“Napier is a village at the foot of the Soetmuisberg, between Caledon and Bredasdorp. A blend of century-old cottages and modern houses, surrounded by the rolling farmland that typifies the Overberg region of South Africa, give the village a rural atmosphere.”
This is the description Wikipedia gives of the very picturesque town in the Overberg tourists flock to on weekends and where artists find inspiration.
This town, with its natural beauty, now faces possible disaster after a company called Cienth applied for a prospecting licence for gold, silver and tin.
Residents, farmers and even tourists were up in arms following this announcement. Hermanus Times reported on the rumours about the open-cast mine in Napier on 13 December 2023 (“Ons wil g’n myn hier hê”). The article mentions the 4 000 ha where they want to mine as well as the impact it will have on the area known as the Agulhas Wine Triangle.
According to the residents and their posts on Facebook they fear these activities can have a devastating impact on the soil quality such as groundwater pollution, especially around the wine farms.
Carl Reiche, of the Save the Overberg Campaign, explained that the group is concerned the land in the Overberg could be expropriated to see if there is gold, and that this will directly impact landowners.
“It would change the demographics and the landscape significantly.”
A resident and one of the organisers of the Creative Napier Pop-up Art Week, Jon van Bon, said: “I don’t want an open-cast mine in my backyard. I also suspect there are other agendas since everybody knows that there is no gold other than that in our wheatfields in this part of our beautiful country, and an open-cast mine is going to destroy that and our fragile ecosystems as well.”
A well-known farmer in the area, Kosie van Zyl, who especially has the residents’ interests at heart and has set up the Kingdom Ambassadors Foster Cluster Care scheme, a place of safety for children, told Hermanus Times he opposes the planning of the open-cast mine and he would do everything in his power to stop it.
“The process of the licensing by Cienth is at a more advanced stage than last year, as it has already submitted an environmental impact study. I am the last person who would object if the proposed mining will benefit the economy in our area as well as create jobs, but I question the viability of the whole process.”
According to Van Zyl there is no concrete evidence that there is indeed gold in the area. “I know they mined for gold here in the 1800s, but I don’t believe they found anything.”
Another concern for him is the use of water. “To mine gold you need a lot of water, and that is something that we do not have. We get our water from the Theewaterskloof dam, which is already under a lot of pressure.”
What worries Van Zyl further is the fact that local people will not be employed by the mine. “You need skilled people to mine for gold, and in this case they will import workers from Gauteng and other provinces. This whole idea will not benefit our local residents.”
There are also concerns regarding the effect of the mining operations on the environment. An environmentalist stated that open-pit mining causes changes to vegetation, soil and bedrock, which ultimately contribute to changes in surface hydrology, groundwater levels, and flow paths. Additionally, open-pit mining produces harmful pollutants, depending on the type of mineral being mined and the type of mining process being used.
“Open-cast mining, also known as surface mining or strip mining, has disadvantages that include disturbance of the environment and local ecosystems, exposure of radioactive elements and contamination of freshwater sources,” Van Zyl pointed out. “The use of heavy machinery and blasting techniques also create environmental pollution.”
At the time of going to press Cienth didn’t respond to the inquiries.. Residents, visitors and those who care about the Overberg can visit www.savetheoverberg.com for more information and to raise their voices against this venture.
