Question NW1856 to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional AffairsQUESTION
27 September 2021 - NW1856
George, Dr DT to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional AffairsQUESTION
Whether Knysna Local Municipality is responsible for the maintenance of retaining sea wall surrounding Leisure Isle in Knysna, if not who is responsible for the maintenance of the sea wall, if so what are the relevant details of (a) Maintenance that was undertaken on the wall over the past five years and (b) What are the plans for future maintenance of the wall?
Reply:
a) Due to the ongoing dispute between the three role-players, Knysna LM, SANPARK and the Leisure Island Rate Payers Association about who is responsible for maintenance of such wall, no significant maintenance was done in the past five years. An Environmental Approval was issued by DEA&DP in 2019 to assigned to the Island Rate Payers Association to work on the sea wall.
b) The responsible party has not been formally identified and all maintenance remains on hold.
There is currently a formal IGR dispute between the Knysna Local Municipality and SANPARKS in relation to the above. Knysna Local Municipality disputes liability for maintenance of the seawall and so does SANPARKS.
A formal IGR has been declared by the Knysna Local Municipality to resolve the dispute as to whether Knysna or SANPARKS should be responsible for the maintenance of the seawall. The dispute is still ongoing, but there are current attempts to facilitate a resolution. The dispute is however still ongoing and is not yet resolved.
The Acting Municipal Manager of Knysna Local Municipality on 8 December 2020 (attached as ANNEXURE A), requested that the Western Cape Provincial Government (WCG) designate a facilitator to assist with resolving the dispute between the Knysna Local Municipality (KLM) and SANParks regarding the repair and maintenance of the Leisure Island seawall.
The following three-pronged approach has been proposed to address the issue:
- The Development Management unit of DEA&DP in the George Office, will engage with the officials of the KLM and SANParks to see whether a longer-term solution can be found to the conflict relating to the responsibility for the maintenance of the Leisure Island seawall and research on the history of the dispute.
- Based on the outcomes of the engagement with the officials of KLM and SANParks, consider recommending the appointment of a facilitator (or facilitate such) to involve the parties in a high-level engagement which is documented in detail, to try and resolve the issue.
- Should the above approach not be successful in finding a solution, KLM will then forward all records to the DFFE, to prove that the parties have indeed undertaken every reasonable effort to resolve the dispute.
There is no set date on the outcome and no timelines determined but will depend on the procedures of the IGR dispute.