Uproar over 'bantus' moving in on West Coast hamlet

A small West Coast town is in an uproar over a new mine in the area, with townsfolk at loggerheads about what it will mean for the quiet country life of Hopefield.

Lizelle Strydom, a tourism official for the region, was forced to resign after she refused to retract her claim that the development on a farm between Hopefield and Langebaan would attract black people.

"We have no squatter camps here, but when the mine comes, the bantus will come," she said.

This week, Strydom, who uses a picture of the old South African flag as her Facebook profile picture, said she did not regret her opposition to the project. "I won't apologise. Mining will destroy the culture of the West Coast."

Another fierce opponent, hotel owner Jacques van der Westhuizen, said he would rather continue struggling to sell wine and local beer to tourists than get rich selling quarts of Black Label to miners.

He said the phosphate mine would threaten his "constitutional right to live the lifestyle of our choice".

But those who support the mine on Elandsfontein Farm said the R1-billion investment was needed and would create about 400 jobs for locals.

Shandré Summers, the manager of the West Coast Business Development Centre, said most Hopefield residents were ecstatic about the mine. "They always feel left out of big developments in the region and the mine is going to create much-needed jobs," he said.

One of the new recruits, Henry Skippers, 71, said he welcomed the mine. "For years I had to go and work in Cape Town, far from my home. I'm glad I found work here."

He said the farmers were complaining, but they did not create work for the residents.

"Most of them aren't really farmers either, they just own farms and come have holidays."

But wealthy residents question the financial benefits and have raised concerns about the environmental impact on the fynbos and the West Coast National Park, home to world-famous fossil finds and visited by more 200000 tourists a year. Elandsfontein borders the park.

The project got the go-ahead from the Department of Mineral Resources on January 30.

Last month, Heritage Western Cape issued a stop works order over concerns about the protection of archaeological remains and fossils that the mine ignored. On Friday, Andrew Hall, the heritage body's CEO, said a draft memorandum of agreement had been reached between the parties.

A group of concerned citizens started a Facebook page, "No Mining in Elandsfontein West Coast National Park Buffer", and there is an online petition driven by conservationist Carika van Zyl and environmental activist Pieter Stegmann.

In it they appeal to the Department of Mineral Resources to investigate the way the mining rights were granted to Elandsfontein Exploration and Mining. They claim the company did not follow procedure or adhere to legislation.

Van Zyl said the access road was being constructed on municipal property on which endangered Hopefield sand fynbos flourished. "No research was done on small animals such as tortoises and lizards . We did not see any environmental control officer on site during the bulldozing," Van Zyl said.

The mining company denied this and said the department had accepted its environmental management plan.

Wynand van Dyk, who has been appointed as the project manager for the mine, said the business would be handled in a "sustainable, responsible way".

"I understand the fears of the locals. But it is all unfounded. We are not going to damage the biodiversity of the site."