Environment

Petition to stop Shell
Monday, 15 November, 2021 - 09:29

Sign the petition

Please sign the petition to help stop Shell from seismic blasting along the Wild Coast!

https://chng.it/cW8t7x55dg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwDnNZJy9qw

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Avaaz petition to SAHRA: Please declare Hole in the Wall a heritage site
Thursday, 29 October, 2020 - 08:48

 

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION

In this picture, you can see where they're busily building the turning circle. They've removed hundreds of cubes of topsoil, and have got to the stage where they return from dumping it with a load of sabunga to replace it, and they're even busy compacting it with a steam roller. 

It's also in the approximate region where they think to put the picnic site.

See where the litter is going to irretrievably blow into the pristine cliff forest, river, and out to sea?

The Department of Economic Development, Environment & Tourism (DEDEAT) has approved this ecocidal insanity.

Please click on the link to sign our petition to SAHRA:

SAHRA: Please Declare Hole in the Wall a National Heritage Site to Protect It

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Letter to SAHRA: Declare Hole in the Wall a Heritage Site
Wednesday, 28 October, 2020 - 08:04

Download PDF

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION!

28 October 2020

South African Heritage Resources Agency
111 Harrington Street
CAPE TOWN
8001

For the attention of: SAHRA CEO, SAHRA Council & Chairperson

Dear SAHRA,

URGENT APPLICATION: HOLE IN THE WALL – NATIONAL HERITAGE SITE

Hole in the Wall is one of the most uniquely beautiful locations on earth and yet, while it is unquestionably an undeclared World Heritage Site of “Outstanding Universal Value”, it has unfortunately not yet even been accoladed with National Heritage Site status.

Rolling green hillside, cows grazing, Whale's Back, milkwood forest & Hole in the Wall panorama

And it is not just the unique natural arch rock formation that is so special, but the peaceful surrounds comprising rolling green hills, indigenous milkwood forest, river valley grasslands and the Mpako River itself, which all contribute to its Sense of Place.

The local municipality’s Integrated Development Plan for 2017 – 2022 mentions no fewer than 7 times that Hole in the Wall is indeed a Heritage Site, but that it is not yet so declared. And it warns of the danger of uncontrolled developments, and goes further to state that it must be declared a Heritage Site.

Unfortunately the Sense of Place is about to be severely and permanently impacted by the inappropriate imposition of a tarred roadway, widened and extended to the edge of the hillside overlooking the attraction, in such a way that vehicles peer over the edge and into the river valley, and are visibly imposed into the setting. Though not yet tarred, this is already especially severe at certain times of the day when the sun’s reflection glares off the windscreens.

Sun glare from windscreensBesides the glare, the overwhelming feeling from the vicinity of the Hole in the Wall itself, the nearby beaches and river valley, is of jarring intrusion into what should be a secluded, peaceful and free natural environment, as Nature intended.

Furthermore, the Dept. of Economic Development, Environment & Tourism (DEDEAT) has approved an ill devised notion to situate picnic tables on the grassy area over-looking Hole in the Wall. This is such a terrible idea, as besides further imposition into the setting and degrading the Sense of Place, the hillside is in very close proximity to the river and directly exposed to the prevailing North-East wind, which will cause litter to be blown straight into the river and washed out to sea, and pollute the river valley and cliff forest on either side of the river.

Despite numerous pleas to DEDEAT going back over two years, and a hand-delivered letter from the community to the road contractor’s community liaison officer some two weeks ago, the Department of Transport (DOT) who are carrying out the contract, have ignored the community’s request to meet onsite to discuss the simple mitigation measure of curtailing the roadway, turning circle and parking area by some two hundred metres at the watercourse before the last hillside, and using a far more appropriate, attractive and sheltered location for the picnic site. They stubbornly refuse to hear our pleas, and are hell-bent on their course of senseless destruction.

Raised road impacts viewsFrom this location, which is unquestionably the optimal location for the picnic site, they have raised the roadway by some 4 metres and totally impacted the views from all angles. The road should end before the culvert pipes.

This goes beyond even the aesthetic impact, and will also have a hugely negative socio-economic impact by cheapening and commoditizing the attraction solely for day-tripper busloads and vehicles, which would provide zero to very negligible economic benefit to the community, while at the same time paving the way for further inappropriate developments.

Whereas, if the attraction and surrounds are declared a National Heritage Site, and fenced and curated appropriately as a Nature Reserve, with (possibly) a nominal entrance fee (reduced or waived for SA citizens), demarcated nature trails and kayak hire, it will create long-term sustainable benefits for the local community and also minimise as far as possible the inevitable damage to the indigenous forest and surrounds.

As I wrote to the department recently, “the devastating impact can easily be mitigated, while at the same time saving money and providing an invaluable opportunity for creating local employment, whilst also preserving the allure of the attraction’s Sense of Place, seclusion, privacy and freedom.”

In closing I would like to stress that this is a very urgent situation as DOT are planning to complete tarring, and thereby sealing the fate of our beautiful Heritage Site, before the end of the year.

Please let me know if you have any further questions I may answer.

Trusting in your understanding and looking forward to your most urgent response.

Yours sincerely,

&c

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Excavating and removing topsoil from the view site
Tuesday, 27 October, 2020 - 15:28

Despite the hand delivered letter two weeks ago, from the community, requesting an onsite meeting with the roads contractor to discuss the wishes of the community, they're busy at work again today. Carting the topsoil away, somewhere, no doubt to replace it with a compacted layer of sabunga prior to tarring...

I guess they believe that if they finish the job in time, all we'll be able to do is accept it.

"Sabunga" is a South Africa colloquial name for a type or variety of sand and / or gravel, from weatherized dolerite. The weathered rock most widely used for road construction in South Africa.

So I phoned Zweliwinile, the "right hand" of Komkhulu, and then went to fetch him. We met with stony indifference from the onsite supervisor, but another meeting has been arranged for tomorrow at our village headwoman's Komkhulu. Following which we'll go to our Tshezi Chief's Komkhulu. The big "Great Place". 

For interests sake, the Tshezi are the ruling Bomvana clan of the Jalamba-Gambushe line, with European shipwreck ancestry. They rose to prominence when the Xhosa King Hintsa took Nomsa of the Tshezi's as his Great Wife. The land they occupy in the main is the region around Hole in the Wall and Coffee Bay, whereas Bomvana land extends from the Mbashe River to the Umtata River, and inland some 60km up to Mqanduli.

Some positivity, hopefully: I met Unathi Pali, who is working for Dept. of Transport at the view site itself. He's the firstborn son of our Tshezi Chief, Ngwenyathi. It's some years since I met with Ngwenyathi, but I asked Unathi to please inform his father of the issues and planned mitigations which I tried my best to convey in my broken Xhosa. At the very least I will have made an impression as a mad umlungu raving about the angry "amathongo".

Luisah Teish, author of the book Jambalaya, states "As we walk upon the Earth, our feet press against the bones of the Ancestors on whose shoulders we stand."

These ancestors, going back to antiquity are called Amathongo in Xhosa.

Anyway. My immediate priority today was very much disrupted, and I still have yet to complete the motivation to SAHRA for emergency declaration of Hole in the Wall as a national heritage site. Our best hope for the future of Hole in the Wall.

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Hole in the Wall Milkwood Forest
Sunday, 25 October, 2020 - 10:12

Download high resolution original:

Hole in the Wall, Whale's Back, Milkwood forest and rolling green hill (6839x1856, 3.2MB)

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Hole in the Wall and Sense of Place
Tuesday, 20 October, 2020 - 04:15

The current "Integrated Development Plan" for King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality (Link: KSD IDP 2017-2022) mentions no fewer than 7 times that Hole in the Wall is considered a Heritage Site, but that it is not yet proclaimed. And it further warns of the danger of uncontrolled developments.

Yet despite investigating our complaint about the parking lot overlooking the Hole, DEDEAT takes absolutely no cognizance of the disastrous impact on the "Sense of Place" to the surrounds and view site overlooking the Hole in the Wall. Instead, they've sanctioned raising the road level by approximately 4 metres above the watercourse, and widening the roadway to over 15 metres to provide "bus bays" and parking, so that people can enjoy the privilege of seeing the Hole from the comfort of their vehicles. At what cost?

This past Saturday was the busiest day we've seen since March and the lockdown, and at around 15:00 the glare from half a dozen windscreens, alone, was blinding! And the views from the hillside itself are impacted from millions of angles. The "whole" is discarded in favour of a myopic front-row view of the Hole, only.

Dept. of Transport have apparently instructed that this view site be tarred and completed before the new year. But they have yet to complete the actual road leading there. The far more necessary 10km stretch between Coffee Bay and Hole in the Wall has been abandoned for the past two years, after they completed a total of 2,4km of tarring, and left another 1km tarred on one side only. Not to mention the road (DR18031) from Mqanduli to Coffee Bay is in an absolutely appalling state, and should be a FAR higher priority.

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They Paved Paradise
Sunday, 22 September, 2019 - 16:52

Joni Mitchell wrote Big Yellow Taxi in 1969, and it's more relevant today than ever. In her words:

"I wrote Big Yellow Taxi on my first trip to Hawaii. I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart…this blight on paradise."

 

So anyway, they're tarring the road between Hole in the Wall and Coffee Bay at the moment, and I've been tempted several times to post about the swathe of destruction in its wake for the width of the road and it's graded and cambered 80km /hour specification. (Like, they're cutting 10m or more off the tops of the hills!)

In a tiny little coastal village like this, a sweet little cobblestone road would be far more appropriate, but I couldn't work up the energy to mount a futile protest against the inevitability of it. But when they started working in the village here in Hole in the Wall towards the end of last month, I knew I had to try and do something to prevent them from destroying the "sense of place" and natural beauty of the hillside overlooking Hole in the Wall itself. So I talked to the road crew and they pointed me to their supervisor.

That hillside was saved from development by DEDEAT (Dept. of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism) in 2006, when the new hotel development attempted to site themselves there. There was another development about 10 years ago that they stopped, too. And the investor who had fenced and started building without an EIA or any sort of permission was subsequently forced to remove all traces. He must have lost a lot of money.

Now, however, the spatial development initiative has received funding from national government to fast-track development in this area, so some civil servant has drawn a pen-line from A to B without any thought about environmental and ecological impact; or more to the point, any kind of aesthetic integrity.

A year ago, almost exactly, I mounted an attempt to get DEDEAT to assist with having this particular hillside (and it's counterpart on the other side of the river) demarcated as a no-go area for any development, to protect the environs for future generations to enjoy its unspoilt beauty. The kindly response I got was to the effect that I should try to engage with the community to do so, and they wished me luck. Unfortunately I work for a living, and haven't had the time or resources to undertake such a time-consuming mission. Now it's too late.

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got til its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Pretty much everyone will recognise this beautiful cover version by Counting Crows:

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Mkambati Nature Reserve to be privatised?
Tuesday, 9 April, 2019 - 09:11

Full story: Daily Maverick

Mkambati Nature Reserve, one of five national reserves along the Wild Coast, is to be privatised and made off-limits to all but exclusive paying guests at the proposed resort.

Also, access to the World famous waterfall that falls directly into the Indian Ocean will be restricted to paying guests only. Doesn't seem right.

 

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A triumph for rural land rights holders
Friday, 14 December, 2018 - 17:41

By Mike Coleman

 

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Wild Coast Climate
Saturday, 10 November, 2018 - 14:42

The Wild Coast has a comparatively high average rainfall, with the coastal belt receiving over 1000mm per annum. Spring rains generally appear in October, with July to September being the coolest and dryest months of the year; and December to February being the hottest and wettest.  

Temperatures can vary considerably between the northern and southern parts of the Wild Coast, with around a 1° C average increase per 100km as one moves northwards towards the sub-tropics. Whereas Port St Johns, for example, has heavy, hot and humid summer months similar to Durban and the South Coast;  Coffee Bay down past Hole in the Wall and the south enjoy far milder and more temperate climes.

Overall the Wild Coast enjoys very temperate climes with comfortable sub-tropical temperatures along most of the coast in summer, averaging around 23° during the day, and about 18°C at night.

The summer rainy seasons are sub tropically warm and pleasant, while the winters are mild and fine. The Wild Coast thus makes a great getaway for frost-bitten inland residents during the mid-winter school holidays. (July also coincides with the sardine run, lots of whale and dolphin activity, and the aloes and corral trees in full flaming bloom.)

Mid Wild Coast (Hole in the Wall) highs in January (mid summer) reach about 28°C , and in June (winter) about 21°C; with lows of 17°C and 10°C respectively. The mid-winter temps are typically balmy with daytime temperatures around 18°C and falling to an average of around 14°C at night.

Prevailing winds are from the North East and South West, with a distinct tendency for the N-E to dominate. Wind speeds on a good blowy day can gust around 50km/hr. Generally, mid-winter months have less wind.

Rainfall recorded at Hole in the Wall:

Oct 2015: 69mm
Nov 2015: 71mm
Dec 2015: 95mm

 20162018201920202021
Jan 3052105207203
Feb 80943525773
Mar 69110293136157
Apr 467824517196
May 911430206.5
Jun 70406133
Jul 12812129,50
Aug 1921121239
Sep  37328227195
Oct 571032014959
Nov 19130130147155
Dec 15049140212200
TOTAL 90559511441353,51316,5
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Illegal trawler monitoring on the Wild Coast
Friday, 24 March, 2017 - 10:11

Be aware of illegal fishing vessels along the Wild Coast.

Especially during the Shad Season and Sardine Run from May through August!

There is now a permanent AIS monitoring station at Hole in the Wall, capable of monitoring all legal marine traffic along the Wild Coast.

If you see a suspicious ship, please check this page or: Marine Traffic Monitor

And if it is not transmitting its position and identity, please report it to the Fisheries dept at DAFF.

Report suspicious activity to: Mr Mbuli on 043 722 9640 or 078 319 3119

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Gamekeepers versus poachers in new cabinet
Wednesday, 20 May, 2009 - 17:36

I commented recently about the cabinet ministry changes, and made a similar comment about Buyelwa Sonjica (who is now Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs) and her obvious pro-industrialization inclinations, so I think it's fairly appropriate to post  Tonie Carnie's article published in The Mercury on 13 May 2009.

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Save the Wild Coast Campaign
Tuesday, 22 May, 2007 - 12:58

Sign the petition

Please sign the petition to help stop Shell from seismic blasting along the Wild Coast!

Sign here!

 

UPDATE 24 November 2021: This original 2007 article, Save the Wild Coast Campaign was an initiative which subsequently changed its name to Sustaining the Wild Coast (SWC), and the issues, while ongoing, are not related to the proposed Shell and Impact Africa seismic surveys of December 2021:

Threatened nature in South Africa

Please support the international "Save the Wild Coast Campaign" by sending a letter or fax to the South African President, Thabo Mbeki and the Minister for the Environment, Marthinus van Schalkwyk.

Download a specimen letter (RTF file, 10kb)

Thank you very much for your help.

Background Information:

Wildcoast - Pondoland Centre of Endemism

The Pondoland centre of endemism is located in the Eastern Cape Province on the shores of the Indian Ocean of South Africa. The Pondoland Centre, as part of the Maputaland-Pondoland Region, has subsequently been acknowledged as one of the important centres of plant diversity and endemism in Africa. The area is the smallest of the 18 centres of endemism and boasts 1,800 plant species.

Late in 2004, Washington-based "Conservation International" published the book "Hotspots Revisited" in which 34 " Hotspots" are identified as "Earth’s Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Ecoregions". One of the newly added Hotspots is the Maputaland-Pondoland Region. The Pondoland Centre is the smallest and the most vulnerable.

There are 39 European Migratory birds found in the area to be impacted upon by the proposed Toll Road. Two species are globally threatened: the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) and the Corncrake (Crex crex) while one species is globally near threatened: the Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanii).

South Africa is signatory to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity. Article 6 of the convention provides for General Measures for Conservation and Sustainable Use and requires contracting parties to develop national strategies, plans and programmes for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and to integrate these as far as possible into relevant sectoral programmes. Currently South Africa has developed the National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan as part of the obligations to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity.

South Africa is also a signatory to the Convention of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. The primary objective of the Convention is accordingly to protect migratory species. One of the objectives is to encourage "range states" to conclude agreements for the conservation and management of species listed in appendix 2 of the Convention.

In 2002 the South African National Roads Agency Ltd, accepted an unsolicited bid by a construction consortium to construct a Toll Road from East London in the Eastern Cape to Port Edward in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Currently 85% of the existing road is being upgraded.

The construction consortium has proposed to develop a new section of road "Green fields" between Lusiksiki and Port Edward (85 kilometres in length). This section of road will traverse through the Pondoland Centre of Endemism, thus impacting on area that has been internationally recognized as a "Global Hotspot" for flora and fauna.

The South African Minister of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Minister van Schalkwyk, announced on the 31st August 2005 that an agreement between the Eastern Cape Department of Nature Conservation and the National Department had been reached to create the Pondoland National Park. The Minister was however, extremely vague as to where the boundaries of the proposed Pondoland Park would be.

The "Save the Wild Coast Campaign" has welcomed this commitment, however the Minister has declined to confirm whether this will exclude the construction of the controversial 85 kilometres of road through the Pondoland Centre of Endemism as well as a proposed titanium strip-mining application along the 220 kilometres of pristine coastline. Word in the house of Parliament is that the road will proceed in spite of the fact it will travel through the area that should be set aside as a National Park.

The "Save the Wild Coast Campaign" has led an advocacy and lobbying campaign to re-route the "Greenfields" section of the road to a section known as the R61 which travels in close proximity to many towns and settlements. This option would benefit many thousands of inhabitants and be a sustainable option in terms of poverty alleviation and sustainable job creation, while ensuring the protection of a globally recognized hotspot and access to intergenerational equity.

The SWC require international support for this advocacy to ensure that South Africa honours its commitment as signatories to The Convention on Biodiversity and The Convention of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.

International support for this measure addressed to the National Minister, Minister van Schalkwyk would give impetus to the campaign and ensure South Africa’s accountability to international obligations.

If there are any questions please contact the "Save the Wild Coast" campaign directly:

The Wild Coast Campaign
PO Box 52
Port Shepstone
Kwa-Zulu Natal 4240
South Africa

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