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This Chapter contains a number of unrelated provisions which, being of general importance to the Act as a whole, are less suited to other Chapters. They relate, among other things, to the binding of all organs of state, to delegations, to the amendment and substitution of legal instruments, to the limitation of liability, and to the authorisation and service of documents. The Chapter refers to the list, in Schedule 7, of laws or parts of laws which are repealed by this Act and which will no longer have effect. However, any act performed under a repealed law remains valid if not inconsistent with this Act and until overridden by this Act. Regulations made under repealed laws also remain valid if not inconsistent with this Act and until repealed by the Minister. This Chapter also provides for overriding any provision in a prior law which exempts a person from payment of a charge or limiting payment to a fixed charge for water use.
This Act binds all organs of state.
Neither the State nor any other person is liable for any damage or loss caused by -
157.(a): the exercise of any power or the performance of any duty in terms of this Act; or
157.(b): the failure to exercise any power, or perform any duty in terms of this Act,
unless the exercise of or failure to exercise the power, or performance or failure to
perform the duty was unlawful, negligent or in bad faith.
158.(1): For the purposes of this section, ``instrument'' includes any regulation,
strategy, licence, directive or notice made, determined, issued or given in terms of this
Act.
158.(2): If the proposed amendment or substitution of an instrument -
158.(2)(a): is not likely to alter the rights and obligations of any person materially;
158.(2)(b): corrects any clerical mistake, unintentional error or omission in an
instrument;
158.(2)(c): corrects any figure miscalculated in an instrument; or
158.(2)(d): corrects any misdescription of any person, thing or property, the amendment or
substitution may be made without following the procedure required for establishing or
giving effect to the instrument.
Where a power is conferred on a person to delegate the exercise of a power then, unless
the contrary intention appears -
159.(a): such a delegation does not prevent the exercise of that power, or the performance
of that duty by the person who made the delegation;
159.(b): such a delegation may be made subject to such conditions or limitations as the
person making that delegation may specify; and
159.(c): a power so delegated, when exercised or performed by the delegatee, must be
regarded as having been exercised or performed by the person making the delegation.
160.(1): A notice, directive or other document issued in terms of this Act in good faith
by any water management institution and purporting to have been signed by the chairperson,
secretary or chief executive officer of the institution must be regarded as having been
properly authorised and issued in terms of a valid decision, until evidence to the
contrary is adduced.
160.(2): Any document issued in terms of this Act without authority may be ratified
subsequently.
161.(1): A notice, directive or other document issued in good faith in terms of this Act,
but which does not comply with this Act, is valid if the non-compliance is not material
and does not prejudice any person.
161.(2): The failure to take any steps required in terms of this Act as a prerequisite for
any decision or action does not invalidate the decision or action if the failure -
161.(2)(a): is not material;
161.(2)(b): has subsequently been rectified; and
161.(2)(c): does not prejudice any person.
161.(3): A failure in good faith to consult with or send notice to any relevant person or
body as required by this Act does not invalidate any act of or process for which such
consultation is a prerequisite.
162.(1): Any notice, directive or other document in terms of this Act, must be served -
162.(1)(a): if it is to be served on a natural person -
162.(1)(a)(i): by hand delivery to that person;
162.(1)(a)(ii): by hand delivery to a responsible individual at that person's business or
residential address;
162.(1)(a)(iii): by sending it by registered mail to that person's business or residential
address; or
162.(1)(a)(iv): where that person's business and residential address is unknown, despite
reasonable enquiry, by publishing it once in the Gazette and once in a local newspaper
circulating in the area of that person's last known residential or business address; or
162.(1)(b): if it is intended for a juristic person -
162.(1)(b)(i): by hand delivery to a responsible individual at the registered address or
principal place of business of that juristic person;
162.(1)(b)(ii): by sending it by facsimile to the registered address or principal place of
business of that juristic person;
162.(1)(b)(iii): by sending it by registered mail to the registered address or principal
place of business of that juristic person;
162.(1)(b)(iv): by conspicuously attaching it to the main entrance of the registered
address or the principal place of business of that juristic person; or
162.(1)(b)(v): by hand delivery to any member of that juristic person's board of directors
or governing body.
162.(1)(2): Any notice, directive or other document served according to subsection (1) is
considered to have come to the notice of the person, unless the contrary is proved.
163.(1): The laws set out in Schedule 7 are
hereby repealed to the extent set out in the third column of that Schedule.
163.(2): This Act overrides any provision in a prior law exempting a person from payment
of a charge, or limiting payment to a fixed charge for water use.
163.(3): Anything done under a law repealed by this Act remains valid -
163.(3)(a): to the extent that it is not inconsistent with this Act; and
163.(3)(b): until anything done under this Act overrides it.
163.(4): Any regulation made under a law repealed by this Act remains in force and is
considered to have been made under this Act -
163.(4)(a): to the extent that it is not inconsistent with this Act; and
163.(4)(b): until it is repealed by the Minister under this Act.
This is the National Water Act, 1998 , which takes effect on a date fixed by the President by proclamation in the Gazette.
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