Sand mining becoming rife

ILLEGAL sand mining along the banks of the Msunduzi and Umngeni rivers between Pietermaritzburg and Durban is

posing an increasingly serious environmental threat.

Duzi Umngeni Conservation Trust Pollution control officer, Sanele Vilakazi, said illegal sand mining in KZN has become a free-for-all.

He said unregulated and unchecked illegal sand mining is considered as one of the more serious environmental problems facing the province.

Vilakazi said after illegally excavating the sand the illegal operators just abandon the land ravaged without rehabilitating it.

One particular site thought to have been in operation since the beginning of December last year is on the banks of the Duzi in the Table Mountain area.

According to Vilakazi, the operation has destroyed the vegetation in the area, leaving it in a huge mess.

Vilakazi said the impacts of vegetation-clearing and formation of routes to sand mining sites for large vehicles has the most effect on erosion and land degradation.

He said with sand mining, most of the topsoil is removed and vegetation becomes absent, and that water penetration is low and runoff is high.

GroundWork researcher David Hallowes, said one has to have a mining permit or right and a water use licence to mine sand legally, but that a lot of sand mining goes on without these.

He said the sand mining on the banks of the Duzi at Table Mountain should therefore be stopped immediately.

The Department of Mineral Resources confirmed that the Table Mountain operation was illegal and said the effects on the surrounding environment may include ecological impacts and water-quality impacts.