African Wildlife & Environment Issue 82

CONSERVATION

The extent of mining along the riparian zone of the Umvoti River on 23 Agust 2013 is clearly evident in Google Earth images. This resulted in a Section 53 shutdown citing Section 21 (c) and (i) of the National Water Act

engaging in a compliance monitoring programme – from which the company was unable to recover financially; or the sand miners on the uMzimkhulu are being “protected” from Section 21 of the NWA through some form of agreement between the mining operator and the local authority. In either option, there is a miscarriage of justice, and in both there is a hint that the environmental laws are being selectively used as a weapon to either punish a party unwilling to engage in a corrupt practice, or to benefit from such a practice. In the case of the uMzimkhulu, there is empirical evidence of the construction of multiple structures that visibly alter the bed, bank and flow of the river. In all cases the structures have been structurally unsound in direct contravention of the 2015 GN. In all cases habitat and biotopes have been measurably altered, and banks have been eroded as a direct result of the redirected flow of the water. In spite of this forensic evidence, the mining operation on the uMzimkhulu continues with impunity, while every attempt made by Adeel Sands to comply, while still remaining a viable business, was rejected by DWS.

This is a case where the law is applied selectively in two different river basins. More importantly, even when the law was applied on the Umvoti River, it was only applied to selective legal operators, leaving illegal miners free to continue their activities, and eventually expand onto the site vacated by Adeel Sands. In the uMzimkulu case, mining activity within the wetland and riparian zone has been captured by Google Earth, so the extent of those activities are now a matter of record. Despite this body of evidence, no Section 53 shutdown notice has been issued, and the mining operator is free to destroy the benthic habitat in the estuary of South Africa’s last free-flowing river of any great significance.

Prof Anthony Turton Centre for Environmental Management

University of the Free State tony@anthonyturton.com

13 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 82 (2022)