A new Bill proposing an integrated system of coastal management will not lead to expropriation of beachfront properties, MPs were assured on Wednesday.
But officials of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism who are sponsoring the Bill through Parliament say that it will make it easier for local authorities to remove holiday chalets illegally built on the beach.
Pam Yako, Director General of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, explained to the environment and tourism committee that her department does not regulate ownership. It merely governs access to the beaches, and officials of her legal services section told the committee that it is a misperception that land is being expropriated under the Bill.
The problem arises when the high-tide mark moves, as it does all round South Africa’s coasts as global warming and rising oceans start eroding the beachfronts. After a new high-water mark has been established for two years, no action is taken, but after three years, if there is no further change, the state may have to take action to protect against the endangerment of people and property.
Albert Mokoena, an African National Congress MP, asked what can be done about holiday chalets that are illegally erected on the beach. He told the meeting that the OR Tambo municipality found it almost impossible to have them removed.
Yako told him that the new law will make it easier to deal with this problem, especially in areas that are designated as in need of protection.
She was also asked about the problems that arise from the mining of dunes, and she explained that mining is not regulated by her department but by the Department of Minerals and Energy.
Under present legislation, her department has to be asked for its opinion, and the present Bill will strengthen the force of that. But answering a particular question from Gareth Morgan, of the Democratic Alliance, she regretted that this had come too late to help protect the dunes at Xolobeni on the Wild Coast. — I-Net Bridge