Two cousins, one proposed mining project on ancestral land and a battle of epic proportions.In the Amadiba area, on South Africa’s stunning Wild Coast, the Pondo people have tended their traditional way of life for centuries. Nonhle, a young local eco-tour guide, is a staunch supporter of her people and the endangered environment on which their livelihood and culture depend. Her cousin Madiba, a local entrepreneur and self-proclaimed modernizer, is fully supportive of a titanium-mining proposal and the government’s controversial plan to build a tolled highway across their land. Tired of his community living without good access to employment, hospitals and schools, Madiba uses every backhanded method imaginable, scurrilously courting private capital and questionable government officials. While the South African President deposes the pro-environment Pondo Royal Family, Nonhle rallies inspiring support with little more than dogged determination.
Featuring arresting cinematography, beautiful sand animation and sensational original music, The Shore Break delivers both a visually and emotionally riveting fight to the finish. See the trail below and more on this debate HERE and HERE.
Tag: wild coast
Wild Coast developments
There have been some recent interesting developments concerning the Wild Coast mining and Toll rd, which have exposed how authorities have deliberately flouted EIA regulations and legislative requirements. Please click the following links to media articles:
THE STAR, BUSINESS REPORT “Wild Coast plans show preference for mining”
DAILY DISPATCH “More concerns over Wild Coast mining”
THE HERALD “Mining task team merely passes buck“
There has been heated debate about the future of the Wild Coast recently. The proposed mining of the Xolobeni area and now the extension of the N2, which will supposedly result in socio-economic development in the area but will also have long-lasting, detrimental effects on the environment. Here are various arguments and comments; from Sustaining the Wild Coast, the ‘Wildcoast’ website and a broader overview.
I write this now as the deadline to submit an appeal against the proposed highway is this Wednesday 19th May. All too often,
Local freedoms
Written on behalf of SWC by Val Payn
SWC Chair
Box 44, Harding
Contact cell 083 4416961
XOLOBENI MINING IS A TEST CASE OF HOW MUCH COMMITMENT GOVERNMENT HAS TO LOCAL DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES.
Should local destinies be decided locally? That is the heart of the issue around the Wild Coast Xolobeni mining debate.
The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has announced that it will hold a legal hearing in Durban to hear oral submissions as to why amaPondo communities are opposed to titanium dune mining along the Wild Coast. DMR say the submissions will be taken into account in the Minister’s decision whether to give the go ahead for the mining application. This sets a precedent for DMR, who do not usually consider oral appeals.