from disposing of alleged contaminated waste and resulted in their water supply being cut.
They claimed the municipality’s allegations that they were releasing harmful effluent into the sewage and stormwater systems were false and unsupported.
