The Mercury, August 27, 2007 Edition 1
Tony Carnie
THE Mining Department says it is not sidelining the state’s environment custodian by removing the mining industry from the legal authority of the National Environmental Management Act (Nema).
Responding to questions about attempts to “smuggle” a controversial mining law amendment through parliament, the Department of Minerals and Energy said it was trying to complement, not usurp, the role of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
However, the Legal Resources Centre public interest law firm and other groups have demanded public hearings in parliament to discuss what they see as a serious threat to the mandate of the Environmental Affairs Department.
The Legal Resources Centre claimed that the controversial mining law change had been slipped in at the last minute, after the public consultation process had ended. [Read more...]
Posted on August 27th, 2007 by admin
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Sunday Tribune, August 26, 2007 Edition 1
Jeremy Ridl
When an ill wind blows no good is an idiom used to describe a condition suggesting that when something bad happens, some good will come of it.
The proliferation of utterances by political leaders about the negative effects of environmental impact assessments (EIA), coupled with the threat of top down intervention to cut legal red tape perceived to be frustrating economic growth, is disturbing. It is difficult to see what good can come of this “ill wind”, but perhaps there is.
These politically motivated outbursts have provoked environmentalists to use language reminiscent of the great public campaign to stop dune mining at St Lucia between 1989 and 1994. [Read more...]
Posted on August 26th, 2007 by admin
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Cape Argus, 23 August 2007, Edition 1, P.4
by Sivuyile Mangxamba
Key tourism stakeholders and local government authorities have given their support to the controversial N2 toll road along the environmentally sensitive Pondoland region of the Wild Coast, saying it was crucial for upliftment and development in the region.
SA Tourism chief executive Moeketsi Mosola said this week there was an urgent need to get the ball rolling on the project, which was proposed more than five years ago but had been repeatedly stalled because of environmental concerns.
Mosola publicly backed the road which will run from East London to Durban along the Wild Coast. [Read more...]
Posted on August 23rd, 2007 by admin
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André Standing, Senior Researcher, Corruption and Governance Programme, ISS Cape Town : 17 May 2007
Institute for Security Studies – researching human security in Africa.
Unless environmental protests are successful, the Australian mining company Mineral Resource Commodities (MRC) will mine significant areas of South Africa’s Wild Coast for titanium sands. The Wild Coast is an area of spectacular beauty and ecological importance; some believe it could be South Africa’s next World Heritage Site. Richard Spoor, a South African human rights lawyer, argues that “mining Pondoland Wild Coast is the moral, cultural and aesthetic equivalent of quarrying Ayers Rock for granite, or the Great Barrier Reef for calcium carbonate”. [Read more...]
Posted on August 23rd, 2007 by admin
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At the SATI Offices, South Gate Industrial Park at 15h00 on the 22nd of August 2007
Attending the meeting:
Ted Holbrook (Athlone Park)
David Labuschagne (Amanzimtoti Civic Association)
Mark Holbrook
Caleb Gule (Makhanya Traditional Council)
Walter Makhanya (Makhanya Traditional Council)
Emil von Maltitz (Water for Africa)
The focus group meeting between the Upper South Coast Anti-Toll Alliance (USCATA) and Emil von Maltitz, representative for Water for Africa, began with the representatives of USCATA indicating that there is very little information regarding the proposed N2 toll-road that has been given out by SANRAL. A discussion ensued over the process by which the Environmental Impact Assessment is being conducted. [Read more...]
Posted on August 22nd, 2007 by admin
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21 August 2007
To whom it may concern
Objection to Amendment Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill ( section 4 of Act 28 of 2002)
Please note the extreme concern, and objection, with which Sustaining the Wild Coast (SWC) view the following amendment to section 4 of the Mineral Petroleum and Resources Development Amendment Bill (B10 -2007) namely;
“3) the provisions of the National Environment Act, 1998 (Act No 107 of 1998) relating to environmental authorizations and any other related matters, shall not apply to activities of holders regulated in terms of this act.”
SWC objection is based upon the following: [Read more...]
Posted on August 21st, 2007 by admin
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RE: Environment minister may lose power.
Please note the alarming report about proposed amendments to Environmental regulations which could have serious repercussions for the Wild Coast as well as the South African environment as a whole, as reported in the Mercury article below.
Actions you can take on this matter:
SWC call upon anyone with an interest in the matter to respond in all urgency
(no later than 22 August) and call for a revision on the bill and amendment, and a process of due public consultation before adoption, by sending objections to the amendment to the following:
d.zoekop@lando.co.za
mariette@acmegraphics.co.za
If you would like an e- copy of the bill, please contact:
Val Payn
SWC communications
Box 44
Harding
Tel 082 4416961
valpayn@gmail.com
Posted on August 21st, 2007 by admin
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