Justicia Shipena
The Windhoek High Court has struck an urgent application by tourism operators in the Kavango region who tried to stop a government-approved safari lodge project.
The court cited their inordinate delay in bringing the challenge as the reason for dismissal.
High Court acting judge Gerson |Narib ruled on 3 July 2025 that the application, brought by Shamvura Camp CC and six other tourism lodges, lacked urgency.
The applicants had attempted to interdict the implementation of a concession awarded by the minister of environment, forestry and tourism to Nyime Safari Lodges CC for the development of a lodge in the Kavango South Concession Area.
They also challenged the environmental clearance certificate (ECC) issued to Nyime on 1 September 2024.
The applicants, all members of the Kavango Open Africa Route Voluntary Association (KOAR), argued that the concession and ECC were unlawfully granted and would harm the sensitive wetland environment.
However, the judge found that the applicants waited over a year to file the urgent application, despite knowing of the concession process since October 2023 and observing construction activities as early as May 2024.
“The applicants have delayed inordinately in bringing this application,” |Narib said.
“For a period of more than a year, they have delayed and enrolled the matter on such short notice that the respondents were afforded very little time to answer.”
The court also criticised the applicants for changing their legal strategy mid-proceedings, from seeking an interim interdict to requesting final relief, without updating their notice of motion.
This move, |Narib said, prejudiced the respondents, which are Buffalo Private Lodges (Pty) Ltd, a party with potential interests in the area.
The applicants placed blame for the delays on their former lawyers, prompting the ex-legal representatives to file affidavits in response and request legal costs.
The court, however, denied their request, noting they were not parties to the proceedings.
The urgent application was officially struck from the roll, and the applicants were ordered to pay the legal costs of Nyime Safari Lodges and Buffalo Private Lodges, including the costs of one instructing and one instructed counsel.
|Narib said in his judgement that urgency cannot be built solely on claims of environmental harm or unlawfulness.
“It is immaterial, in the determination of the question of urgency, to establish that the respondents’ conduct is unlawful. That assumption is made in favour of the applicants at this stage,” he stated.
The ruling leaves the applicants the option to proceed with their review application incourse, but without the benefit of any interim or final interdictory relief at this stage.
