Open letter to the Press (Author unknown)

Dear Editor

The N2 ‘Wild Coast’ Toll Rd EIA appears to have resurrected a widespread and extremely short-sighted myth which is common in economic circles. This myth is that ecological losses are justified if they result in economic gains.
The N2 Toll Road EIA points out that the proposed highway will result in substantial damage to the environment, particularly the extension through the ‘Greenfields’ section which traverses the Pondoland Centre of Plant Endemism. It defends these negative environmental impacts by claiming that economic benefits will outweigh ecological losses. This myth has been widely perpetuated by a number of local media reports concerning the N2 project.

Dear friends of the Wild Coast.

Don Guy has generously made a documentary film that draws on all the 50/50 reports on the Wild Coast dune mining saga over the past five years. It will be entered in the 2009 Durban WildTalk film festival in April, and will be made available as a DVD to SWC (www.swc.org.za) for educational purposes.

The DVD cannot be sold as the SABC retains copyright, but SWC will need to cover costs of copying and distribution. It would be helpful to get some idea of the demand for the film so please let them know if you would be interested in having a copy of the DVD, and how they might go about covering the costs.

Please send an email to John G I Clarke (johngic@iafrica.com) indicating your interest and how many copies you think you could distribute.

Xolobeni, Mzamba, and finally Port Edward, mark the Northenmost boundary of the Transkei Wild Coast, and fall into the famous Pondoland Center of Endemism.

New tourism ventures will be springing up in this area that is being threatened with strip mining for titanium.

For up to date information on the mining saga: www.wildcoast.com/xolobeni

If you want to explore the threatened area from Mzamba to Xolobeni, passing the Cretaceous Deposits and Petrified Forest at Mzamba River, Benny the Tour Guide can be contacted on 079-1985 975 / or through Sonya on 074-336 7862 - for a guided day-trip.

We will be adding further links as they become available.

By Judi Davis
South Coast Herald
17 October 2008

Conservationists believe an eco-tourism partnership between the South Coast and the Wild Coast could sound the death knell for dune mining.

Sustaining the Wild Coast anti-dune mining campaigners have described the postponement of the Xolobeni mining license as a "stay of execution".

"However, to ensure that the Xolobeni death sentence is permanently abolished we have to ensure sustainable development for the Wild Coast." said a spokesperson for the organisation, John Clarke.

He was referring to the about-turn the minister of Minerals and Energy, Buyelwa Sonjica, has made regarding the Xolobeni mining project.

Earlier this year the minister gave Transworld Energy and Minerals, the SA subsidiary of Australian company, Mineral Resource Commodities (ASX:MRC), the go-ahead to mine a section of the dunes in the Xolobeni area of the Wild Coast.

Photo (c) Neels Botma
September 30, 2008

By Samantha Enslin-Payne and Slindile Khanyile

Durban - The department of minerals and energy will hold public hearings on controversial mining on the Wild Coast after it decided recently to delay the issuing of the certificate that would have enabled Mineral Resource Commodities (MRC) and local subsidiary Transworld Energy and Minerals (TEM) to begin mining in the area next month.

Bheki Khumalo, the spokesperson for the department of minerals and energy, said yesterday that the intention to grant the mining licence remained, but the implementation had been delayed.

At the time of going to press MRC, which is listed on the Australian stock exchange, had yet to inform shareholders of the delay. The company's local representatives could not be reached for comment.

Source: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A852684

29 September 2008
Franny Rabkin
Johannesburg

A PROJECT to mine titanium in the Xolobeni region of Eastern Cape, granted to Transworld Energy and Minerals (TEM), has been stopped in its tracks by Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica.

This after an internal appeal from a community organisation, the AmaDiba Crisis Committee, represented by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC).

The licence to mine, originally granted by the minerals and energy department, was supposed to come into effect at the end of next month.

But the committee appealed the licence, saying that it would change the community's traditional way of life and result in the forced eviction of people from their ancestral homes, loss of grazing land and relocation of their ancestral graves.

In its appeal, the committee said the consultation process TEM was obliged to undertake was flawed.

Statue of Lady Justice: Hans Gieng, 1543.by Derek Alberts
21 September 2008

COULD it be that justice is prevailing and that the Australian-led titanium mining project at Xolobeni on the Wild Coast will be shelved?

Notice to this effect surfaced when Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica admitted for the first time last week that the consultation process into the planned multi-billion rand project was “flawed”.

Her comments follow a heated meeting at Xolobeni, where AmaMpondo King Mpondomini Sigcau, through his lawyer, demanded that the mining licence be withdrawn and that a proper investigation into the project be conducted.

The regent made it clear that tourism is preferred over mining, prompting Sonjica to concede that “no proper procedures were taken”.

“Now I know things I did not know; something is not right, and I have to correct it,” she said.

"This type of civil action is a very interesting test for our democracy. It is overwhelmingly clear that the local community object to the mining and that other citizens of our country, when informed of the facts, also vehemently disagree with a process that is blatant in its purpose of minority enrichment. If the public voice, the voters voice, fail to stop immoral activity such as the mining of the Xolobeni beaches, then we are a democracy and society deeply in trouble." -Will vd Merwe

That was the comment by the 4,190'th person to sign the Online Petition against strip-mining for titanium at Xolobeni: www.petitiononline.com/xolobeni/petition-sign.html

Throughout the day, whenever I checked, the signatures seemed to be coming in at a rate of about 100 per hour. Though now, at about 6pm on a Friday evening here in SA, and surprising as it may seem, they've slowed to a trickle. Be great if it maintains momentum next week.

Throughout the storm surrounding the controversial mine approved at Xolobeni on the Wild Coast, the statement that "ecotourism has failed on the Wild Coast" has repeatedly been stated.

Bulungula Lodge is, apparently, the only lodge to be "approved" officially since 1994 on the Wild Coast and as such, our experiences are relevant to this debate.

The Wild Coast is potentially one of the world's greatest community-based, ecotourism destinations.Nothing compares with this spectacular coast inhabited by vibrant, traditional communities of amaBomvana, amaMpondomise and many others living simple rural lives in harmony with their environment. Mud huts on rolling green hills overlooking jagged cliffs and pristine beaches frequented by cows and the occasional eland, endless lagoons and forests add up to one of South Africa's most striking and marketable vistas.

Daily Sun - 17 September 2008 (Pg. 4) Click on the pic to view the article.

http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=248817

Strong words: King Mpondomini Sigcau’s lawyer, Votani Majola, makes a point while addressing Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica. Picture: LUBABALO NGCUKANA

2008/09/16
MINERALS and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica has for the first time admitted that the consultation process into the planned multi-billion rand titanium mining project at Xolobeni on the Wild Coast was “flawed”.

Sonjica’s comment came after a heated meeting at Xolobeni on Friday, where AmaMpondo king Mpondomini Sigcau threw his weight behind the drive to stop the mining of pristine dunes in the area.

Speaking through his lawyer, Votani Majola, Sigcau said he chose tourism over mining, and demanded that the licence to mine the dunes be withdrawn. He also demanded that Sonjica institute an investigation into the planned mining project.

Say no to strip-mining on the Wild Coast!
http://www.petitiononline.com/xolobeni/petition-sign.html

Please sign the online petition linked here before 19 September 2008:

http://www.petitiononline.com/xolobeni/petition-sign.html

Online petitions are not really recognized by government, but are a valid indication of public opinion. If you possibly can, please also download, print, sign and submit the original petition: www.swc.org.za/petition.pdf

WHY MINING THE WILD COAST IS A VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
By John G.I. Clarke

The Department of Minerals and Energy has announced that it intends awarding a mining licence to Australian mining company MRC on 31 October 2008 to mine the Kwanyana Block of the Amadiba Tribal Administrative Area, on the Pondoland Wild Coast. This announcement has been made before the SA Human Rights Commission has completed its investigation into human rights violations lodged by local residents allegedly perpetrated by agents of MRC.

If the Minister of Minerals and Energy signs the mining licence and Environmental Management Plan on 31 October, we believe it would be in gross violation of the Constitution of South Africa, notably the Environmental Right enshrined in Section 24 which states.....

Val Payn

Although the Wild Coast mining controversy is often depicted primarily as an environmental issue, this portrayal misses core elements of the debate. Yes, there are many grave environmental concerns about the venture. But at its heart the dispute is about land use.

It is about who holds power over the land, and who has the right to determine what happens on that land. It is about what type of land use will be most advantageous to poor communities who live on the land. It is about the right of rural communities to self determination. It is about the rights of land occupants to be part of decision making processes that impact upon their livelihoods. It is also about what political and economic processes would best serve the interests and needs of rural communities for posterity?

By ROBERT LAING
MRC - past 12 months: From a high of 28c last November, it appears the market still has no faith in MRC's prospects
THE Australian company given rights to strip-mine along the Wild Coast has reported heavy financial losses, and is facing legal battles that may cost it even more.

Mineral Commodities, whose chairman is Joseph Caruso, 61, and managing director Mark Caruso, 45, posted a R48million loss last year.

The Perth-based miner’s future hinges on two South African projects: the controversial Xolobeni on the Wild Coast and Tormin on the West Coast.

These it hopes to finance from its 5.7 percent stake in London AIM- listed Allied Gold, which operates mines in Papua New Guinea.

7 September 2008

Rt Hon Madame Buyelwa Sonjica
Minister of Minerals and Energy
Private Bag X59
Pretoria 0001

Dear Minister,

Congratulations on your decision to allow the Australians to mine the Wild Coast. As a child, my parents would force me to accompany them on camping trips to Mtentu estuary. I look back on those times with hatred in my heart. I always seemed to have sand up my nose and a bluebottle down my bathing costume. The sun was too hot and the water too cold. Once a crab almost took off my foot, and I remember looking at the estuary and thinking that one day someone will come along and destroy you. And I will laugh.

Now, after all these years, I finally get to have my laugh. Thank you for that. You are a magnificent woman and I wouldn’t hesitate to marry you if we both weren’t married already.

By: Christy van der Merwe
Published on 5th September 2008
http://www.miningweekly.com/article.php?a_id=142567

A notice of appeal has been filed with the Minister of Minerals and Energy to suspend and appeal a decision to award a mining right to ASX-listed Mineral Commodities (MRC), to mine for titanium-bearing minerals at the Xolobeni project area, along a portion of South Africa’s Wild Coast.

The Notice of Appeal was filed by the Grahamstown office of the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), on behalf of the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC), a group of local residents in opposition to mining.

YOLANDI GROENEWALD - Aug 28 2008 06:00

Thirteen years ago a strong environmental campaign saved the St Lucia dunes from being mined. This time the Minerals and Energy Department will not be swayed by public opinion, a senior official told the Mail & Guardian this week.

"The St Lucia decision was a political decision that had the ANC's support," said Jacinto Rocha, department deputy director-general. "At Xolobeni it is significantly different."

The region, one of the poorest in South Africa, needs mining desperately, Rocha said, explaining last month's decision to grant Australian company Mineral Commodities the right to strip-mine a 22km stretch on the Wild Coast.

"People argue that ecotourism is the best option for the people there, but where has ecotourism ever attracted major investment?" Rocha said. "Mining helps to pay the Kruger Park's electricity bills. Without the capital that mining brings, you couldn't have parks like Kruger."

The community objected strongly to Minister Sonjica’s statement that Richard Spoor was responsible for ‘destabilising the community’ and for playing the race card to try to discredit highly competent professionals who are working with the community.

Nonhle Mbutuma added that in a country that is still healing from years of racial oppression, such statements are not helpful and only serve to distract attention from the real issues. “Her comments are an insult to us as much as to white South Africans, as they try to make out that we are incapable of thinking and acting for ourselves”.

MEDIA STATEMENT FROM AMADIBA COASTAL RESIDENTS AFFECTED BY XOLOBENI DUNE MINING PLANS

26 August 2008.

Yes to Eco-TourismSome have been arguing from the outset that the valuation of $18 million which Xolco have to pay for their 26% stake (minimum BEE criteria) was baseless, and proved that no negotiation took place with truly affected parties; as they obviously never took negotiable access rights and royalties into account.

Yet Ehlobo Heavy Minerals, the original BEE partners who walked away from the deal because of environmental issues and other implications, were only going to pay a third of that price for their majority stake.

Read TFA from Business Report:

Questions hover over Wild Coast mining deal
August 14, 2008

By INGI SALGADO

There are perplexing questions around last week's granting of mining rights in a 7km stretch of pristine coastline at Xolobeni, part of the Wild Coast that would be most inaccurately named were heavy metal extraction to proceed.

A few reasons why the mining should not be allowed to proceed:

1. The strip mining method which is planned to be used is Dry Mining. This will entail a huge dust fallout which will affect all residents in the area (plant, animal and human... and especially the breeding river estuarines). Furthermore the Wet Separation Plant (WSP) which is then used to separate the Heavy Mineral Concentrate (HMC) requires 2 MILLION liters of water per hour, 24 hours a day... which will affect the water table of this fragile biosphere HUGELY.