The Chair of Chairs of the Eastern Cape Legislative Assembly, Tony Duba, called for an urgent plan to deal with the manganese pollution problem in Gqeberha at a meeting held in Bluewater Bay on Wednesday.
The meeting was arranged by Nelson Mandela Bay ANC Ward 59 Councillor, Bulelani Matenjwa. The municipal councillors and members of the Bluewater Bay community, are worried about the planned establishment of a new manganese depot in the urban area,
Matenjwa is concerned because the site of the depot is sandwiched between Motherwell and Wells Estate. It is also only about 800 metres away from the Matthews Ground settlement in Grahamstown Road.
Duba and Matenjwa said there was no clear municipal legislation on the manner in which manganese businesses were operating in Gqeberha. This made it difficult to prosecute manganese depots that were not operating responsibility or errant manganese truck drivers.
Matenjwa was also skeptical that a new manganese depot would create any net new jobs. He said the manganese depots in Markman had in fact resulted in a loss of jobs as many companies had decided to shift their businesses from Markman to Greenbushes on the other side of Gqeberha.
Les Strydom, Chairman of the Bluewater Bay and Amsterdamhoek Ratepayers Association, said it was essential to have proof of the damage manganese dust does to the environment.
He said independently monitored dust buckets should be set up to determine the current levels of manganese pollution in the area. Only then could one determine whether the current level of pollution from manganese depots was within legal limits, or the effect of new manganese depots on the environment.
He called on the Metro to cover the costs of supplying the dust buckets, and the analysis thereof, on an ongoing basis. The authorities should then take firm action against companies that exceed set dust levels.
Freedom Front Bluewater Bay branch Chairperson, Lilian Slabbert, said many residents in Amsterdamhoek were coughing and experiencing breathing difficulties as a result of pollution caused by dust from uncovered manganese trucks as they passed by over the “Smartie Bridge” that crosses the Swartkops River.
She recommended that a height restriction beam be erected well before the bridge, in a place that would allow trucks to be able to turn around easily.
Freedom Front Coucillor, Bill Harrington, suggested that councillors work together to ensure that bylaws were changed to enable better policing of the manganese industry.
Former Bluewater Bay resident and leader of a Manganese Concern Group, Emile Hallaby, warned that manganese could cause long term problems that would only be recognised many years later as happened with asbestos.
The newly appointed Operations Manager of Zwartkops Conservancy, Femke de Wet, expressed deep concern over the effects that manganese dust could cause to two nature reserves in the Swartkops and Aloes nature reserves. She said damage to the vegetation in the biodiverse nature reserves would negatively affect climate change.
Manganese is a heavy metal that sinks to the bottom of the Swartkops River. Aquatic life, such as prawns, consume the heavy metals and then get eaten by fish, which get eaten by humans. Fish species could die out and the livelihood for both subsistence fishermen and prawn-diggers would be at risk.
The meeting also heard that Redhouse Ratepayers Association Chairman, Nicolas Mitchell, reported that manganese dust from the Swartkops manganese depot was experienced in the village.
He said his motor vehicle had frequently been covered in manganese dust since the establishment of the Swatkops depot. The dust was also blowing into the Swartkops river.
This was happening even though the Swartkops depot is two to three kilometres away from Redhouse.
Duba said it was clear that the local councillors, businesses and residents were against the establishment of a new manganese depot within the urban area.
He urged those present to put their thoughts in writing and convened a further meeting that will take place tomorrow morning (Thursday).
