The DA in Limpopo will call on the Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) Portfolio Committee to investigate the proliferation of sand mining operations in the Sand River basin, many of which appear to be illegal or to have obtained approval through deeply flawed and cynically defective public participation processes. We will also request that both LEDET (as the environmental authority) and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (as the mining authority) appear before the committee to account.
We will further call on the committee to visit the area and to hear first-hand from affected persons, including farmers, about the devious means used to secure approval and the severe impact these operations have on the ecology of the river basin, on water quality and availability, commercial farmers many of whom hold registered water rights – and on subsistence farmers and rural communities whose livelihoods are directly dependent on the preservation and integrity of the Sand River’s natural ecosystem.
In the most recent incident, farmers have raised the alarm about a new sand mining operation on a portion of the farm Vera in the Musina magisterial district. The landowner, who is not the sand mining operator, insists that the requisite approval has been obtained. However, farmers report that no public participation process, as required by law, took place – and no record of public meetings, notices, or consultations exists.
The ongoing proliferation of sand mining across Limpopo, in many cases unregulated or licensed through devious means, has already caused extensive ecological harm. The Sand River, being a critical watercourse, plays a fundamental role in water filtration, aquifer recharge, and the long-term sustainability of water supply. Any unlawful removal of sand irreversibly damages this natural filtration system, depletes and exposes groundwater tables, and compromises both the quantity and quality of available water resources.
Lawful water users, including commercial farmers with registered water rights, are already suffering immediate and irreparable losses in abstraction capacity and irrigation supply. Subsistence farmers are being deprived of their only dependable water source. Local rural communities, directly dependent on the preservation of the Sand River’s ecosystem, are also under threat.
The Sand River’s watercourses are being irreversibly damaged – which amounts to a violation of Section 24 of the Constitution, as well as of the intent of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) and the National Water Act.
This is not the first time the DA has raised the alarm over unregulated sand mining in Limpopo and the devious means used to circumvent the requirements of NEMA and the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA). It is now incumbent upon the Limpopo Legislature to investigate and act – to stop this pillaging of sand, and to protect our environment for present and future generations.
We will not rest until appropriate action is taken, and will ensure that this matter is escalated nationally.