THE Free State High Court has dismissed an appeal by the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, confirming a 2023 ruling that the Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate – a private estate north of Bloemfontein – is responsible for collecting and transporting its own household refuse to a designated landfill.
The judgment concludes a long-running legal dispute between the city and the Hillandale Homeowners Association, which manages the property.
The dispute stretches back over two decades to the establishment of Woodland Hills.
When the township was approved by the Free State Department of Local Government and Housing in 2000, two subsequent government proclamations in 2004 and 2018 made it clear that “the town owner shall be responsible for the removal of household refuse in the town”.
Despite this, Mangaung continued to collect refuse from the gated community and charged homeowners monthly fees for the service.
In 2022, the Hillandale Homeowners Association challenged this in the High Court, arguing that the municipality had ignored the legal conditions of the estate’s establishment and was unlawfully billing residents.
In December 2023, Judge P. Molitsoane ruled in favour of the homeowners’ association, declaring that Woodland Hills was both entitled and obliged to remove its own refuse.
The court ordered Mangaung to immediately stop levying refuse collection fees on the estate.
Mangaung appealed, claiming refuse removal is a constitutional and statutory obligation of municipalities and cannot be outsourced.
The municipality argued that under the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, it holds exclusive authority over waste management.
The full bench of the High Court however rejected this argument.
Judge Loubser, in the judgment handed down on 18 September, noted that the proclamations governing Woodland Hills’ establishment “leave no doubt as to their meaning” – the responsibility for refuse removal rests with the town owner.
The court found that Mangaung never objected to this condition during the township approval process, nor did it attempt to challenge or revoke the proclamations.
Citing the precedent set in Oudekraal Estates (Pty) Ltd v City of Cape Town, the judges ruled that the proclamations remain legally binding unless overturned by a competent court.
“The appellant has not shown any right or exclusive obligation to remove the household refuse from Woodland Hills,” Judge Loubser said.
“The appeal consequently stands to be dismissed.”
Both the original and appeal judgments suggested Mangaung’s opposition was motivated more by financial concerns than by municipal authority.
Court correspondence revealed the city feared that “giving away such competency will have adverse effects on the municipality’s revenue and workforce”.
The High Court dismissed this argument, emphasising that the right to provide services must follow legal and administrative processes, not financial considerations.
Woodland Hills will continue managing its own refuse removal but will still use Mangaung’s landfill facilities for waste disposal. – Staff Reporter