SWC ~ Sustaining the Wild Coast ~ » YOUR URGENT RESPONSE NEEDED PLEASE -re Mining Application

YOUR URGENT RESPONSE NEEDED PLEASE -re Mining Application

SWC are urging all interested parties to please URGENTLY write letters of concern to the under mentioned government departments before 5 May in an effort to pre-empt the approval of application for mining rights in the Pondoland Centre of Endemism. (Your public participation and lobbying regarding the mining is extremely important)

Under current legislation, The Department of Minerals and Energy needs to issue an acknowledgement within 14 days of receipt of an application for a mining licence, following which is a period of 30 days for public comment before the application is rejected or approved. Approval does not guarantee a right to mine, but starts a process whereby the Applicant has to show that their Social and Labour Plan, Mineral and Economics Plan, and Health and Safety Plan is acceptable, followed by a scrutiny of the Environmental Management Plan, and the compliance test with mineral laws. Assuming the application meets requirements of the initial assessment it then passes to HQ of Department of Mineral and Energy for ‘Qualitative and Strategic Assessment’. The whole process takes about a year.

NOTE - while an EIA has to be done as part of the process, UNDER CURRENT LEGISLATION FINAL APPROVAL RESTS WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF MINERALS AND ENERGY (DME), AND NOT WITH DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TOURISM.(DEAT)

The mining rights application process is designed toward ‘mitigation’ of negative impacts, rather than ‘prevention’ of negative impacts.

We are also asking all interested parties to register as Interested and Affected parties.

We suggest that letters express concerns on any or all of the following grounds:-

ETHICAL - mining the Wild Coast seeks to make short term profits from non -renewable resources, threatens bio -diversity and risks the ability of local eco- systems to provide livelihoods for present and future generations. It is a wasting process, rather than generative. It threatens biodiversity, natural and cultural heritage.

SCIENTIFIC -it will aggravate stresses on energy, water, and biological systems with the risk of pushing them into collapse, especially given the susceptibility of the area to consequences of global change, and so aggravate environmental stress on communities traditionally heavily dependent on well -functioning environments. The extent to which rehabilitation is possible is highly questionable, given the fragility of the eco-system, particular geological profile and climate conditions, high species numbers and high number of small concentrations of endemics in the area.

HUMAN NEEDS - mining operations will destroy, inhibit and frustrate the sustainable future of local communities, and will undermine rather than enhance the quality of life traditionally associated with the area.

SOCIO -POLITICAL - the behavior of the Applicant during the exploration phase has aggravated community conflict, caused distrust and fear, hampered local economic development by manipulations of free flows of information, intimidation and co -option, which have violated/threatened section 25 rights (among others) in the Bill of Human Rights.

- The potential for biodiversity loss as a result of open cast mining over 22 kms in the heart of Pondoland centre of Endemism potentially contravenes South Africa’ s ratification of the Convention of Biodiversity as well as numerous other international conservation agreements .

- It is questionable whether the mining process, with its need for high concentrations of fresh water (presumably from pristine local estuaries) and destruction of coastal dunes and vegetation, is in line with the recently formalized national Coastal Management Plan

ECONOMIC -No holistic independent cost benefit analyses have been undertaken to ascertain if supposed benefits from mining outweigh any negative impacts, including loss of earnings from other potential opportunities such as tourism, nor whether mining serves the best economic interests of local communities or of the region. Nor does mining form any part of any integrated land management plan for the area. The only comparative study that has been done as part of the WCCSDI indicates that tourism holds far greater potential for sustainable development of the region than mining.

If possible please send me a copy of any letters sent so they I may keep track of the response.

Val valpayn@gmail.com

Send letters to

DEPARTMENT OF MINERALS AND ENERGY

Director General
Adv Sandile Nogxina
Fax 012 320 5807
Email mpumi.gaven@dme.gov.za

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES

Director General -Ms Portia Molefe
Fax 012 342 8431
Email Portia.molefe@dpe.gov.za

Communications and International relations

Ms Vimla Maistry
Fax 012 342 6194
Vimla.maistry@dpe.gov.za

EASTERN CAPE ECONOMIC AFFAIRS AND TOURISM MEC

Mbulelo Songoni
Fax 040 609 3211
Email nokuzola.ndlela@deaet.ecape.gov.za

NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND TOURISM