The Cape of Good Hope SPCA’s application to halt the New Year’s Eve fireworks display has been dismissed by the Western Cape High Court, giving the V&A Waterfront’s event the final go-ahead.
This comes after the retail giant’s initial announcement to host sparked an outcry from various animal welfare organisations followed by an explosive showdown between the V&A, SPCA and the City of Cape Town.
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The SPCA expressed its disappointment after the ruling by Judge Lister Nuku was handed down on Friday following a hearing where the legal representatives of the animal welfare organisation outed the City as a sponsor of the event.
‘This development has raised concerns about the welfare and wellbeing of the diverse range of wild animals and wild birds that inhabit the V&A precinct,’ the SPCA said in a statement.
‘The Cape of Good Hope SPCA expresses deep disappointment over what is perceived as a disregard for the conservation status of these animals by the V&A Waterfront organisers.’
Nuku said he would provide reasons for his ruling at a later stage.
Addressing the court on Friday, advocate Shaina Naidoo said the SPCA had a constitutional right to oppose the plans as they were the custodians of animals who do not have a voice of their own and highlighted that the court needed to decide whether the commercial benefits outweighed the environmental impact on wildlife in and around the V&A area, reported IOL.
The publication also reported that advocate for the V&A Andre Oosthuizen argued that the application should not be viewed as urgent as animal organisations became aware of the permit application on 5 December, but had only taken action on 22 December.
SPCA lawyers rebutted that in addition to making several attempts to reach an agreement prior to its application, the organisation was left with no other option after the City of Cape Town granted the noise exemption permit on 11 December before retracting and subsequently reissuing it this week.
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City of Cape Town’s MMC for Safety and Security JP Smith took to Facebook on Friday, reiterating his objection of the fireworks display and saying that the V&A Waterfront did not make an application for a noise exemption certificate with the City.
‘For any fireworks or pyrotechnics display to proceed, the South African Police Service needs to issue a permit, under the Explosives Act of 1956,’ said Smith. ‘This is a national competency and the municipality has no authority in this.’
Smith explained that Environmental Health declined the noise exemption certificate after he wrote to its senior officials, as well as the Community Services and Health department ‘to motivate why the one part of the application that the City did control should not be granted under the by-law’.
The V&A’s appeal was then granted with strict conditions by the City Manager.
Naidoo also made known in court that the City had paid R500 000 to sponsor the event to which City’s advocate Nick de Jager responded that the funds would go towards the erection of stages, screens and audio equipment.
In his post, Smith reiterated that ‘the event funding allocated through the Special Events Committee is not, and was never for that to be used to fund any fireworks display’.
Smith joined a demonstration hosted by Beauty Without Cruelty and attended by various animal welfare advocates against the intended fireworks display.
‘I have done my best to prevent this fireworks display from happening within the mechanisms permitted by law, but cannot prevent officials from exercising their judgement in terms of the appeal processes laid down by national law,’ the post concluded.
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Picture: JP Smith / Facebook