Illegal sand miners invade uMdloti River

An illegal sand mining operation has been found working in the Umdloti River on Tongaat Hulett land near Mount Moreland.

Mount Moreland-based Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife honorary ranger, Aden Pontus, said the miners were linked to the Waterloo community members who recently staged land occupation attempts on Tongaat Hulett (TH) property at Hillhead Estate.

He confirmed a foreman known only as Wiseman told him the Qwabe Traditional Authority, currently embroiled in a bitter land battle with TH dating back to 1994, was responsible for mining the sand.

TH spokesperson Heidi Geldenhuys confirmed the involvement of the Waterloo community in the land occupation attempts but remained tightlipped about links to the Qwabes or the identity of the miners, revealing only that “management has been approached by a diverse group of stakeholders and local [sand mining] enterprises”.

Geldenhuys confirmed the operation was illegal and said the company had alerted relevant authorities.

The sand mining operation was first noticed by Mount Moreland residents on March 24, and when the Courier visited the site five days later the miners had already constructed a sand road across the river, almost completely blocking it off.

They had also started stockpiling truckloads of sand to be sold into a highly lucrative market.

When the Courier spoke to “Wiseman”, he refused to produce documentation or answer any questions.

Water and Sanitation department spokesperson Wisane Mavasa confirmed there was no record of water use authorisation for any sand mining activity in the Umdloti River at Mount Moreland.

“The activity therefore constitutes illegal water use in terms of Section 21 (c) and (i) of the National Water Act and will be dealt with as a Section 53 contravention,” she said.

“One of the ways we can deal with the matter is through administrative directives where the person(s) may be instructed to stop and rehabilitate the damage caused. The department will investigate and take necessary steps in line with the National Water Act provisions.”

Former Ilembe mayor, now a member of Parliament, Welcome Mdabe has dealt with illegal sand miners during his tenure.

Mdabe said the Green Scorpions had previously confiscated all the equipment from an illegal sand mining operator in the Mvoti River and they had to pay close to a million rand to get it back.

Unfortunately, the penalty did not have the desired deterrent effect as the miners simply relocated further downstream.

Numerous Mount Moreland residents have reported the illegal operation to DWS, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s environmental crimes hotline, the department of mineral resources and energy and the police. All either acknowledged the complaints or committed to investigate and take remedial action.

A vehicle with Mpumalanga number plates seen at the site is registered to Durban businesswoman Roopmala Singh.

According to publicly available records, 71-year-old Singh is an active director of Umgeni Multi Sands, registered in 2018.

Another director is 42-year-old Deepak Ramesh Singh. The pair are also inactive directors of Mvoti Sand Mining. Roopmala is also an inactive director of Multi Sands and Plant Hire, a company from which Deepak resigned. All three companies are based in the greater Durban area.

Deepak vehemently denied his company’s involvement in sand mining of any sort. “We only do plant hire and transporting of sand. We have never done sand mining or excavations. It is possible our vehicle may have been there to offer fleet support if they hired vehicles from us,” said Deepak, who later confirmed that this was the case.

Mdabe said many KZN operators registered their vehicles in Mpumalanga because it was cheaper and alleged corruption at the vehicle licensing department there made the process easy to navigate.

“Most of the 10 ton trucks and the horse and trailers that operate here in KZN are registered in Mpumalanga.”

He said the kingpins behind illegal sand mining operations were usually not local but typically used communities living close to the river banks to do their illegal work for them.

Stay in the loop with The North Coast Courier on Facebook, X, Instagram & YouTube for the latest news.

Mobile users can join our WhatsApp Broadcast Service here or if you’re on desktop, scan the QR code below.