Court sets aside the environmental authorisation for K148 road construction.

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21-04-2026
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A full bench of the Johannesburg High Court has set aside two environmental authorisations granting the Gauteng provincial government permission to develop the K148 Tambo Springs access road, south of Joburg.

The case was brought by Port of Gauteng developer NT55 Investments, which objected to development of the road without proper environmental evaluations.

The proposed 5km road would have cut through a sensitive wetland ecosystem that is home to five Red Data bird species, as well as critical watercourses and environmental buffers.

NT55 CEO Francois Nortjé says he was forced to take the matter to court because his own project, Port of Gauteng, has a superior position in terms of roads, services and location, and no environmental issues.

The provincial government was attempting to short-circuit the law and fudge the environmental impact of its proposed route.

“Now there are wannabe competitors to the Port of Gauteng, who have serious environmental and service issues, and they want to push the cost of the environment and road construction to the public,” Nortjé previously told Moneyweb.

The case so far has cost him R16 million, for the ultimate cost of taxpayers.

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) record of decision for the road was granted in 2016 with a 30m buffer around the sensitive floodplain, but this was later removed from the amended record of decision when Nortjé challenged it in court – and the new record included seven more properties.

Parks Tau, then environmental MEC for Gauteng, deposed in an affidavit that allowing the road to traverse wetlands without proper environmental authorisation was the intention from the start.

The department removed findings to fix the so-called error that did not allow the road into the floodplain, and Nortjé says the provincial government’s attempt to fix the error does not comport with the law.

The road, and the problem

The proposed K148 is regarded by the provincial Department of Roads and Transport (Gautrans) as a vital link to the Tambo Springs logistics gateway and is intended to serve the Tambo Springs Freight Hub and surroundings townships.

The freight hub is part of a wider plan, including an upgrade of the Durban harbour, to divert freight traffic from Durban off the N3 highway onto rail.

The K148 is 30 years in the planning, having been approved in June 1996 as part of the PWV Strategic Road Network.

The planned road traverses 15 properties, but only seven were in the EIA – one of the reasons the court found the public participation process was inadequate.

The project gained some momentum in 2001 when Total SA applied to Sanral to build two Petroports along the N3 highway, close to the planned K148 route. Sanral approved the proposal, subject to Total providing Gautrans with certain safeguards over the planned route. Total then effectively donated the land to Gautrans.

A few more problems …

The plan was to transfer the land to Sanral, which would control the N3-K148 interchange.

The Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development applied for an environmental authorisation. The environmental report identified grasslands and endangered vegetation, and the project would require a water-use licence.

Engineers explored various ways to avoid the floodplain in the area, and suggested an elevated roadway more than four metres above ground, but this conflicted with Gautrans’s intention to connect the K148 to the existing K146.

The environmental report was circulated for public comment, but the court judgment notes that several affected properties were omitted from the environmental authorisation.

This rendered the environmental authorisation non-compliant and raised questions as to the validity of the public participation process.

NT55 became aware of the proposed development in August 2019 and fired off letters to the provincial government expressing concerns over the planned K148 and asked for a copy of the environmental authorisation.

Tender

Later in 2019, Gautrans invited bidders to tender for the road construction, prompting NT55 to demand an undertaking that construction would not proceed pending a review of the environmental authorisation (EA).

Both sides came to an agreement that NT55 would postpone its application for an urgent interdict, but the matter eventually went to court in February 2022, when NT55 secured an interdict against any construction on the K148.

In 2020, NT55 lodged an objection to an EA amendment by Gautrans to include seven properties it had previously excluded from its report.

The provincial Department of Agriculture then removed a prohibition on development on the floodplain and amended the official reasons for its original decision.

In March 2021, NT55 launched internal appeals against these amendments, but that was dismissed by the MEC.

The company launched a second application in March 2022 to set aside the MEC’s decision. This eventually landed up in the high court, which dismissed both review applications.

‘No’ says high court

This latest ruling by a full bench of the Joburg High Court sets aside these previous decisions.

“Important environmental concerns were not addressed at all in the EIA report,” reads the ruling.

“The Public Participation Process was non-compliant. In those circumstances remittal to GDARD (Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development) would likewise serve no purpose. The only proper outcome is a refusal of the application. If Gautrans wishes to pursue construction of the K148, it must bring a fresh and compliant application for an environmental authorisation.”

Costs were awarded against the provincial government MECs cited as respondents, and the head of department for GDARD.