The Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court has granted forestry company York Timbers leave to appeal against a confiscation order. Sapa reported on Friday that the court granted a confiscation order of R450 000 last month, after York Timbers pleaded guilty in 2011 to widening a forest road on its premises in Sabie without authorisation. Last Monday, the court granted the company leave to appeal against the confiscation order made by Magistrate Nomaswazi Shabangu. York Timbers defence lawyer Richard Spoor said the case was set to be heard in the Nelspruit circuit of the North Gauteng High Court, but he was uncertain when this would be. “The best we can hope for is that it will be heard before the end of the year.” Spoor said the company did not deliberately avoid costs associated with environmental impact assessment procedures. “The confiscation order granted by Shabangu is unjustified. The order is completely wrong and the claim that we benefited from the widening of the road is untrue,” Spoor said. York Timber’s shares dropped 1.72 percent to R3.99 on Friday. –
Sapa