Wild Coast

Business Day article
By Franny Rabkin - 23 April 2008

CONFUSION reigned at a South African Human Rights Commission hearing yesterday into a dispute over the right to exploit mineral sands at Xolobeni, on the Wild Coast, Eastern Cape.

The ministers of minerals and energy , agriculture and land affairs, and environmental affairs and tourism were subpoenaed to appear before the commission, which is trying to investigate the problem.

Xolobeni residents disagree over the possibility of a mining licence being granted to an Australian company, Mineral Resources , and its South African subsidiary, Transworld Energy Minerals.

Some support it, in the hope that it will bring development. Others are against it on environmental grounds.

Link to Mail & Guardian article
By Yolandi Groenewald | Johannesburg, South Africa

The point on the Wild Coast where mining is planned to begin. (Photo: Rogan Ward)

"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence- it is a force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."

"Occupants of public offices love power and are prone to abuse it."

~George Washington

SPECIAL ALERT!

Comments due by today !!!

Public Hearings: National Environmental Management Amendment Bill (36-2007)

The Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism will be conducting public hearings on the National Environmental Management Amendment Bill (36-2007).

Deadline for written submissions: November 2nd, 2007
Public Hearings: November 6th, 2007

Attention:
Ms. Albertina Kakaza
Email: akakaza@parliament.gov.za
Fax: 021 403 2808

Click here to obtain a copy of the Bill.

Contact:
Ms. Albertina Kakaza 021 403 3765

(Note: basically the amendment appears to remove the mining industry from the NEMA (National Environment Management Act) and places overriding authority at the discretion of the minister of minerals and energy. Further, it vitiates environmental controls in favor of the commercial consequences - and allows decisions to be made by any minister or MEC .

From the Daily Dispatch (12 Oct 2007)

By PIET VAN NIEKERK

THE local subsidiary of an Australian company which plans to mine dunes along the pristine Wild Coast, has asked for an urgent meeting with Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk to discuss his perceived “negative stance” regarding the project.

The request for the meeting comes after Van Schalkwyk told Parliament the proposed mining could affect current eco-tourism activities in the area, as well as conservation initiatives.

The minister, answering questions in Parliament last month, said that mining the 22-kilometre strip at Xolobeni, south of Port Edward, could transform the area which is a significantly threatened asset.

He further said this is an area “which is globally recognised but had a rapidly degrading biodiversity”.

Get it at www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy

Environmental Affairs and Tourism: Minister Valli Moosa's 2002 Budget Vote Speech

It's not really news, nor yet history, but I hope the sentiments expressed in this speech (full speech link above... excerpted below) are carried through by the SA government.

Letter to Xolobeni IAPs re Revised Scoping - September 2007 Final

The most significant change in the Revised Environmental Scoping Report is therefore the exclusion of the smelter from the Xolobeni Heavy Mineral Sands Project. This implies that the smelter will no longer be considered as part of the project and will also not be assessed in the Environmental Impact Assessment.

The Xolobeni Mineral Sands project is situated approximately 250 km south west of Durban and approximately 60 km south east of Mbizana and 30 km south of Port Edward in the Eastern Cape Province. The prospecting activities undertaken by TEM have indicated the feasibility of mining heavy minerals in the area. In accordance with the requirements of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) and the regulations promulgated under Section 24 of the National Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of 1998) (NEMA), an Environmental Scoping Report was compiled and submitted to the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) on 
25 May 2007.

Thanks to Dre for this info:

To give a sense of how dramatic the (climatic) changes have been over the last 28 years, the figures below show the minimum ice extent in September 1979, and the situation today (Aug 9, 2007)

The reduction is around 1.2 million square km of ice, a little bit larger than the size of California and Texas combined.

Pasted from <http://www.realclimate.org/

The following downloads are available:

Eskom brochure

Map of proposed routes

Closeup of Bizana & Zwelethu Sub

Registration form - I&AP

INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE:

APPLICATION FOR THE PROPOSED RE-CONFIGURATION OF THE PORT EDWARD SUBSTATION WHICH WILL INCLUDE A COMMUNICATIONS TOWER, AS WELL AS THE ERECTION OF TWO POWER LINES FROM EROS SUBSTATION IN HARDING TO THE PORT EDWARD SUBSTATION RUNNING ON TWO SEPARATE ROUTES TROUGH PARTS OF KWAZULU NATAL AND THE EASTERN CAPE
(DEAT ref# 12/12/20/987)

In order to reinforce Eskom’s existing Distribution power line network in the KwaZulu Natal and Eastern Cape, Eskom Distribution (a subsidiary of Eskom Holdings Limited) is currently proposing the establishment of two power lines from Eros Substation (Harding) to Port Edward Substation, as well as the proposed upgrade of the Port Edward Substation.

www.transport.gov.za/comm-centre/sp/2007/sp0606.html
My department through SANRAL will continue with its Public Private Partnership concession programme. It is currently developing projects such as the N2 Wild Coast Toll Highway between Durban and East London. The Wild Coast was identified as one of the areas for strategic development in accordance with government’s Spatial Development Initiative (SDI) strategy as long ago as 1995.

It will not only give access to the untapped potential of the Pondoland but in so doing address the primary inequality, namely lack of access that has led to this being the most impoverished region of South Africa. We expect to see the construction of this important road starting before the end of the year."

Because we don't think about future generations, they will never forget us.
~ Henrik Tikkanen

Clivia robusta (Amaryllidaceae)
is a tubular, pendulous-flowered Clivia species, restricted to the Pondoland Centre of Endemism, South Africa. The unique morphology, distribution, karyotype and molecular fingerprint distinguish it from all other pendulous-flowered species in the genus.

Distribution
This taxon is endemic to the Pondoland Centre of endemism, with a distribution from Port St. Johns in the south to the Mzimkulu River in the north.

Habitat
Restricted to Msikaba Formation sandstone, the habitat is characterised by rugged plateaus (100-500 m above sea level) that are deeply dissected by narrow river gorges, within which occur isolated forest patches, containing mixed tropical and Afromontane elements. Mean annual rainfall varies from 1 000-1 200 mm and occurs mainly in the summer months. The mean annual temperature along the coast is around 20°C. The soils are usually sandy, acidic, highly leached and often shallow .

Wikipedia has this to say on Traditional Knowledge:

"That in addition to currently recognized land and property rights, indigenous peoples have rights to "intangible" heritage; 5. Access to and use of this heritage requires their full, prior informed consent."

While the following is from the Convention on Biological Diversity website:

"Article 8. In-situ Conservation
Each Contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate:
(a)...
(j) Subject to its national legislation, respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge, innovations and practices."

Here are the original articles - thanks to www.swc.org:

Sustaining the Wild Coast website article (in a new window) - linking to The Herald Online **News**

Threatened nature in South Africa

Please support the international "Save the Wild Coast Campaign" by sending a letter or fax to the South African President, Thabo Mbeki and the Minister for the Environment, Marthinus van Schalkwyk.

Download a specimen letter (RTF file, 10kb)

Thank you very much for your help.

Background Information:

Wildcoast - Pondoland Centre of Endemism

The Pondoland centre of endemism is located in the Eastern Cape Province on the shores of the Indian Ocean of South Africa. The Pondoland Centre, as part of the Maputaland-Pondoland Region, has subsequently been acknowledged as one of the important centres of plant diversity and endemism in Africa. The area is the smallest of the 18 centres of endemism and boasts 1,800 plant species.

THE GHOST OF THE PONDOLAND CENTRE

Around the turn of the century, this attractive shrub was mentioned by Thomas R. Sim in the 1900 “Agricultural Journal of the Cape of Good Hope” 16:21-42, 104-114. He states that it was “abundant along streams above the (Magwa) falls”. Later on, he records it in his “Forests and Forest Flora of the Cape Colony” published in 1906. It was only known from the Mzikaba Formation, a sandstone outcropping with which the Pondoland Centre of Plant Endemism (PC) (Van Wyk 1994) is congruent. This is a very small centre of 18,800 hectares located across the provincial boundary between the Eastern Cape (formerly known as the Transkei) and KwaZulu-Natal and lies along the coastline stretching no more than 15 or so kilometres inland with a maximum altitude of about 400 to 500 metres.

The terrestrial environment of the Wild Coast is commonly divided into two broad areas. South of Port St Johns lies a gently undulating coastline, interspersed with rocky points, and is more densely populated with highly popular holiday destinations and homes right to the shoreline. Vegetation types most predominant in this area include the Transkei Coastal belt grasslands and scarp forests. North of Port St Johns the rugged plateau of the Msikaba Formation sandstone, deeply incised by narrow river gorges and fewer sandy beaches, is congruent with the Pondoland Centre of Endemism (PC), a local endemic focus of the MPR (van Wyk & Smith 2001). The Msikaba formation is characterised by frequently shallow, highly leached, acidic, sandy soils of low production potential (van Wyk & Smith 2001, Abbott 2002). It is largely only good for grazing in the summer months and most local inhabitants live further inland.

This is an appeal to everyone who cares about the future of the Wild Coast to please send a mail to xolobeni@gcs-sa.biz and register as an I&AP.

Download the EIA and IAP registration form

Who are the Interested & Affected Parties? (I&APs)

They are persons who will be directly and indirectly involved and/or affected by the project.

An IAP's role is to:

§ Register with the environmental consultants, who will include you on a database of I&APs in order for you to receive future project information and/or formally record issues and concerns

The following information "The Mining Debate" is a chronology of events showing the protests by the Wavecrest community against sand/dune mining and destruction of forests and estuaries.

One must ask how long South Africans will have to fight against their own government for protection from mining magnates who come "bearing gifts" to bribe and cajole their way into the community before breaking it down? The very first "colonnials" to set foot in the third world were condemned for their tactics of coming with "beads and trinkets" to impress indigenous peoples so that they could make off with their gold and minerals. And yet South Africa's government is now welcoming these same unscrupulous mineral hunters with open arms.