The Western Cape High Court ruled in favour of the South African National Parks (SANParks) in the case of a Constantia man who was selling fresh water from a mountain stream by the truckload.
Earlier this year, local residents were shocked to find that Paul Baise had set up a water-selling business as the city recovered from the devastating drought.
The Blue Scorpions were alerted, and quickly shut Baise’s operation down in April 2019 – and found the resident had been selling most of his water to a company that fills swimming pools. He appeared in court, as he had erected pipes and sold water on what is SANParks property. He did so without a license and in contravention of the Water Act.
As previously reported, residents said when the drought was at its worst they would see as many as 20 trucks coming and going from his residence a day, and Baise even reportedly bragged to a neighbour that he was making R15 000 a day from his latest “business”, although he has denied these claims. Despite reporting the incident to various authorities, residents had not received responses.
Baise allegedly sold his water mainly to be used for refilling pools and residents in his area were reportedly more than happy to pay the price for a full pool.
As reported by News24, Advocate Sithe Ngombane from SANParks said that the Western Cape High Court handed the judgement down and will soon provide written reasons for the order.
Baise reportedly welcomed the outcome, and said that water and the environment must be kept safe for future generations.
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