The Greater Kabeljous Partnership is looking forward to the next meeting with the portfolio committee on Forestry, Fisheries and Environment in March, where the Eastern Cape Province and the Kouga Municipality will provide an update on the steps they have taken to protect the Greater Kabeljous area, as land invasion continues to result in a multitude of negative implications for the unique biodiverse area.
The Greater Kabeljous Partnership was established by a group of longstanding environmental activists, conservation practitioners, and concerned citizens from Jeffreys Bay, to advocate for the promotion of the Greater Kabeljous area, which includes the Papiesfontein and Kabeljous state-owned parcels of land, as a nature reserve.
Wentzel Coetzer, a member of the Greater Kabeljous Partnership, said that in December 2022 the Papiesfontein land was unlawfully occupied, and new aerial photography of the Papiesfontein revealed the extensive environmental damage being caused by the unlawful land occupation.
“Aerial imagery of the two occupied sites taken in April 2023, and then again in January this year, show that the unlawful occupiers have continued to build new structures and clear almost 2 400 square metres of highly-endangered vegetation, known as Humansdorp Shale Renosterveld,” said Coetzer.
“It is important to note that Humansdorp Shale Renosterveld is listed and protected as an endangered ecosystem in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act10 of 2004.”
Coetzer said that if the land invasion is not stopped by the relevant provincial authorities, it will result in the irreversible loss of irreplaceable fauna and flora in the area.
He said that Papiesfontein is currently recognised as a critical biodiversity area (CBA) and, because of its ecological significance, falls within the “high priority areas” of both the National Protected Area Expansion Strategy and the Eastern Cape Protected Area Expansion Strategy.
“Some of the natural assets found on the land include five different ecosystem types, at least 17 flora species of special conservation concern, key Black Harrier habitats –Southern Africa’s rarest endemic raptor, and a large network of important wetlands,” said Coetzer.
He said that this mushrooming, unlawful informal settlement poses a grave environmental and ecological threat, and a direct loss of this endangered vegetation poses a serious threat to the continued presence and breeding of the Black Harrier, which was highlighted in an independent avifaunal report by Jessie Walton from the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, Dr Odette Curtis-Scott from the Overberg Renosterveld Conservation Trust, and Dr Rob Simmons of Birds & Bats Unlimited.
Ahead of the State of The Province Address (SOPA) on February 22, the Greater Kabeljous Partnership requested that premier, Oscar Mabuyane, provide an urgent update on the provincial government’s steps to protect the environmentally and culturally significant Greater Kabeljous area.
Despite the Greater Kabeljous Partnership’s urgent call for an update on the matter, nothing was mentioned in his SOPA.
In addition to calling on Mabuyane to address the concerns surrounding the Greater Kabeljous during the SOPA, Coetzer said that the Greater Kabeljous Partnership has also written to the Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements requesting an urgent update on the provincial department’s eviction application to have the unlawful occupiers removed from the site.
Furthermore, he said that they have written to the Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) requesting an update on the department’s directive to have the Kabeljous land formally declared and protected as a nature reserve, as well as its steps to have the Papiesfontein land transferred to DEDEAT as a step towards it being declared a nature reserve.
Furthermore, Coetzer said that on February 20 representatives from the Greater Kabeljous Partnership also briefed the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment on the environmental and cultural significance of the area and the threats posed by the unlawful occupation, and requested the portfolio committee’s assistance with expediting the transfer of the Papiesfontein land to DEDEAT, as well as the formal declaration of the entire area a Provincial Nature Reserve.
“We are pleased that the portfolio committee resolved to request the relevant provincial authorities and the Kouga Local Municipality to come and present on these matters at their next meeting,” said Coetzer.
He said that it is critical that the Eastern Cape provincial government accelerates these processes as a matter of urgency, before this precious habitat is irrevocably destroyed.
“The Greater Kabeljous Partnership remains committed to working with government, local conservation groups, and legitimate cultural groups, to unlock the environmental, cultural, and socio-economic value of this land so that all in the region may benefit,” said Coetzer.
For more information about the Greater Kabeljous Partnership, visit their website on www.greaterkabeljous.org.
