Battle of the Beaches. Mining Threat to Small-Scale Fishers

Recently an Australian mine received environmental authorisation to expand its operations on the Cape west coast, putting at risk critical biodiversity areas and small-scale fishing communities living there.

Small-scale fishing communities along the west coast of South Africa are concerned about plans for mining in the area. The latest development is a petition doing the rounds and calling for greater environmental protection of this area and its’ communities. To date it has attracted about 14000 signatures.

From Orange River to Cape Columbine most of the mining activity to date has been nearshore or beach mining, in a quest to find mainly diamonds. The Australian-owned mining company, Mineral Sand Resources (MSR) which owns the Tormin Mine near Lutzville, has also been there for years but now it has been given the green light to expand its mining operations.