A draft municipal by-law proposing to regulate recreational water-based activities such as yachting, canoeing and power boating will see people paying for a permit. File picture: Reuters
The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) says it has decided to withdraw the proposed regulations relating to access and use of government waterworks and surrounding state-owned land for recreational purposes.
According to the department the draft regulations were withdrawn after considering the comments received during public consultations as well as from written comments. “Newly proposed regulations will be reissued once the reviewing process is concluded,” said the department.
The proposed new Regulations Relating to Access and Use of Government Waterworks and Surrounding State-owned Land for Recreational that were recently presented by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) for public comment were a cunning plan to achieve the expropriation of water rights, AfriForum said today.
AfriForum said that in its presentation, the civil rights organisation will strongly object to the proposed regulations as they not only trample on recreational water users’ established rights, but also amount to a gross overreach of government power.
“The proposed measures threaten the existing rights of landowners, businesses, sports clubs and tourism operators that currently enjoy lawful access to dams across South Africa that are owned and managed by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), such as the Vaal Dam,” said the organisation.
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