The ”blue Scorpions” have opened 500 cases of water crime in a countrywide crackdown since it began operating in June. Some of these cases involve politicians and other powerful individuals, but the head of the water affairs department’s policing unit, Nigel Adams, refused to divulge the names of those who have violated the Water Act.
Last month Adams told Parliament that high-up individuals had tried to use their influence to stymie legal action. In one ”very sensitive case” in Mpumalanga, the politician concerned refused to cooperate with the unit and approached Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Lindiwe Hendricks. Offenders would sometimes bring MPs to meetings with the blue Scorpions.
Adams said such ”bullying tactics” would not deter the unit. ”Nobody is above the law. We’re not a political unit. We’ll treat politicians and people with so-called influence exactly the same way as other offenders.”
Adams said about 50 cases are ready for prosecution. In one case, the unit was preparing to demolish a R2-million illegal dam in a wetland near Kroonstad, Free State.
The unit usually served notice on illegal dam owners to demolish but, in this instance, the farmer refused to comply. The unit will soon send in its own demolition team and the farmer will receive the bill.
This week the Mail & Guardian witnessed a raid on four farms near Pongola in northern KwaZulu-Natal in relation to the extraction of water from the Pongola Dam without payment. Adams said 67 farmers in the area owed R59-million to the local water board. The four farmers served with payment orders have five days to comply before water supplies are cut.
The blue Scorpions are also conducting major investigations into water pollution. ”When we receive a complaint, we dispatch a team to take water samples with an eye on possible prosecution. The policy is zero tolerance on polluters,” he said.
The unit works closely with experts in other departments, including environmental affairs and agriculture, and has a close relationship with the organised crime unit of the police.
It gathers much intelligence through aerial surveillance by satellite, aeroplane or helicopter. The water department’s satellite system, Eye in the Sky, used to monitor water resources and water use, had a 100% success rate,” said Adams.