The South African Human Rights Commission (HRC) has given the Department of Water and Sanitation 90 days to finalise its Hartbeespoort Dam shore lease policy and transformation plan, process outstanding applications, review previously terminated Permissions to Occupy, and conduct a full audit to regularise occupancy.
Madibeng is directed, also within ninety days, to clear its backlog of planning and business licence applications, finalise and gazette outstanding bylaws, develop a transformation plan for Hartbeespoort, and ensure fair enforcement of its regulations. Failure by either DWS or Madibeng to comply may result in legal proceedings being instituted against them.
The DWS is directed to conduct a full audit of all persons and entities currently occupying land along Hartbeespoort Dam, develop a plan to regularise occupancy through lawful means in compliance with the revised policy, and submit a report on legal action taken to address illegal occupation, particularly in cases involving historical privilege.
This follows allegations of racial discrimination in the allocation of state-owned land along the Hartbeespoort Dam shoreline. The complaint, lodged by the Hartbeespoort Community Development Initiative, alleged that black applicants were systematically excluded from leasing opportunities, while white residents benefited from continued access to state land. The investigation also considered allegations of maladministration by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), regulatory failures by Madibeng Local Municipality, and racial tensions among residents.
The Commission’s findings show that since 2012, the majority of lease applications were submitted by black applicants, yet only one was approved, compared with two approvals for white applicants and one for a mixed-race entity. By prioritising existing, mostly white, occupants and revoking permission to occupy without fair process, the DWS violated applicants’ rights to equality, dignity, and just administrative action. Its failures reflect indirect racial and gender discrimination and contradict its constitutional duty to advance transformation. Women, particularly black women, remain disproportionately excluded from the dam economy.
The HRC investigation further revealed that Madibeng failed to process planning and licensing applications timeously, to finalise and enforce bylaws, and to honour commitments to conduct land audits and promote equitable access to opportunities. These failures, though not racially motivated, exacerbated tensions, obstructed legitimate enterprises, and undermined transformation in Hartbeespoort.
Allegations of systemic racism against the South African Police Service were, however, not substantiated, given that the South African Police Service had attended to cases and continued to attend to cases lodged by black residents in Hartbeespoort.
In view of its findings, the Commission directed DWS, within ninety days, to finalise its revised lease policy and transformation plan, process outstanding applications, review previously terminated Permissions to Occupy, and conduct a full audit to regularise occupancy.
In response, the DWS said that it had responded to the HRC’s provisional findings. “DWS acknowledges the seriousness of the concerns raised by the Commission regarding historical disparities and the need to advance equality, dignity, and just administrative action, particularly in the areas of inequities in lease allocations, which are a product of historical arrangements and require active measures to redress. The Department remains firmly committed to addressing these concerns as part of its broader obligation to promote social justice, transformation, and equitable access to public resources,” DWS spokesperson Wisane Mavasa said.
Madibeng did not respond to a request for a response to the HRC’s directives.