Wings Park Port Elizabeth (Pty) Ltd v MEC for Environmental Affairs & Tourism, Eastern Cape Provincial Government & Others (14 June 2018)
14 June 2018
High Court of the Republic of South Africa, Eastern Cape Division, Grahamstown
Case Number: 3917/17
Date: 14 June 2018
Judge: Plasket J
In this matter, the Court found that internal appeals under the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 are wide appeals. Plasket J described such appeals as “a determination de novo where the decision in question is subjected to reconsideration, if necessary on new or additional facts, with the body exercising the appeal power free to substitute its own decision for the decision under appeal.”
In the matter, the Eastern Cape provincial department responsible for environmental affairs (the MEC) dismissed an appeal against the decision of the Eastern Cape Provincial Department responsible for environmental affairs (DEDEAT) to grant environmental authorisation to the Wings Park Port Elizabeth (Pty) Ltd (Wings Park). Wings Park challenged the refusal by the DEDEAT to grant environmental authorisation to it on review, but chose not to challenge the decision of the MEC to dismiss its internal appeal.
The Court held that even if Wings Park was successful on review, the matter was moot because the internal appeal was a complete re-hearing of the application by the MEC and the decision of the MEC (dismissing the application for environmental authorisation) remained valid because Wings Park had not challenged it in its judicial review.