Thursday 29 April 2021 - 5:08am
Fire-fighting teams work to keep the fire from crossing Philip Kgosana Drive, one of the main arterial roads into the city centre, threatening the suburb of Walmer Estate, after a forest fire burns out of control on the foothills of Table Mountain in Cape Town on April 19, 2021.
Rodger Bosch / AFP
CAPE TOWN - The charge of arson against a foreign national, arrested in connection with the Cape Town fires last week, has been dropped.
Instead, he is now facing a lesser charge of contravening the National Environmental Management Act for living in the Table Mountain National Park.
Frederick Mhangazo: Cape Town fire arson charges dropped
The state dropped the charges of arson against Frederick Mhangazo on Wednesday. He now faces a lesser charge for a fire he allegedly started.
Frederick Mhaganzo, the man accused of starting a fire in Cape Town, was released on R500 bail at the Cape Town Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 28 April. Mhangazo was initially charged with arson, which carries a minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment, but National Prosecuting said there was not enough evidence to justify the charge.
Mhangazo is now charged with allegedly contravening the National Environmental Management Act, which carries a possible sentence of three years.
Arson Charge For Man Accused Of Table Mountain Fire Dropped iafrica.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from iafrica.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The State is now pressing charges of contravening the National Environmental Management Act against Frederick Mhangazo in connection with a fire on Devil’s Peak, Cape Town. Until the morning of Wednesday, 28 April, it was pressing charges of arson against him. It is not yet clear which section of the act he is said to have violated.
Mhangazo was released on R500 bail in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. The matter will proceed in court on 18 June. It was postponed to allow for further investigations.
In addition, the matter was moved from the regional court to the district court.
New regulations for LandCare projects
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A recently published Generic Environmental Management Programme seeks to regulate LandCare projects and exclude identified activities related to the implementation of the LandCare Programme from the need to obtain environmental authorisation
On 29 March 2021, a Generic Environmental Management Programme (EMPr) for the management and mitigation of environmental impacts resulting from the implementation of LandCare projects was published for adoption. With this publication, the Minister of Forestry Fisheries and the Environment further excluded, based on compliance with this generic EMPr, identified activitie