A team from Protect the West Coast (PTWC), including activists, filmmakers, legal experts, and !Ama leaders recently travelled to the Richtersveld to document the catastrophic damage from mining, while engaging with the community about solutions to their plight. The devastation they saw prompted an urgent letter from PTWC to the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), Dion George, to raise the alarm.
Fish by the Sea has again applied to prospect on the beach for diamonds near Brand-se-baai, adjacent to an area designated as critically biodiverse. This application adds more potential for beach mining on the West Coast, which is already under severe pressure. The new application is a revised submission of the same area, replacing what was publicised by Protect the West Coast (PTWC) in July. Thanks to public input, the first application was deemed inadequate. The revised version is now open for public comment.
The company Twiga Global Ore has applied to prospect for copper ore, rare earths, zirconium ore and iron ore on a series of farms that fall within the internationally recognised Succulent Karoo Biome – the only arid-zone biodiversity hotspot in the world.
Protect the West Coast (PTWC) has learned that three great surf breaks on the Namaqualand coast near the Orange River Mouth at Alexander Bay in the Northern Cape have been destroyed forever, apparently by rock-based cofferdams used in the mining industry to extract diamonds from inshore zones, with no signs of them stopping soon.
A company, Fish By The Sea, has applied to bulk-prospect for diamonds on a pristine and fragile stretch of the West Coast already heavily burdened by a deluge of prospecting applications and existing mining operations.
A media crew from Protect the West Coast recently teamed up with top marine conservation photographer and pilot Jean Tresfon to shoot stills and video footage of mining operations – and the damage they are wreaking – of the entire West Coast from the open cockpit of his gyrocopter, the first time such a project has ever been undertaken.
Public comments urged as Gauteng-based company, registered only in 2023, Nurulos (Pty) Ltd applies to prospect for shopping list of minerals in a sensitive part of Namaqualand on the West Coast.
Some of the world’s top bodyboarders, including the GOAT Mike Stewart, prepare for the Tand Invitational event at a remote spot up the West Coast, organisers have announced a special collaboration with Protect the West Coast (PTWC).
For decades, the indigenous First Nation !Ama peoples of the Richtersveld on the West Coast in the Northern Cape have fought big mining and authorities to recognise their rights to their traditional lands and a share of the enormous profits from the minerals beneath them. Despite two decades of legal battles after they eventually won a groundbreaking land claim, including a recent complaint by Protect The West Coast (PTWC) advisory board member Martinus Fredericks, justice and restitution have proved elusive in the shadow of the corruption and even state capture that he alleges.
A small group of coastal scientists and environmental experts recently visited Trans Hex mining sites on the West Coast to check rehabilitation progress and inspect their mining practices, as mandated by a 2023 court order in favour of Protect the West Coast (PTWC). They were concerned by what they saw.
