Saldanha council's water priorities skewed to business

Published Sep 3, 2017

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Last week it became known that the Saldanha Bay Municipality plans to accept all water that Kropz Elandsfontein (Pty) Ltd (Kropz) is removing from the 5- to 10 million-year-old Elandsfontein aquifer on which it has established its controversial opencast phosphate mine.

The municipality’s surprise decision follows an equally unexpected earlier announcement by Kropz that it would delay – for an extended period – mining at Elandsfontein due to, among others, “technical issues identified during commissioning”.

Carika van Zyl, chairperson of the West Coast Environmental Protection Association (WCEPA), which has opposed the mine from the outset due to the threat it poses to the eco-
systems and livelihoods dependent on the Elandsfontein aquifer and the Langebaan Lagoon, says of the latest developments: “We believe that at least two of the ‘technical issues’ to which Kropz refers in its August 15 statement announcing the delay are:

– The Saldanha Bay Municipality is unable to provide the 1.6 million litres per day it promised to the mine, and Kropz’s water use licence (WUL) prohibits it from removing water directly from the aquifer. 

Under the new arrangement, the municipality will be able to provide water for industrial use and the Elandsfontein mine with the very water abstracted from the mine as a ‘water service’ to effectively circumvent the prohibition in the WUL.

– As expected by several water experts, the reinjection wells into the aquifer are ostensibly not working as well as planned. 

The new arrangement instantly solves the considerable problems this presents in that Kropz is able to use the municipality’s water infrastructure as a convenient alternative to relay water extracted during the daily mine dewatering process. 

Kropz has been attempting to artificially recharge the aquifer – at an injection rate never before successfully achieved in SA – with the water generated as a result of the dewatering.

Walter Anderson, senior associate at Cullinan and Associates, the law firm representing the WCEPA in its fight against Kropz, says: “It is notable and concerning that the Saldanha Bay Municipality’s resolution focuses almost exclusively on how the drought affects industry, when one would expect drinking water and sustainable use of water resources to be the first priority. 

"When an emergency situation like this presents itself we have to question whether water-intensive industries like phosphate mining and processing are appropriate in perpetually water-stressed environments such as the West Coast. 

"If we accept that the water shortage is only going to get worse, it is hard to see how it is acceptable for the municipality to use the mine’s abstraction infrastructure to take water that the mine is prohibited from using under the water use licence (which is currently suspended in any event) and to furnish millions of litres of that same water to the mine every day in circumvention of the water use licence. 

"The constitution provides people with a right to sufficient water, and Saldanha Bay Municipality should only draw from sensitive water resources held in public trust to ensure people have drinking water, but emergency procedures are not meant to bail out water-intensive industries that should not have been established in an area without excess water in the first place.

“Kropz acted recklessly from the beginning by establishing this mine without the necessary permits and contingencies. 

"Since the water issues will only get worse, Saldanha Bay Municipality should not be complicit in allowing the mine to be further established, because it is not sustainable from a water management perspective and the mine is not going to be a significant job creator if it closes its doors every time there is a water shortage or dip in phosphate prices. 

"Equally as important is that, with its WUL suspended and under appeal, Kropz is currently abstracting water unlawfully.”

Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital has shares in the Elandsfontein phosphate mining project, which is an initiative of former Zimbabwean mining entrepreneur Mike Nunn.

Annette Gibbs

WCEPA

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