Roodefontein: Official quizzed

2003-11-24 11:21

George - A provincial official faced probing cross-examination on Monday on why he complied with a superior's instruction to draft an approval of the proposal for the Roodefontein development when he himself felt it should be rejected.

Dr Steve du Toit, the Western Cape department of environment and development planning's case officer on the R500m golf estate project at Plettenberg Bay, was in the witness box in the George regional court for the fourth successive day.

He was testifying in the trial of former Western Cape premier Peter Marais and his one-time environment MEC David Malatsi, who are alleged to have taken hundreds of thousands of rands in bribes in return for approval of the project.

The court has already heard that after a meeting with the Roodefontein developers in Marais's office on April 17 last year, at which they complained about delays in processing their application, Malatsi undertook to have a decision out of his department within days.

Immediately after the meeting Ingrid Coetzee, the departmental official in Cape Town with the delegated authority to issue a formal record of decision (ROD) on Roodefontein, asked Du Toit, who was in the department's George office, to draft a positive ROD.

Asked by Malatsi's advocate Pete Mihalik whether he would at any stage do something that he thought was irregular, inappropriate or would cause serious environmental problems, he replied: "Significant damage (to the environment) - no, I hope not."

Asked whether he would have drafted a positive ROD if he felt the development would create an ecological disaster, he said: "If I felt it would have long term significant detrimental effects on the environment I would certain have challenged Ingrid Coetzee's directive to (draft) an ROD, a positive ROD."

Pressed on how he saw his duty to the environment in the face of an order from a departmental senior that would have a negative impact, he said his drafting the document in itself would do no harm.

However the issuing of the ROD, and the developers' exercising their rights under the ROD, would.

Du Toit, who has already testified that he began drafting a negative ROD some six months earlier, said that at the time of Coetzee's request, he still felt the development should not be allowed, and that Coetzee was "perfectly aware" of his sentiments.

"She asked for a positive ROD to see what it would look like, so I didn't feel it was clear-cut that it was going to be authorised."

He did not know what her reasons were for asking for the ROD.

Evidence has been that Coetzee in fact ultimately declined to issue an ROD of any sort, telling her department head she did not have enough information to make a decision.

Malatsi relieved her of her delegated authority on April 19, and soon afterwards the department approved the project, albeit with conditions.

- SAPA