From: MR M l KROG
To: Mr Langa Zita: Portfolio Committee For Environment
Date: 02 November 2007
RE: NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AMENDMENT Bill B36-2007: Written
Comments for Public Hearing on 6 November 2007
Dear Mr Zita
I commend you for calling public hearings on this very important and deeply
troubling issue. I support your efforts to make the public voice heard, unlike
the proposed amendment bill which seeks nothing more than to silence public
comment.
I am extremely concerned with this proposed amendment bill. This bill is vastly
different from the Draft bill published for comment on the 4th of May 2007 and
it is extremely worrying that such a bill is even being put before the public
for comment.
This amendment bill clearly seeks to bypass the public participation process
with regards to the mining industry. This simply cannot be allowed. If a right
to bypass the EIA and public consultation process is granted to one industry it
will be a matter of days before every other industry in South Africa says
"what about us?". What is good for the goose is good for the gander
too Mr Zita.
This amendment bill seeks to claim (seize) land wherever and from whomever it
likes and to give the land owner no choice or say in the matter.
This amendment bill blatantly and openly violates a vast number of rights
enshrined in the constitution and can simply not be passed into law.
This amendment bill has been devilishly conceived by the DME and the mining
houses through a series of closed door meetings. This amounts to nothing more
than corruption in my view and I trust that this committee will order a full
scale criminal investigation into the activities of numerous office bearers
within the DME. Failing this, the public protector and/or National Prosecuting
Authority would be the next clear step forward with this matter. These amendments
seek nothing more than to create further wealth for a select few.
It is clear from the recent State of the Environment report on South Africa
that the precious natural resources in this country are under a dire threat,
yet such hideous proposals from the DME are being entertained. The government
should be protecting the environment with every means at its disposal. We are
not talking about trees, birds, animals or butterflies we are talking about
human lives. However, without any of the aforementioned we would not exist very
long as a species.
The mining industry will not uplift impoverished communities around South
Africa as is so often claimed in their motivations for this bill to be passed.
It is a guarantee that should this amendment bill be passed that it will
further displace communities and worsen poverty in South Africa.
The short term jobs provided by the mining companies are not sustainable jobs
by any means or standards. When a mine is eventually closed, the employees are
sent on their way to go home and die with all the wonderful diseases and
cancers that their employers have given them. That's an awfully nice
retrenchment package.
"Selling" licences to the mining industry for prospecting for oil or
minerals is only financially beneficial in the very short-term. In the
long-term, South Africa will suffer the loss of natural resources and the
income this provides. I use the term "selling" because I have no
doubt that high levels of corruption are at work with the introduction of this
amendment bill.
This country needs to be planning in more sustainable terms and the mining
industry has proven, by its lack of accountability to communities in terms of
rehabilitating regions or cleaning up once they have created toxic messes, that
they cannot be relied upon to keep assurances that they will protect the
environment.
The mining industry is notorious for polluting groundwater and releasing
numerous toxic chemicals into our environment, effectively into the food we
eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe and they escape the law time
after time, even to this day, nobody is ever held accountable.
Deputy Director General, Mr Jacinto Rocha of the DME openly admitted in a
television interview with Carte Blanche that the DME have approximately 13,000
mining applications currently awaiting approval. He also announced they
effectively have an approval rate of almost 60%. If you can even begin to
comprehend this insanity I highly commend you. This literally translates to any
part of South Africa which has minerals being exploited for financial gain and
that effectively translates to the whole of South Africa which is rich in
minerals.
Bare in mind that most of the mining companies are internationally owned and
effectively the biggest percentage of the money this industry produces will
leave South African shores. You might say that BEE should prevent that from
happening. Well it is not, because mining companies are simply manipulating BEE
to further their own interests. While a few wealthy mining magnates sit tonight
in their gentlemen's club in Europe or America, sipping their brandies and
smoking their cigars, think about the people of South Africa who are suffering,
who have to drink water from a river polluted by mining.
Mr Zita, this amendment bill has already taken up 6 months of my life and has
caused me an undue amount of stress and loss of income due to the time it has
taken me to defend my rights. I am not being paid for my time in writing
comments for hideous pieces of legislation that seek to make a few people very
wealthy.
I have been dealing with the DME now for almost 4 months, in that time they
have been nothing but disrespectful, rude, arrogant, offensive and
"defensive". They ignore all communications until I take matters to
the higher levels of government. To give you an example it took me 44 days,
numerous faxes and telephone calls to the DME, just to get the promotion of
access to information documents that I require. Yet the DME seem to be handing
out mining licenses with the utmost of efficiency. The DME lays down red carpet
treatment for the mining houses, yet treat the citizens, the Taxpayers, with
the greatest disrespect.
Between environmental groups around South Africa, thousands and thousands of
unpaid man hours have gone into defending NEMA from these amendments. The
environmental groups, citizens and communities who write to you do not stand to
benefit financially whatsoever. Whereas those proposing this bill ALL stand to
benefit financially in a very big way, including those office bearers in the
DME that are behind this. That above all is the most important matter that you
need to pay attention to.
Thank you for your time, I trust you will make the right decision and listen to
the public of South Africa who say NO to these amendments. It is your duty to
uphold the constitution of South Africa above anything else.
Yours Sincerely
MR M L KROG Magaliesburg