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| Hope for the Karoo... Saved in part by public petition, the crystal clear waters of Lake Sibaya near St Lucia, tucked against the world's highest forested coastal dunes, are home to KwaZulu-Natal’s second largest population of hippo and crocodiles, not to mention the myriad of wild life that continues to thrive around it. |
I experienced a feeling of deja vu when reading Shell's recent full page advertorials in various media around the country, "Shell's commitments to the Karoo", and response to criticism of the proposed hydro-fracking of large parts of the Karoo.
Where had I seen and heard this all before? Then those memories came flooding back. In the late 1980s we were in the midst of a titanic struggle to prevent the proposed dredge mining of the eastern shores of Lake St Lucia.
At that time I was working for the Wilderness Leadership School in Durban with Dr lan Player. Together with a group of committed environmental NGOs we formed a coalition to try to stop this critical part of our natural heritage from being mined.
Lake St Lucia is a wetland of world importance and is also an international Ramsar Convention site. Richards Bay Minerals, (RBM), part of the Rio Tinto Zinc mining empire, proposed dredge mining of the lake's eastern shore dunes for minerals such as rutile, zircon and titanium.
I can clearly remember reading page alter page of full spread advertorials placed by RBM in the media, claiming this proposed development would be "a win-win between mining, tourism and conservation".
Our main concern was that the fresh water supplied by the dunes to the lake would be irreversibly altered by this proposed dredge mining and in so doing starve the lake, and all the species it supports, of fresh water. Such was the outcry and the potential loss to biodiversity and heritage, that this campaign was not limited locally.
It rapidly became an international campaign with more than 1 000 NGOs voicing their opposition to the mining. This eventually pressurised the government of the day into ' having no alternative but to appoint a commission of enquiry, headed by Judge Leon.
Our coalition against the proposed mining launched a petition which the minister of environmental affairs at that time stated had been signed by "children and communists". In a short period we had gathered more than 250000 signatories.One of the last people to sign this petition against the proposed mining was none other than the then president in waiting, Nelson Mandela.
The commission's ruling was that mining was not permissible on the dunes of St Lucia due to the financial and ecological arguments presented. Inter alia, the commission ruled that "the sense and the spirit of place" would be under threat of destruction.
A few years later Lake St Lucia (now known as Isimangaliso) became South Africa's first World Heritage Site.
One only has to read Eve Palmer's book, The Plains of rhe Camdeboo, to be consumed by that deep sense of place that is the Karoo, and to glean invaluable insights into the unique biodiversity and fragile eco-system of the Nama Karoo biome. Ground water is the lifeblood of this eco-system and tampering with it in any way could irreversibly destroy this cycle and balance.
As fracking is a relatively new and untested method of extraction in South Africa, and ground water so precious to the survival of both the people and species of the Karoo, surely the precautionary principle applies? Currently in the US, it has been proved that fracking seriously affects ground water supplies. Shell has undertaken a battle that they ultimately will not and cannot win because common sense will prevail through the collective support of the people of South Africa and the world!
Back in 1990 I remember asking lan if he thought we had any chance in winning the fight for St Lucia. As a small, under-resourced but determined coalition of NGOs and environmentalists, we were fighting against the world's biggest mining company at the time, Rio Tinto Zinc.
He proceeded to tell me the biblical story of David and GoIiath.
He said: "Muir, do you know what David said when he saw Goliath walking towards him?"
"No, Dr Player," I replied, "what did he say?"
lan answered: "He is so big, I cannot miss."
By Andrew Muir, from his "Wild Eyed" column in PE's Herald Newspaper, Wednesday April 6, 2011
Thank you for reminding me Andy! What a magnificent photograph. This inspires one to get more involved.
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