There is no evidence that a controversial toll road proposed for the Eastern Cape’s Pondoland region is linked to an intention to mine coastal dunes along the Wild Coast, says Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Valli Moosa.
In an interview with the Mail & Guardian, however, Moosa said, if necessary, he may overrule the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism’s go-ahead for the N2 toll road.
At least 80 objections have been lodged with the minister since the department gave the road the thumbs-up in December. The appeal period closes on Saturday January 31, after the minister extended it for an extra month.
Moosa pointed out that as minister he has the power to overturn the department’s decision, which has drawn flak from both domestic and international environmental organisations because the road cuts through unique ecosystems and because it could open up the area for mining operations.
”If I overturn the decision, then that’s that, they can’t proceed. However, anybody could go to court and try to overturn my decision. On the other hand, if I uphold the decision of the department, that can also be challenged in court,” he said.
Critics fear that the N2 toll road, which will link Umtata to the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, will facilitate mining. A multinational mining company is prospecting for ilmenite in the dunes of Xolobeni, near the Mkambati provincial nature reserve.
Moosa said, while he still has to study the appeals carefully, he would be ”surprised if the Department of Transport had proposed the toll road because some people want to mine the dunes.
”Nobody has put any evidence before me to indicate that the mine and the road are directly related to each other,” he said. ”Over the years nothing I have heard about this road, or the motivations [behind it], has come across that way.”
Both Moosa and his department are opposed to mining the Wild Coast.
Development of a Pondoland national park, surrounded by ecotourism development in a biosphere stretching along the coastline, has been one of the minister’s pet projects during his five years of tenure.
”I still hope the Pondoland national park will be established one day. It is something that we all wanted to happen earlier — and it could have happened,” he said.
”I think a park must happen on the Wild Coast, just because it is so special — if for no other reason, then because it is a place of spiritual heritage and it should be under protection. For the long term, ecotourism is one of the best forms of sustainable development for that area.”
Moosa dismissed intense speculation in the environmental sector that his departure was linked to the Pondoland debacle, despite the fact that his decision to leave and the department’s thumbs-up happened almost simultaneously in early December last year. His plans for protecting the Pondoland coastline have run into stiff opposition from members of the Eastern Cape provincial government.
”If you are the environment minister, you will always be faced with difficult issues and they have to be dealt with in one way or another. You will be criticised, whichever way your decision goes. I have never been too worried about that; I have always done what I think is the right thing to do,” he said.
Moosa has accepted a nomination for presidency of IUCN — The World Conservation Union, the world’s largest environmental NGO. When IUCN co-hosted the World Parks Congress in Durban last September, mining in sensitive ecosystems was the most divisive item on the agenda. Environmental activists were infuriated when IUCN undertook to cooperate with extractive industries like mining, in return for undertakings from the industrialists that they would not exploit protected areas.
The department is pushing hard to give large chunks of the Pondoland coast protected status. Plans for a 100km-long marine reserve are expected to be published next week and a national botanical garden is being established.
Moosa said another option would be to place stringent conditions on approval for the toll road, similar to the go-ahead given for the development of Coega.
”Presumably the Department of Transport proposed it because it has a need for a better transport system in that part of the world and a need for motor vehicles and trucks to be able to move more efficiently. I’m assuming there is a need for greater capacity. Why else would one want a road?” he said.
Asked if it was possible to wrap up before he leaves the ministry, Moosa said this depended on the nature of the appeals. ”If it goes to court, then it would be passed on to the incoming minister.”