The KZN High Court (Durban) has ordered an Amanzimtoti businessman to demolish the store he erected illegally, or risk prison time, says a report in The Mercury. Deepak Bhardwaj has been found in contempt of a 2015 court order – interdicting him from trading from the Wanda Cele Road property at which Toti Saverite is located. He was given two months to tear the structure down, failing which he could be sent to prison.

This is the second time Bhardwaj is facing the threat of incarceration. In September 2015, The Mercury reported that he had been found in contempt of a previous court order interdicting him from carrying out unapproved construction work on – or from trading from – the property.

It had been zoned for residential use and Bhardwaj’s plans to build a house there were approved but the city took him to court and secured an interdict against him after he started work on a commercial building instead. Judge Kate Pillay ordered that he complete demolition of the illegal structure by no later than 1 August and that he be jailed for 30 days, if he failed to do so.

Full report in The Mercury (subscription needed)