Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

Minister’s silence on Kruger National Park mining application erodes public trust

Soundbite: Lambert de Klerk (English)

Soundbite: Lambert de Klerk (Afrikaans)

The silence of Dr Dion George, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, after AfriForum last month requested an official position from this Department on Tenbosch Mining’s questionable application to establish a coal mine on the outskirts of the Kruger National Park indicates that he does not have the interests of the park – or those of game park enthusiasts – at heart. AfriForum maintains that George’s continued failure to comply with the organisation’s request for a formal investigation into the irregularities in the mining application makes it clear that he and his Department do not have due regard for the environmental legislation that was put in place to prevent irreversible damage to protected areas.

In a letter sent to the Department on 15 April, AfriForum expressed serious concerns about the environmental impact assessment relating to Tenbosch Mining’s proposed coal mine near the southern Kruger National Park. In the letter, AfriForum requested the Department and SANParks to issue a public statement on their position regarding the Tenbosch mining application; to conduct a formal investigation into the procedural failures in the environmental impact assessment; and requested a meeting with the Minister to discuss increasing concerns about environmental management. AfriForum has been waiting for a meeting with the Minister for more than a year. The Minister had until 5 May to respond to this letter. To date, AfriForum has only received an acknowledgement of receipt – no formal response, no action plan and no indication of any intention to address the concerns.

AfriForum has previously warned that the environmental impact assessment done by Kimopax, who were appointed by Tenbosch Mining as environmental consultants, is fundamentally flawed. Issues include the exclusion of interested and affected parties, a deficient public participation process and an inadequate assessment of environmental risks, all of which are in breach of the National Environmental Management Act and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act.

“The absence of any meaningful engagement by the minister and his Department is unacceptable. When serious procedural and legal violations in an environmental impact assessment are simply ignored, it indicates a lack of interest and that the Department is not committed to upholding South Africa’s environmental laws,” says Lambert de Klerk, AfriForum’s Manager for Environmental Affairs.

“This is not just an administrative oversight – it is a failure of leadership. Is it not the Department’s focus that the environment is held in public trust for the people, that the beneficial use of environmental resources must serve the public interest and that the environment must be protected as the people’s common heritage? The continued silence from the Minister reflects a worrying lack of urgency and interest in adressing threats to some of the country’s most valuable ecological assets.”

If the government fails to act, AfriForum is prepared to explore every legal avenue to ensure accountability.

“Our natural heritage cannot be sacrificed due to political inertia or administrative negligence. Where is the Minister’s heart for nature? If game park enthusiasts cannot even rely on the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to preserve the Kruger National Park, this leaves AfriForum with no other choice but to intervene ourselves,” concludes De Klerk.