Community to oppose 90km of road to be built between Ntafufu and Ndwalane, and between Lusikisiki and the Mthamvuna River
COMMUNITIES in the AmaDiba Tribal Administrative area, which succeeded in pressuring Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu to withdraw Wild Coast mining rights, now plan legal action to stop the N2 toll road being built.
Posted on August 2nd, 2011 by Louis
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Source: Group writers SA
Publication: Mercury
AFTER nearly 10 years of controversy, Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has flashed the green light for the construction of the Wild Coast toll road from Durban to East London.
It emerged last night that she has rejected 50 legal appeals against the proposal, |setting the stage for the construction of several new cash-collection points on the N2, including a major toll-plaza near Isipingo used by thousands of Durban commuters.
Molewa side-stepped the thorny question of tolling commuters and local industries in South Durban, arguing that she had no authority to consider the cost and social-economic implications. Her duty was to examine the physical and environmental impacts of the toll road infrastructure, whereas the minister of Transport and the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) were responsible for setting the toll fees and considering the social and economic ramifications.
Because the decision only came to light yesterday it was not clear whether opponents would challenge her decision in court. However, attorney Cormac Cullinan, who is acting for some of the objectors in Pondoland, said there was a strong possibility of a further legal challenge.
Andrew Layman, chief executive of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “I think there would be a sense of disappointment about this decision because the chamber remains concerned about the detrimental impacts on the economy and on daily commuters who can probably ill-afford extra tolls.”
Consultants
A study by transport consultants Imani prepared for the South Durban Business Coalition in 2009 suggested that 31 percent of the toll fees on the Durban-East London route would be collected at Isipingo alone, whereas only 6 percent of the total capital costs of the project would be spent on upgrading roads in the South Durban basin.
A legal submission prepared by Toyota SA, Illovo Sugar, Umbogintwini Industrial Association and the Southgate Industrial Park also suggested that tolls at Isipingo would push up the cost of doing business in South Durban by as much as R81 million a year.
In response to objections that the toll road was ecologically unsustainable and could wreck plans to create a new protected area in Pondoland, Molewa acknowledged that the SA National Biodiversity Institute and officials in her own department had identified Pondoland as possibly “the last opportunity” to establish a large new coastal protected area.
“The information at my disposal confirms the importance of the biological diversity of (Pondoland). The large numbers of species endemic to this area and the sensitive wetlands and forests it contains render the Pondoland coastline a valuable and vulnerable natural asset which needs formal protection.”
Molewa was also aware that a new road through the area would “fragment this delicate system” but she believed “a balance should be sought between strict preservation on one hand and the promotion of development on the other”.
On concerns that the toll road would set in train a series of other major developments (including mining) which would have a cumulative negative impact on the environment and tourism, she said her department could not be expected to “base decisions on potential future developments, on the information generated by the environmental impact assessment for the proposed road”.
Sanral chief executive Nazir Alli could not be reached for comment.
Posted on July 28th, 2011 by Louis
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Companies and Intellectual Property Commission records suggest that Xolobeni Empowerment Company (Xolco) co-founders Max Boqwana and Zamile “Madiba” Qunya at some stage shared other business interests.
Source : www.iol.co.za
Posted on July 22nd, 2011 by Louis
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The AmaDiba community, which won a presidential award for its community-run tourism operations, plans to relaunch the facilities after a decade of threatened titanium mining left them lying idle.
But in the last month, Zamokwakhe “Basheen” Qunya, the tourism officer of the Mbizana Municipality and a former representative of the mining company, has twice attempted to stop the new operators of Mtentu River Lodge from renovating the facility on behalf of the community-owned Accoda Trust.
Source : www.iol.co.za
Posted on July 22nd, 2011 by Louis
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Australian junior mining group Mineral Commodities (MRC) whose licence for the controversial Xolobeni mineral sands project was revoked in May, still hopes to mine titanium on the Wild Coast with its empowerment partner Xolobeni Empowerment Company.
Posted on July 20th, 2011 by Louis
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The Xolobeni mining issue highlights the importance of access to information and the protection of communities from greed
Posted on June 30th, 2011 by Louis
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After almost a decade of uncertainty, Amapondo communities heard last week that a mining right given to a subsidiary of Australian mining company Mineral Resources Commodities (MRC) over beaches of Xolobeni region in the Eastern Cape had been rescinded
Posted on June 14th, 2011 by Louis
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