No coal mine for Nkomazi in Malalane for now
An application to open an opencast coal mine in the Onderberg near Marloth Park, has been rejected by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).
The DMR formally refused the mining application of Manzolwande Investment Pty Ltd in a letter dated October 28, 2020. The department directed a letter to the mining applicant in which it refused the environmental authorisation sought by Manzolwande to mine as intended. Lowvelder is in possession of a copy of the letter. The formal objection against the mining application in Nkomazi was driven by Richard Spoor Attorneys.
The instructions came from a combination of organisations including the Marloth Park Property Owners Association (MPPOA), Nwenya Lodge management and the Marloth Park Rate Payers Association (MRPA), as well as some affected individuals, following a public meeting organised by Jan Engelbrecht of the Komatipoort and Malalane Business Chambers, held in June 2019 at Kambaku Golf Club.
“This meeting called upon all interested and affected parties to consider this matter, and this collaboration of tourism, agriculture and business paid off, resulting in this formal refusal of the envisaged mining project at farms close to Marloth Park,” said Engelbrecht.
“The cooperation and counter actions by these objecting organisations and individuals contributed largely the fact that government could not accept the application,” he told Lowvelder this week.
The proposed mining area encompassed Tenbosch 162 JU (excluding portion 46, 74, & 90), all portions (excluding 01) of the farm Vyeboom 414 JU, all portions of the farm Turfbult 593 JU and all portions of the farm Tecklenburg’s Ranch 548 JU. This stretches from the edge of Marloth Park to the edge of Komatipoort.
The objectors’ concerns included that no proper public awareness programme had been followed by the mining applicants. They objected against the incomplete invitation.
The applicants called for a public meeting on a Sunday morning which was inconvenient to many.
They further gave too short notice in terms of the Act, and the meeting was conducted at an awkward setting in the open under a tree in Hectorspruit. This meeting was attended by Denis Goffinet of the MPPOA.
Shortly after this notice was discovered, Cindy Benson of the MRPA photographed the whole of the publication filed at Komatipoort Library with her mobile phone.
Upon scrutiny it was discovered the EIA documentation was a blatant copying and pasting of a similar application for another site not relevant to the site in Nkomazi.
The MRPA, Ngenya Lodge ownership and the MPPOA soon thereafter exposed the unacceptable methodology followed by the applicants.
Farming groups joined to contest the application.
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Marloth Park Holiday Township is the haven of many city dwellers, most of them professionals, and retired experts.
These include retired mine managers, mine engineers, environmental experts, including Christine McGladdery and Murray Broad, who spent many hours dissecting all the submissions from the mining company and discovered the plagiarism and lack of professional supporting documents.
SAAI also added its weight, based on its mandates from local members.
Criminal charges were laid at the SAPS Komatipoort regarding the plagiarism and fraud.
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Several departments and parastatals also expressed their categorical objection against mining in the area.
Phillip Mkhatshwa, a director of Manzolwane Investements, told the newspaper that the battle is not over yet. They discovered some errors regarding the position of the proposed mining site in the ruling of the department which they now will dispute.
He said, however, it is of the utmost importance that the process is followed strictly according to the legal prescription and his organisation will abide by it.
