08/10/2026
‼️*STOP THE UMZIMKULU SANDMINE NOW*‼️
Our community is under direct threat. Earthforge Ventures (Pty) Ltd has applied for a permit to dig a 4.76-hectare industrial sand mine into the lower uMzimkhulu River near Port Shepstone. They want to strip 50 000 cubic metres of sand from the riverbed every year for two years. This is one of KwaZulu-Natal’s last significant free-flowing reaches. The Draft Basic Assessment Report (Ref: KZN30/5/1/3/2/11187MP) wraps the proposal in careful language. The reality is far more serious.
*Our drinking water sits in the firing line.*
The mining site lies only metres from the St Helens Rock water-abstraction works — the primary source of the water that reaches our homes. Because the river flows toward the sea, the mine sits upstream of the intake. Any spill of diesel, grease or hydraulic oil from the floating dredger and machinery will travel straight toward those pumps. Dredging will also release heavy metals and dense sediment plumes, raising treatment costs and placing the quality of our drinking water at real risk. The report itself rates the water-quality risk as moderate.
Channel deepening creates a second danger. Removing the natural sand barriers that help hold the ocean back increases the risk of denser saltwater sliding upstream along the river bottom. This raises a genuine threat of salt contamination at the freshwater intake. The water we drink should never be placed in this position.
*They will starve our beaches and damage the estuary.*
Beaches survive only because rivers deliver fresh sand to replace what the ocean removes. Locking 50 000 cubic metres of sand upstream every year will starve the beaches from Port Shepstone to Umtentweni of their natural supply. Without that replenishment, erosion will accelerate, threatening coastal infrastructure, tourism and the simple public enjoyment of our shoreline.
The ecological cost closer to the site is equally serious. The mine cuts directly into the Estuarine Functional Zone and an irreplaceable Critical Biodiversity Area. Extracting from the riverbed will disrupt benthic habitats and the macroinvertebrates that feed fish and birds. High turbidity from the pumps can smother juvenile marine life. This estuary is a nursery that connects our river to the wider coastal system, including the Protea Banks Marine Protected Area. Instead of a healthy river mouth, we risk a muddier, more disturbed system less safe for swimming, surfing and fishing.
*They will harm our forests and the air we breathe.*
Access relies on District Road D201 and a roughly 500-metre route through Northern Coastal Forest habitat inside a Critical Biodiversity Area. Even limited clearance will affect provincially protected plant species. A historic Crowned Eagle nest has been confirmed nearby; a 1 km buffer and monitoring are proposed, but the risk of disturbance remains real.
Handling and stockpiling this volume of sand will release crystalline silica dust. For people, inhaling silica causes irreversible lung damage. For surrounding vegetation it is a constant stress. Heavy tipper trucks will hammer District Road D201 and the residential roads around it day after day, turning a quiet river valley into a corridor of diesel fumes, noise and dust. These roads were never built for industrial punishment.
*The numbers do not support the claim of sustainability.*
No full field-verified catchment sediment budget exists. The desktop figures already show that adding this operation pushes cumulative extraction to between 50 and 75 percent of the river’s estimated annual sand supply. Temporary settling ponds will wash the sand, yet the report fails to state clearly where the contaminated runoff will go. The math is incomplete because a complete accounting would be inconvenient.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has objected in principle to mining inside the estuary and its functional zone. Ugu District Municipality has formally stated that this Mining Permit should not be granted. The final decision still rests with the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. That is why every voice matters.
This is not distant industry. This is extraction from the river that feeds our estuary, builds our beaches, supports marine life and supplies the water we drink. We must stop it.
*Object before the deadline of 1 November 2026.*
To: [email protected]
Subject: Objection to Mining Permit Application
Ref: KZN30/5/1/3/2/11187MP
In the body:
Explicitly ask to be registered as an Interested and Affected Party (I&AP).
State exactly how you use the uMzimkhulu River, estuary or beaches (recreation, swimming, fishing, or as a local resident who relies on the municipal water supply).
Explicitly state that you have no direct business, financial or personal interest in the approval or refusal of the application.
Every individual objection counts.
Speak now. Protect the uMzimkhulu.
