Ripple Effect gathering postponed – plan underway for even stronger event in 2026
Earlier this month, we had to make the tough call to postpone The Ripple Effect public gathering and paddle-out in Langebaan. This wasn’t an easy decision. The team had been preparing for months, and were looking forward to coming together with everyone who cares about the West Coast. But some last-minute challenges emerged that meant a safe and comfortable environment for participants could not be guaranteed.
West Coast Siege: Flurry of applications poses new threat to fragile fauna and flora
The West Coast has been bombarded by a surge in mining prospecting applications this month near Critically Biodiversity areas. Protect the West Coast (PTWC) experts have raised grave concerns about the threat to endangered fauna and flora, and warn that proposed rehabilitation budgets are woefully inadequate. PTWC urges the public to unite as a single voice via its digital public participation platform www.ripl.co.za. Register or log onto Ripl by November 19 to object to these applications and raise your environmental and legal concerns to prevent lasting harm to some of the most biodiverse and unique habitats in the world.
Record Run West trail run shows the way for the West Coast
More than 450 entrants from around the Western Cape descended on the small towns of Papendorp, Strandfontein and Doringbaai for the third iteration of Run West, a special trail run event that seeks to protect and uplift coastal communities and their environment from beach mining and social ills.
PPP Part 3: The Vital Roles of EAPs and I&APs in the Public Participation Process
Most people have not heard of an Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) unless they have already engaged with the Public Participation Process (PPP). This is the legally mandated mechanism to assess all types of developments, including mining applications. EAPs are the professionals tasked with managing the PPP on behalf of mining applicants, and while many operate ethically, some do not, with potentially devastating consequences.
St Helena residents submit 1440 objections to mystery mining application on their doorstep
A recent application by Zucolox (Pty) Ltd to prospect for minerals, including copper, diamonds and tungsten, on two farms overlooking Beach Estate in Britannia Bay, St Helena Bay has sparked alarm and outrage. A 1440 signature petition by residents objects to the application – the first of its kind this far south on the West Coast. So far, the petition, and attempts to engage with Zucolox, have been met by a wall of silence.
The Ripl effect: PTWC flies high at BirdLife SA events
PTWC recently promoted the effective use of our Public Participation Platform, Ripl, at two BirdLife South Africa events. Between site visits to mines, appeals and comments about mining legislation and applications, we were able to accept invitations to a workshop about threats to protected areas, and a biweekly webinar series, Conservation Conversations. We welcomed the opportunity to collaborate and mingle with like-minded organisations and environmental activists.
Legal experts raise red flag about Draft Mineral Resources Bill
Environmental NGO Protect the West Coast (PTWC) has slammed the Draft Mineral Resources Development Bill for changes that it warns could exclude communities from public participation, strip away environmental safeguards, and set a dangerous precedent by centralising state control.
Government urged to decline Trans Hex ocean mining bid
A Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg, Patrick Bond, says that the double application to prospect and mine for diamonds and heavy minerals in concessions along 80km of the West Coast goes against fundamental national wealth strategies, and provides insufficient proof that the non-renewable resources it will extract will be properly compensated for as mandated in the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) and the Gaborone Declaration of 2012.
The Ripple Effect: A Simple Guide to PTWC’s digital public participation platform, Ripl.
The Public Participation Process (PPP) is a crucial mechanism to provide the public with a voice to raise concerns and provide feedback on prospecting and mining applications. But the traditional process to register and comment as an Interested and Affected Party (I&AP) has been complex and onerous. Which is why Protect the West Coast created Ripl to provide an easy, one-stop digital PPP platform – but we are still asked how to use it all the time. In the second in our series of articles covering PPP, we offer you a simple step-by-step guide to navigate Ripl.
Last call to stop expansion into ocean of mining and prospecting along West Coast
This is the last call to have your say on a double application by Trans Hex to further its expansion strategy from the land into the ocean to own the rights to prospect and mine for diamonds and a host of heavy minerals in concessions that total 321km2 of ocean along 80km of the West Coast, with potentially devastating cumulative impacts on a coastline already ravaged by mining and prospecting applications.