FORMAL LEGAL NOTICE: BREACH OF CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY OBLIGATIONS

Environmental Health Crisis - ClayOven and GingerPark Informal Settlements

TO: Mayor Dada Morero, City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality
DATE: August 31, 2025
RE: Failure to Execute Constitutional Duties Under Sections 152, 153 and Multiple Legislative Frameworks

 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This formal notice serves to document the City of Johannesburg's (CoJ) systematic failure to discharge its constitutional and statutory obligations regarding environmental health, service delivery, and administrative justice in relation to the ClayOven and GingerPark informal settlements. The affected residents, as taxpayers whose municipal valuations continue to increase annually, demand immediate remedial action based on clear legal precedent and enforceable performance standards.

CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE BREACHES

1. CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS

Section 152 - Municipal Objects: CoJ has failed to ensure "sustainable provision of services" and "promote social and economic development" as constitutionally mandated. The continued operation of these settlements without proper environmental controls directly contravenes these fundamental municipal objects.

Section 153 - Developmental Duties: CoJ has breached its developmental duty to "structure and manage its administration, budgeting and planning processes to give priority to the basic needs of the community" by failing to address the basic sanitation and environmental health needs of both informal settlement residents and surrounding suburban communities.

2. MUNICIPAL SYSTEMS ACT CONTRAVENTIONS

Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, Chapter 6 - Performance Management: CoJ has failed to implement measurable Key Performance Indicators linked to environmental health outcomes as required by the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) framework.

Municipal Systems Act, Chapter 8 - Municipal Services: The failure to maintain service standards for air quality management and waste management constitutes a direct breach of municipal service delivery obligations.

3. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH LEGISLATIVE FAILURES

National Health Act 61 of 2003: CoJ's Environmental Health units have demonstrably failed to implement municipal health services including:

Water quality monitoring in the Braamfontein Spruit
Waste management health oversight
Communicable disease surveillance
Environmental pollution controls
National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act 39 of 2004: As the designated air quality authority, CoJ has failed to:

Monitor ambient air conditions effectively
Enforce emission standards
Provide public access to air quality information
Implement Air Quality Management Plan interventions
National Environmental Management: Waste Act 59 of 2008: The systematic illegal dumping and waste burning violates waste hierarchy principles, generator duties, and enforcement provisions that CoJ is obligated to implement through its Waste Management By-law (2013).

4. WATER SERVICES CONTRAVENTIONS

Water Services Act 108 of 1997 and Government Notice R509 of 2001: The discharge of raw sewage into the Braamfontein Spruit violates compulsory national standards for sanitation services and water quality protection that CoJ must enforce through its Water Services By-laws (2023).

ADMINISTRATIVE JUSTICE VIOLATIONS

Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA): CoJ's failure to respond adequately to written complaints and conduct proper environmental impact assessments constitutes procedurally unfair administrative action. The documented passing of responsibility between departments without resolution violates residents' rights to lawful, reasonable, and procedurally fair administrative action.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT FAILURES

Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plan (SDBIP) Non-Compliance

Under the Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003, CoJ must deliver measurable quarterly service targets including:

Environmental health inspection coverage rates
Air quality compliance monitoring
Response times for health nuisance complaints
Waste management enforcement actions
The systematic failure to address environmental health violations in these settlements represents material non-performance against SDBIP commitments.

Auditor-General Material Irregularities

The ongoing environmental health crisis may constitute material irregularities under the Public Audit Act amendments, as service delivery failures are causing:

Financial losses through declining property values
Contraventions of environmental and health legislation
Unlawful expenditure on ineffective interventions
LEGAL PRECEDENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMS

Constitutional Court Guidance

Mazibuko v City of Johannesburg (2009): Established reasonableness standards for municipal service levels that CoJ is currently failing to meet regarding sanitation and environmental health.

Joseph v City of Johannesburg (2009): Confirmed municipalities' duty to act lawfully and fairly in service decisions, which includes proactive environmental health enforcement.

Provincial Intervention Authority

Persistent service delivery failures trigger provincial intervention powers under Constitution Section 139, including:

Directives to CoJ to comply with legislative obligations
Assumption of municipal environmental health functions
Council dissolution for continued non-compliance
ECONOMIC IMPACT AND DELICTUAL LIABILITY

The documented property value declines, vacant units, and business impacts at BryanBrook Estate, surrounding properties within a 5km radius, Porsche dealership, and St Peter's School establish clear economic damages resulting from CoJ's breach of statutory duties.

Service failures causing demonstrable harm create potential delictual liability claims against CoJ for:

Property value diminution
Health impacts from air and water pollution
Business losses from environmental degradation
IMMEDIATE LEGAL DEMANDS

1. TRANSPARENCY AND DISCLOSURE

Under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), we demand immediate release of:

2024 environmental impact studies referenced
Current SDBIP performance data for environmental health indicators
Air Quality Management Plan implementation status
Emergency response protocols for informal settlement health hazards
2. REMEDIAL ACTION PLAN

CoJ must within 30 days provide a comprehensive remedial action plan addressing:

Air Quality Compliance: Immediate enforcement of Air Quality Act emission standards and public health advisories
Water Quality Protection: Emergency intervention to prevent raw sewage discharge into Braamfontein Spruit
Waste Management Enforcement: Implementation of Waste Management By-law (2013) penalties for illegal dumping and burning
Environmental Health Response: Deployment of Environmental Health units for comprehensive facility inspections and compliance orders
3. PERFORMANCE MONITORING

Establish quarterly reporting mechanisms with measurable KPIs including:

Air quality monitoring data publication
Water quality compliance rates
Environmental health inspection coverage
Response times for pollution complaints
ESCALATION NOTICE

Failure to provide substantive response within 30 days will result in:

PAJA Review Applications challenging CoJ's administrative failures
Provincial Intervention Requests under Constitution Section 139
Auditor-General Referrals for material irregularity investigations
Delictual Claims for economic and health damages
IPID Complaints regarding JMPD's failure to enforce municipal by-laws\
 

WILDLIFE PROTECTION

We have an established plethora of wildlife that lives on the greenbelt, such as birdlife, buck, dassies, hedgehogs, porcupine and many more, that are being hunted by the illegal land invaders, these animals need our protection as well.

CONCLUSION

Mayor Morero, the Constitution and applicable legislation provide clear, enforceable obligations that CoJ is systematically violating. The affected residents possess multiple legal remedies and accountability mechanisms that will be pursued should CoJ continue to abdicate its constitutional and statutory responsibilities.

The time for public relations exercises has ended. Legal compliance and performance delivery are not optional - they are constitutional imperatives with serious consequences for continued non-compliance.

We await your substantive response within 30 days.

Submitted by: Affected Residents and Taxpayers
Contact: admin@lra.or.za 
Date: September 02, 2025

 
This notice is submitted under the constitutional right to administrative justice and municipal accountability frameworks established by South African law.