Protest picnic against mining plans
July 22, 2008 Edition 1
Tony Carnie
HUNDREDS of people from villages in Pondoland and several towns on the KwaZulu-Natal coast staged a protest march with a difference at the weekend to oppose plans to mine the sand dunes along the Wild Coast.
Instead of marching to the city hall or Pretoria, the protesters spent their Sunday morning on a leisurely picnic walk along an unspoiled stretch of coastline.
Carrying placards declaring, “No to mining” and “Yes to ecotourism”, many of the protesters expressed opposition to an Australian company’s plan to mine the sand dunes for heavy minerals, in conjunction with a local empowerment group.
John Clarke, a social worker acting for locals in the Xolobeni, Mnyameni, Sigidi, Mtentu and Mphahlane areas, estimated that about 1 000 residents of the South Coast had gathered at the Wild Coast Casino and walked 2km to the mouth of the Mzamba River.
About 200 of them had crossed the river and walked a further 7km to Mnyameni River, about midway along the 22km stretch of coastline that has been earmarked for mining by the Australian group, Mineral Resource Commodities. They were joined by several hundred residents from the affected communities.
Two months ago, a rival group of community members and leaders travelled to Pretoria to urge the minerals and energy and transport departments to authorise the mining project, as well as the N2 Wild Coast toll road proposal.
Posted on July 28th, 2008
Filed under: Newspaper and Media
Actually, it is important to note that the community leaders who met us at Mnyameni are so opposed to the mining of their ancestral lands that they have threatened to revolt, like in the 1960 “Pondo Uprising”, if the government gives away their land to mining interests.
It was clearly apparent from the community leaders who spoke out, and the the number of people present at the meeting, that the actual residents of the area are 100% opposed to the proposed strip-mining of their pristine dunes and grasslands. (I won’t really bother to mention the affected indigenous forests [dust fallout] and literal damning of 5 breeding estuaries that the miners propose to utilize within this portion of the Pondoland Center of Endemism.)
It was very sad to see the people who have been left unemployed - or under-employed - from the undermining (no pun intended) of eco-tourism (like Nonthle and Benny the tour guide) present at the meeting. But great to hear them speak out against the strip-mining and for sustainable eco-tourism.
Even sadder to note the vandalization of the Amadiba (ex Transkei Hiking Trail) huts and the decimation of the Mzamba community Tourism Center (across the way from Wild Coast Sun).
It’s almost like (as if!?) the pro-mining lobby is trying to prove that all eco-tourism ventures are unsustainable because they can destroy them to prove their half-baked point.
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Jeff Brown
Cell: 074-101 5170 / Fax: 086-532 3508
Masimanyane Mussel Rehabilitation and
Masande Nursery ~ Nutritional Projects
C O F F E E B A Y ~ W I L D C O A S T
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Website: www.wildcoast.com
Blog: www.wildcoast.com/jeff
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I think another walk should be arranged along the coast from Wild Coast Sun to Xolobeni.
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