The DA has welcomed a commitment by Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk to complete a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in Pondoland, an ecologically sensitive area of the Eastern Cape currently under threat from mining and the construction of a toll road.
Green organisations — including the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa — have long made calls for an SEA, saying they have serious concerns with the way in which the original environmental impact assessment (EIA) was carried out in the region.
Whereas EIAs focus on the effects of development on the environment, SEAs are more holistic, and look at the effect of the environment on development opportunities.
Van Schalkwyk’s commitment to perform an SEA came in a written reply to a parliamentary question, tabled earlier this week, in which he said his department would complete the process by August next year.
In a statement on Thursday, Democratic Alliance environmental affairs spokesperson Gareth Morgan commended the decision, saying he hoped Van Schalkwyk ”will not shy away from honouring” it.
”An SEA is a sophisticated environmental management tool that is already being used extensively in the European Union.
”It is well suited to determining the type and level of developments that a large geographical area such as Pondoland can tolerate, by looking closely at the possible effects of cumulative and additive impacts of developments on the environment.
”Minister van Schalkwyk’s commitment addresses the potential impact of two proposed projects on Pondoland, namely dune mining along the coast, and the construction of the N2 toll road,” he said.
Van Schalkwyk was on record as saying he was opposed to any mining along the Pondoland coast, and preferred the establishment of ecotourism projects, ”although he has repeatedly bemoaned the fact that there is little he can do to stop the mining”.
”A strategic environmental assessment would in all likelihood advise explicitly against mining in Pondoland, and could help to prevent it,” Morgan said.
He said Van Schalkwyk’s further commitment — made in the same reply — to begin consulting the people of Pondoland properly over issues such as the proposed N2 toll road was also welcome.
Titanium minerals in dunes along the Pondoland coast have been targeted by an Australian mining company and its local partners, who are keen to obtain the go-ahead to start excavating the lucrative deposits.
Green organisations have mounted a campaign to halt the mining, and the toll road, saying both ventures will prove environmentally disastrous for the area.
Van Schalkwyk’s department has taken a decision in favour of the N2 tollroad, but this is now the subject of an appeal. A decision is expected next month. – Sapa