African Wildlife & Environment Issue 79

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

submitted by Bokamoso, who are representing the Selati Game Reserve. Bokamoso has therefore requested an extension. Approval of the MR application would allow Tiara to conduct open cast mining on the farms North of the Selati river to a depth of 70m for a period of 30 years, with a miniscule budget allocated for rehabilitation. The main reason for this particular Mining Right application is for the supply of quartz (gemstones) to various markets. Other questions asked related to the water access required by the mining operations, and to the employment opportunities touted by the mining company as being beneficial to the community. The MR application states that 50 new jobs will be created for the community. The point was made that SGR alone employs around 80 individuals, not including contractors, and that there will thus be a net job loss, and even more so once our commercial lodges and ventures are operating at optimal capacity. The main issues relating to our objection to the MR application are the following: • Selati has been identified by SANBI as a Critical Biosphere Area Category 1, which means that it irreplaceable in terms of its biosphere.The consultant reports in the main do not recognise the SGR and its flora and fauna. The reports refer only to the individual farms on which the MR will be applied, and the consultants appeared to be unaware of the fact that that these farms are part of a greater conservancy and have been for almost 30 years. • Selati's advanced Protected Area application is critical to our objection and the Management Plan is complete and just awaiting the signature of the Limpopo MEC once submitted. • There are possible irregularities with regard to previous prospecting licences; lack of prospecting work, lack of owner notification and access agreements. • Tiara has not presented Resource statements. • There are no detailed financial impact reports for the project. All the above issues are reflected in the lack of detail within the various reports provided by the consultants. SGR is reviewing the option of appealing directly to the Department of Minerals, Resources and Energy (DMRE) on the basis of their acceptance of the MR application, given

even mentioned. Reading through the EIA report and EMP report, one is faced with many other ludicrous suggestions or mitigations that have made it very clear that nobody set foot on the SGR for prospecting or other investigations. It appears that work done on the Granville Mine terrain 20-30 km to the NW was used to thumb- suck what the situation was on the ground at SGR. As there were no members of the Gravelotte community present or other rural communities and this was queried, the consultants for Tiara stated that separate meetings are being held due to Covid-19 regulations. Stakeholders in the meeting objected to this explanation, considering the fact that the meeting was being held outdoors with all required Covid-19 protocols in place. The point was made that there should not be a different agenda for the local community and the landowners at these public participation meetings. The meeting started late, and when the environmental consultants arrived they obviously were very unprepared for the meeting. The Consultants appointed by Tiara to run the meeting were Sakal and Tebo (Pty) Ltd. They proceeded to present a disorganised plan of the proposed mining reading directly from notes without clarification of important facts. The first detail made available incorrectly referred to the meeting as a Prospecting Right Application address. The presentation was in fact a Mining Right Application requirement, and this error set the scene for the presentation going forward.The Consultants were unable to answer many of the questions posed by those present and, very tellingly, appeared to not be aware of the fact that approximately 10,500 hectares (over two thirds) of their mining right application will cover land which is part of the established Selati Game Reserve. On a technical basis, the point made by the affected parties was that they have not been provided with many of the documents required by law for this Mining Right (MR) application process to proceed. These critical documents were requested by the landowners and their representatives at the meeting. Other documents as well as the minutes were promised by the following week, however, this did not happen within the time promised. The response of affected parties to this mining right application was due by the end of March 2021, and without these essential documents, accurate comments and objections could not be

34 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 79 (2021)