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National Water Act, 1998 (Act No. 36 of 1998)

Chapter 13 : Access to and Rights Over Land

Part 1 : Entry and inspection

125. Powers and duties of authorised persons

 

(1) An authorised person may, at any reasonable time and without prior notice, enter or cross a property with the necessary persons, vehicles, equipment and material in order to carry out routine inspections of the use of water under any authorisation.

 

(2) An authorised person may enter a property with the necessary persons, vehicles, equipment and material—
(a) after giving reasonable notice to the owner or occupier of the property, which notice must state the purpose of the proposed entry; and
(b) after obtaining the consent of the owner or occupier of that property in order to—
(i) clean, repair, maintain, remove or demolish any government waterwork operated by any water management institution;
(ii) undertake any work necessary for cleaning, clearing, stabilising and repairing the water resource and protecting the resource quality
(iii) establish the suitability of any water resource or site for constructing a waterwork;
(iv) undertake any work necessary to comply with an obligation imposed on any person under this Act, where that person has failed to fulfil that obligation;
(v) erect any structure and to install and operate any equipment on a temporary basis for monitoring and gathering information on water resources; or
(vi) bring heavy equipment on to a property or occupy a property for any length of time.

 

(3) An authorised person may, at any reasonable time and without prior notice, on the authority of a warrant, enter a property with the necessary persons, vehicles, equipment and material, and perform any action necessary to-
(a) investigate whether this Act, any condition attached to any authorised water use by or under this Act or any notice or directive is being contravened;
(b) investigate whether any information supplied in connection with the use of water is accurate; or
(c) carry out any of the activities referred to in subsection (2) where the consent of the owner or occupier of that property has been withheld.

 

(4) A warrant referred to in subsection (3) must be issued by a judge or a magistrate who has jurisdiction in the area where the property in question is situated, and must only be issued if it appears from information obtained on oath that-
(a) there are reasonable grounds for believing that this Act, any condition attached to any authorised water use by or under this Act or any notice or directive, is being contravened;
(b) there are reasonable grounds for believing that any information supplied in connection with the use of water is inaccurate; or
(c) it is necessary to carry out an activity mentioned in subsection (2) and access to that property has been denied.

 

(5) If a warrant is likely to be issued if applied for but the delay involved in obtaining a warrant is likely to defeat the object of an inspection in terms of subsection (3)(a) or (b), an authorised person may enter a property without a warrant.

 

(6) An authorised person entering property in terms of this section must, at the request of any person on that property, identify himself or herself and present a certificate of appointment contemplated in section 124(2).

 

(7) Notwithstanding any provision of this section an authorised person may not, under any circumstances, enter a dwelling without the consent of the occupier or without a warrant authorising entry.