Algoa Bay oyster farmer Zwembesi Farms is suing the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality for R34m for loss of income after its oysters were polluted by sewage that, the company alleges, was negligently discharged by the metro, says a report in The Herald.

Acting city manager Mandla George has sought approval from the council to defend the matter at the Magistrate’s Court in Gqeberha.

George’s report was discussed behind closed doors and approved by the council.

The Department of Environmental Affairs has also opened a criminal case against the municipality and the matter is due to be heard on 12 April.

Zwembesi Farms, part of the Knysna Oyster Company, specialises in fresh and cultivated oysters. The oyster cultivator claimed in an affidavit that the municipality had wrongfully breached its duty of care by dumping human waste into the ocean between November 2011 and January 2013.

During (the above period) the municipality discharged effluent containing human waste into the watercourses, which then washed out to sea at Algoa Bay and came into contact with the plaintiff’s oyster beds located there. In so doing, the mortality rates of the plaintiff’s oysters to significantly increase above acceptable levels.  The company claimed the municipality had repeated its transgressions between July 2017 and August 2017, causing the E. coli levels of the Bay around and in the plaintiff’s oyster beds to increase above acceptable levels,’ the affidavit read.

In his report, George said Zwembesi had relied on social media reports to demonstrate that it had suffered a loss as a result of sewage spilling into the Baakens River.

At this stage, there is no evidence that the municipality is liable for damages to Zwembesi.

Full report in The Herald (subscription needed)