Question NW1557 to the Minister of Mineral Resources
14 June 2017 - NW1557
Lorimer, Mr JR to ask the Minister of Mineral Resources
(1)(a) When did his department become aware of illegal sand mining at Agate Terrace in the Eastern Cape and (b) what steps (i) have been taken and (ii) will be taken by his department to stop the illegal mining practices; (2) whether he has found that the steps taken have proven effective in combatting illegal sand mining; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) (a) how many cases of illegal sand mining has his department acted upon (i) in each of the past three financial years and (ii) since 1 April 2017 and (b) what is the detailed breakdown of the number of cases in respect of each province?
Reply:
1.(a) The Department became aware of illegal sand mining at Agate Terrace in the Eastern Cape on 14 October 2015.
(b) (i) The area of concern was visited 6 times, on 09 December 2015, 22 and 23 November 2016, 09 February 2017, 14 February 2017 and 18 May 2017.
On 9th of December 2015, a certain Mr Zizi Gwele was found loading sand into his truck with spades, he refused to give his full contact details and was given a verbal warning and instructed to leave the site, which he did.
During the follow up inspections conducted between 22 and 23 November 2016 to 18 May 2017 no person was found mining sand in the area mentioned above.
(ii) The Department is in the process of identifying the landowners in order to ensure that access to the site is controlled. The site will be continuously monitored until such time the transgressors are found and the relevant enforcement action will be taken against them.
2. In this particular case, the steps taken have proven to be effective as Mr Zizi Gwele, who was previously found on site and given a warning, was not present or seen on site in all occasions. In addition, no any other person was found mining sand between 22 and 23 November 2016 until 18 May 2017 when we conducted follow up site visits.
3. Below is a breakdown of reported cases of illegal sand mining that the department acted upon (i) in each of the past three financial years and (ii) since 1 April 2017 and (b) and the detailed breakdown of the number of illegal sand mining cases in respect of each province.
|
Province |
2014-2015 |
2015-2016 |
2016-2017 |
1 April 2017 to date |
Total per province |
|
Gauteng |
0 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
|
Mpumalanga |
7 |
5 |
8 |
0 |
20 |
|
Eastern Cape |
0 |
7 |
13 |
1 |
21 |
|
Limpopo |
1 |
6 |
23 |
5 |
35 |
|
North West |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Free State |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
Kwazulu Natal |
0 |
26 |
31 |
6 |
63 |
|
Western Cape |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Northern Cape |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Total |
8 |
53 |
76 |
15 |
152 |
Approved/Not Approved
Mr MJ Zwane, MP
Minister of Mineral Resources
Date Submitted:-……………/………………/2017