Wild coast communities are calling on Government to veto an Australian mining venture’s proposal to mine dunes along the scenic Wild Coast for heavy minerals.

Petitions have gone to Department of Minerals and Energy (DME), the MEC for Eastern Cape Economic Affairs and Tourism and the Department of Public Enterprises stating their opposition to mining and expressing a preference for community development options that would benefit community interests and allow the conservation of the pristine environment of the area.

And in an unprecedented move, sangomas within the communities have added their own weight to the call, saying that the ancestors have made it known that they also oppose mining.

The petition states “We oppose mining in the area as proposed by Mineral Commodities (MRC), and by MRC’s South African subsidiary, Transworld Energy and Mineral Resources (TEM), and any other companies including ‘the Xolobeni community empowerment company’, and we oppose mining interests in that area in general, by other companies too. …Many of us are employed and working in the tourism sector, and are therefore affected by the development. The most sustainable and preferable way to develop the area is with tourism, nature conservation, that also employs local communities working in the tourism sector, and sustainable farming”.

“In addition we support the idea of having the area designated as a nature reserve, as long as we as communities and Interested and Affected Parties to development in the area of Port Edward and Xolobeni are consulted. The former proposal to have a Pondoland Park in our area we do not support at all. But a small nature reserve owned by a community which would boost tourism we would consider if consulted properly and if the ownership would be ours. We would not support any venture, which would lead to the displacement of people from their land. We would like to continue the development of established farming practices, cultivation practices, and develop tourism, and this idea to have a Pondoland nature reserve to be re-evaluated as a possible option, as long as it does not include the displacement or removal of persons living in local communities”.

“We would also like to see the fostering of sustainable development which is owned by the communities, and directly benefits the rural communities and honours their rights to natural resources. The plans to mine have had and will continue to have the effect of discouraging tourism enterprises to establish here”.

The petition is the latest from an increasingly public vocal outcry of condemnation and opposition to the mining plans from a wide range of local civic and international organizations and members of the general public, and fierce opposition from many local communities on whose ancestral and communal land the mining is proposed.

GCS (PTY) LTD has been appointed by Transworld Energy and Mineral Resources to undertake the EIA in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act

( Act 28 of 2002) and the National Environmental Act ( Act 107 of 1998). A time frame of 30 days has been allocated for authorities and IAP review and comments, and 120 days for the conducting of an EIA. ( for more details visit www.swc.org.za)

The mining is estimated, over its 25 years, to create 270 permanent jobs and a similar number of jobs through ‘outsourcing’. Revenue for MRC is estimated between at US 1.8 billion and US 11 billion.

“This is nothing more than a rape of South Africa’s precious natural resources for the benefit of foreigners and is reminiscent of the worst of colonial excesses of exploiting third world resources for the benefit of a few” says Val Payn, a spokesperson for Sustaining the Wild Coast.. “500 plus jobs over 25 years is paltry when one considers the potential revenue for MRC, and that not only will South Africa be losing valuable mineral resources to foreign interests, but that the mining will come at the price of one of the country’s most pristine, ecologically rich and magnificent scenic areas and at the cost of sustainable development opportunities by local communities who live and depend on the land.’

Sustaining the Wild Coast is urging all members of the public who are concerned about the mining proposal to register as IAPs by sending their contact details to xolobeni@gcs-sa.biz or fax 011 803 57 45

Posted on May 15th, 2007
Filed under: Press Releases