Environmental activism is a strange thing ..

 Environmental activism is a strange thing, and creeps up on you. You usually only become involved in any Environmental activism project when the smelly stuff has already collided with the wind making machine. 

I have been skirting around the edges of the Environmental issues associated with the St. Lucia estuary systems, and now feel the need to step into the fight and push the issues of lost fishing rights and related economic impacts. 

These said fishing rights are divided into groups, where indigenous rights,  international tourism rights and domestic tourism rights each need to be looked at separately as well as collectively.

Today I will focus on some of the indigenous fishing rights, and associated matters.  I have discussed these before, in many different blogs, and one of the more important posts is found here   

http://frankie2socks.blogspot.com/2021/06/section-24-of-constitution-and.html?m=1

Section 24 of our national constitution is a powerful tool for every conservationist.  It is a short and sweet section, but very powerful, and rather explicit in it's intentions.  The biggest part of any law is it's purpose and intentions. This always comes to play when one challenges the constitutionality of any issue.

The department of Forestry Fisheries and Environment appointed an independent panel of scientists to look into the issues around the opening of the St. Lucia estuary in Jan 2021 by community groups in the village of St. Lucia, which is the tourism hub for the iSimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage site in north east KZN South Africa.

This committee is has completed  their investigations, (end March 2022) and I did meet with them in November 2021. They have a very tough job, and need to be careful of how they handle the different public perception management strategies of the various role players.  If this committee does not wake up to the fact that the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority use extremely powerful public perception management strategies, then they are gonna be in big trouble. Other groups like the 4u2fish campaign and the Revive St Lucia campaign also use public perception management tactics to push their agendas, and counter the IWPA where appropriate. Our strategies are seen as problematic by some, coz they have had way too much of Uncle Andrews cool aid.

So we need to bring in the BIG GUNS in, and fire s few salvos, just so that the debate can start moving in our preferred direction.  This is all about making sustainable use and gaining consumption tights of the "RENEWABLE NATURAL RESOURCES" as supplied and sustained by Lake St. Lucia and the St. Lucia estuary system.

Previously big business ran a prawn fishery which harvested prawns on both the TUGELA banks and Umfolozi banks which run parallel to the KZN COASTLINE  between St. Lucia and Umhlanga Rocks. This venture failed when the IWPA closed the St. Lucia. Estuary mechanically after the Jolly Rubino incident in 2002 https://www.google.com/amp/s/mg.co.za/article/2002-09-18-jolly-rubino-starts-cracking-up/%3famp. 

The mouth opened naturally on 14 April this year (2022) after relatively high rainfall in March / April 2022, but the Umfolozi mud flows have caused problems just as the 1968 Estuary management plan discussed at great lengths. The big question was and always  is "How will one remove the silt after a major flood incident, should the St. Lucia Estuary mouth be closed and the silt flow heads north up the narrows and  into the lake system.

Well that has happened, and been happening since 2002 when the IWPA CLOSED THE MOUTH. Right now the inter-tidal actions are blocked by the silt in the system which is a above  sea level in many spots within the areas that should be inter-tidal.

What are we gonna do ,? 

What can we do ,? 

What options are left for us to take ?

It appears that we need to take legal actions against the minister of Forestry Fisheries and Environment as this person is the responsible person who signs off on the iSimangaliso Wetland park Authority Integrated Management Plan in terms of the world heritage convention act and related legislation.  The Department of Forestry Fisheries and Environment was well awear that this mud and silt issue would arise, but they told us that their scientists have better ideas, and they implemented the 2017   GEF 5 PROJECT, which connected the Umfolozi River directly to the northern sections of the lake, bypassing the natural filter systems within the Umfolozi Flats and the Umzunduzi spill over zones.

This was a very bad move where many local folks made big noise. But they were ignored on instructions from Andrew Zaloumis,. Who was the CEO of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park at the time. In my mind this was a crime against nature, and we can see the results directly today. The water levels at Sunset Jetty reveal the large volumes of silt and mud that have settled in the Southern sections of the narrows, as the levels have not dropped significantly. This channel needs mechanical help to wash out the silt and mud deposits.

The water is not flowing out the lakes northern sections fast enough to scour out the silt and mud deposits. We need serious government interventions and a large scale dredging plan, as well as water cannons to blast the silt free so that it may flow when the tide runs out and remove some silt after each night tide.

Read more about the St. Lucia estuary management issues here

What to do ? How can we force the issue?

Leave your thoughts in the comments and let's see what can be done.

Frankie2Socks

#4u2Fish. #Frankie2Socks #ReviveStLucia 

Section 24 of the constitution and renewable natural resources.

 Greetings and thanx for reading here.

In my last post I said I would discuss section 24 of the constitution, so here we are.... 

Section 24 of the South African Constitution covers our Environmental rights. Section 24 is in  chapter 2, the bill of rights. This section covers both natural folks rights as well as juristic folks rights.

Quote section 24 of the South African  Constitution

 Environment (section 24)

Everyone has the right ­

to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being; and

to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that ­

prevent pollution and ecological degradation;

promote conservation; and

secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development. 

END QUOTE

There are some serious economic rights, social rights and other rights  that come along as Ryders which are sometimes not that obvious, but that does  mean that they should be ignored but rather that these are special cases that need extra vigilance from the holders of these rights.

In our case here in the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands park and surrounding areas, the economic, social and  Environmental rights are very entertained, and #Section24 of the South African Constitution caters for all these rights, and a few other hidden rights which we will be discussing in more detail within the social media environment within the coming weeks as we slowly start to dismantle the Andrew Zaloumis management erra public perception management STRATEGIES, where the use of natural renewable resources were seen as property of the IWPA and not for public consumption or public utalisaion. 

   if we take a closer look at section 24 in the South African Constitution,  then we may read chapter 2, section 24 (b) iii as "Every one has the right to have the environment protected, for benefit of present and future generations through reasonable legislative measures that secure ecological sustainable development and the use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development 

Now the key here is the the aim, which  is to ensure that local communities have the right to make use of natural resources, while justifiable social development and economic issues are also included as special Ryders.

Here at Nibela these economic and social rights have been violated and erroded by the environmental policies and practices of the Andrew Zaloumis estuary management STRATEGIES as approved and implemented by the ministers instructions through the actions of the IWPA or iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority.

So our beef about section 24 of the South African Constitution is with the minister of environmental affairs, coz this is an environmental issue, where bad faith and poor oversight has been applied.

Basically our economic rights as associated with the trade of the natural renewable resources of lake St Lucia and the St Lucia Estuary systems have been erroded past the point of sustainability, as a result of the  collapse of the biodiversity within the St. Lucia estuary and lake systems. 

This collapse of the natural renewable resources within the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park is as a direct result of the poor / bad estuary management strategies of the Andrew Zaloumis management team during their reign of terror as the IWPA MANAGEMENT TEAM 

The current managent team at the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority have rather different views than the past (Andrew Zaloumis) management team at the IWPA. Their attempts to fix the issues around community benificiation are not going un-noticed, but they are very slow, and also rather subtle and in the background.  These attempts to restore community access rights are not very  public, and that needs to change. 

Our collective rights in terms of section 24 of the South African Constitution need to be investigated, and we as citizens of South Need to be vigilant when it comes to economic rights associated with harvesting of natural renewable resources

This is a complicated matter, which is headed for the constitutional court in the not to distant future.

Please comment and share further.

Regards  #Frankie2Socks

 

St. Lucia estuary is closed again.

 Greetings and THANX for reading here. I have had reports that the St. Lucia estuary mouth, which opened on 6 January 2021 closed again with the storm that we had as a cold front passed us in early June 2021.

Sunrise over eastern shores of lake St. Lucia, taken on the eastern cliffs of Nibela Peninsula 

The water levels at Mpilo Einde on the Nibela Peninsula are currently rather high. The issue appears to be the reed growth and silt deposits in the narrows and the delta around Broadies Crossing. The heavy reed growth and DELTA type waterflow channels here causese  water from the Umfolozi to slow down and drop it's silt load where it will cause the most long-term problems.

The fact that the mouth at St. Lucia is closed again is not a positive sign for things to come. Remember the 2017 Rehabilitation project undertaken by the Andrew Zaloumis management strategy, well it is my opinion that this strategy has caused serious damage to the biodiversity within the St. Lucia lake and estuary systems. It has also connected the main stream of the Umfolozi River directly to the St. Lucia lake systems, without first flowing into the Umfolozi floodplains to drop off the the larger silt particles as the water flow spreads out into both the Monzi flat lands and the greater Umfolozi flood plains. 

This means that the greater portion of the Umfolozi River silt load is now being deposited within the St. Lucia lake and estuary systems. This silt has been building up with each serious rain within the Umfolozi River catchment zones. When the flood waters subside, the silt remains. From 2017 till the St. Lucia Estuary mouth was breached artificially on 6 January 2021 these many tiny, small and mild flooding episodes within the Umfolozi catchment zones has each contributed just a little to the raising of the estuary and lake bottoms.

In some areas like the Sokulu farming zone within the base end of the Umfolozi flood plains, these large scale silt deposits have generated reed blockages which have grown to form water flow barriers, retaining high water levels at specific naturally occurring constrictions, causing long-term back-flooding.

This long-term back-flooding is a serious problem in the Sokulu farming zone, Which will only be solved by mechanical intervention, or dredging of the main water flow channels to below sea level.  This will be a mamoth task, just as dredging of the water flow channels between the northern sections of the lake and the actual estuary mouth, will also be a rather large task.

These are all, in my opinion logical issues, that can be easily seen, and understood by the average person. However past public perception management STRATEGIES of the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority) has laid a foundation of confusion around waterflow, mudflow and intertidal actions.

The base end of the Umfolozi flood plains in the Sukulu area used to be tidal once upon a time.. Long ago. Silt deposits from the Umfolozi River have taken their toll and filled the area with furtile soil over many generations. Now with " GLOBAL WARMING and CHANGING WEATHER PATTERNS" we as humans need to do what we can to firstly survive, then where possible prosper and enjoy lifes many bounties.

Enjoying something does not mean destroying the available natural renewable resources, so these need to be managed in a sustainable manner, and that starts with understanding the breeding and life cycles of our natural renewable resources. The St. Lucia Estuary and lake systems used to supply abundant natural renewable resources, and many up and down our coastline enjoyed this abundance. 

The extremely poor / bad ecological management of the St. Lucia lake and estuary systems by the Andrew Zaloumis management team has ensured that these natural renewable resources within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park have been seriously compromised, and in some cases even destroyed.

We want our heritage back, and have thus taken a stand on the issues around natural renewable resources and section 24 of the South African Constitution, which some folks will not appreciate, purely because their thinking has been contaminated by public perception management from those folks who want to see high end international tourism in places where nature provides us with sustainable natural renewable resources. These tourism opperators, and their high end investors, do not want to share with the folks who are living in the areas that they want to turn into tourism wonderland.

What to do ? Which way to turn?

Leave a comment and share your views.

In my next post I will discuss #Section24 of the South African Constitution. 

#Frankie2Socks 

Waterflow problems in Lake St. Lucia and the St Lucia Estuary.

 There are currently many problems facing the St. Lucia estuary and lake systems, but in my personal opinion the silt levels caused by the closure of the St. Lucia estuary mouth are currently (May 2021 )  the biggest issue that needs to be addressed.

The St. Lucia estuary mouth was closed by the IWPA ( iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority ) in 2002 following the Jolly Rubino incident. When the #JollyRubino ran around in 2002; there  was a very distinct possibility that some chemical polution may occurred in the St. Lucia estuary, and the department of Environmental Affairs instructed the IWPA to MECHANICALY close  the St. Lucia estuary mouth as a precautionary measure.

The mouth to the St. Lucia estuary has remained closed ever since, with a 157 day respite in 2007, after cyclone Gumede unleashed huge waves and a storm surge on the KZN coastline. This heavy sea and associated storm surge breached the St. Lucia estuary from the ocean side causing massive and serious long term problems for the functionality of the St. Lucia estuary and lake systems.

The mouth of the St. Lucia estuary system has thus basically been closed to the Indian Ocean since the Jolly Rubino incident, and was MECHANICALY opened on 6 January 2021.

Lake St. Lucia is fed fresh water from 5 major sources, with the Umfolozi River being the largest, and the furthest South. The #UmfoloziRiver is also the biggest exporter of raw silt into the St. Lucia estuary and lake systems.  The  silt from these rivers has therefore been accumulating within the lake and estuary systems for the last 18 years

Since 2002 there have been many serious rains within the catchment  area of the Umfolozi River, and these rains have each added to the silt load within the St. Lucia lake and estuary systems. Both Lake St. Lucia and the St. Lucia estuary have silted up considerably due to these big rain events.

The connecting channel that connects the northern sections of lake St Lucia to the main estuary mouth at Mapelane has silted closed, there after grown over by Reed's, and is now unable to function in a normal manner, then more flooding has dropped deeper silt layers  on-top of the Reed's and truly disconnected the northern sections of the lake from the estuary mouth.

This means that the waterflow between the northern sections of the lake and the Indian Ocean is no longer viable, causing great harm to the biodiversity of the entire St. Lucia ecosystem. The fishing industry along the entire South African Coastline has been impacted in a rather negative manner by these silted up waterflow channels.

As discussed in this short YouTube clip by the IWPA,   the St. Lucia lake and estuary systems form the core breeding grounds of many marine species. With these breeding and nursery grounds out of commission, due to poor / bad management by the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority juvanile recruitment is now a very big issue.

With minimal juvanile recruitment from other esturies our fish stocks are in steady decline. Within the St. Lucia lake system, many of these species are currently locally extinct.

We need to address these issues. 

For more info send an email to 4u2fish@info4u.co.za

More coming soon.

There is so much going on right now, that my head is spinning and I am not sure what top do.  then out of the blue, I get a direct threat to my personal well being from an unexpected corner

 remember to stop and smell the flowers...

There is this fella in St. Lucia, who for some reason thinks that I am about to chase all tourists out of town, and do something strange .... Well I know that I look at life from other angles to most folks, and that my thinking does not fit into other peoples pigeon hole mentality, where each person is treated according to where he / she is perceived to fit within society, according to what others say about you.

My personal life style came under fire from this fella, who threatened me saying that he would "send some folks after me to sort me out"   This direct  threat to my person came as a surprise, and I was not sure how to take this threat.  So I did the unexpected thing, and asked for advice from old friends who live in Cape Town, and I received a rather devious and complicated answer.  hence this post.  first issue was that I should go along to the local police station, then ensure that this threat to my personal well being be noted in the OB  (Occurrence Book)  and that I should follow that up with a post online discussing what the possible reasons for that exact threat was or is,  then go ahead and carry on with my life, but ensure that I push certain issues harder....  COZ these are stirring the pot at the parliamentary level, which is about to cause some investigations and political disturbances of a serious nature.

Should I name this person ?  please leave a comment and say why or why not....

The 4u2fish Campaign is coming along and we have a few signatures on our campaign to get high level government delegations to investigate the issues around lost economic activities and their negative impacts on Umkhanyakude district municipality, as a consequence of the mismanagement of our natural renewable resources within Lake St. Lucia and the St. Lucia Estuary Systems and surrounding water ways.

Just the other day we had a by election here in   St. Lucia village, and the politics around the management of the iSimangaliso Wetland park World heritage site was pushed into the lime light in some unexpected ways by yours truly.  The after effect of this is being felt by me directly, and a few folks in positions of power seem to have an interest in what I have to say, and how I am saying what I am saying.  Some have found my views rather favourable to their personal agenda, and others think that I am scratching where there is no itch, and need to go away.

Then there are the few folks who have been doing stuff that is not too "KOSHER"  who seem rather upset that I am asking high level government delegations to take a  #PEEPSEE at the true, on the ground impacts of attitudes and activities of them folks who are in power positions within the tourism industry of Umkhanyakude, and how their actions, non actions and policies are impacting the life styles of rural folks within and surrounding the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

The perceived poor management of the St. Lucia estuary system by the IWPA is a  very big part of what I am saying, and this is also a hot topic in parliament during these last few days of 2019. This issue is causing reverberations in unexpected places.

The Estuary Management Plan  which should be in place as mandated by the ICMA or Integrated Coastal Management Act, along with its serious amendments and related legislations is the real issue, as the public is under the perception that nothing is going on. The St. Lucia Rate Payers association has been pressurizing the IWPA or iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority to do something about the lake and estuary management, but I am not privy to these discussions.

The threat directed at me personally by this fella could be directly related to the issues around the St. Lucia Estuary management plan, but I am not sure about that. The fact that this fella is closely connected to the St. Lucia Rate Payers association  is also a concern to me, but I do believe that this threat was not and is not condoned or appreciated by the management team of the St. Lucia Rate Payers association. I am how ever convinced that the fella in question  believes that his connection with the St. Lucia Rate Payers Association will give him some sort of immunity or legitimacy.

The 4u2fish Campaign is all about building the domestic tourism industry, and ensuring that the local residents of Umkhanyakude District Municipality get an equitable share of the tourism connected to the recreational use of our lakes, rivers, dams, pans as well as the St. Lucia estuary and the indian ocean.

Eish !!! load shedding now at 14 H 10 in the St. Lucia Library.   please leave a comment below and tell me if I should name the fella who threatened me or not .... need to publish thisd any way coz of legal issues around being threatened.

thanx for reading.. please sign our petition here https://secure.avaaz.org/en/community_petitions/Sihle_Zikalala_Premier_of_KZN_south_Africa_Support_the_4u2fish_campaign_in_our_efforts_to_restore_BIODIVERSITY_in_St_Lucia_Estuary/ 

the 4U2FISH campaign is slowly gaining momentum

The 4U2FISH campaign is in place to ensure that the domestic tourism market associated with fishing, hunting and collecting of natural renewable resources is taken seriously by the tourism bodies and businesses within Umkhanyakude District Municipality.

Fishermen and their crews have a bad rap here in St. Lucia and they are not really welcome at most tourism establishments within the village of St. Lucia. This change of attitude by the local tourism businesses did not happen in 24 hours, but was a slow process that was managed and driven, through elegant high level PUBLLIC PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT by the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority) in their very devious and sneaky efforts to ensure that the waters of lake St. Lucia change from a salt water estuary system to a fresh water lake system, so that dune mining may be seen as an ecologically and economically  viable option when the mining companies step into the picture.

Before our area, the old Maputuland Coast, was declared as a world heritage site in  December 1999, as an apparent ploy to prevent mining of lake St. Lucia and the St. Lucia Estuary System, fisher folks were the core base of the St. Lucia tourism industry, and were most welcome as paying guests in St. Lucia.  The St. Lucia tourism industry sustained  three caravan parks that were fully functional and full every week end.  If one wanted to visit Cape Vidal over the week end, one would need to be in the line at the gate before 1 AM in the morning, to ensure that you were one of the few allowed into the park, as the numbers were limited, and many people wanted to visit the park.

We need to remember that the area was declared as a park long before the idea of a world heritage site was thought of, and the old NPB (Natal Parks Board ) ran the park as a farm, which supplied fish, prawns and many other natural renewable resources for the folks living within Umkhanyakude district municipality.

in 1998 our beaches were busy, businesses were flourishing and tourism within Umkhanyakude was a truly big thing. The government and big business within South Africa were all excited and looking for ways to expand this impact and increase the economic impact of tourism associated with recreational beach  use.   Unfortunately there were also some folks who had other ideas, like mining.........

Domestic tourism within Umkhanyakude was a truly huge thing, and there was an awful lot of interest in the economics associated with an expanding tourism base connected  with recreational activities and the eco tourism base of our beaches and the St. Lucia estuary system.

CONSUMPTIVE TOURISM was flourishing and everybody was making money.  The home stay style tourism businesses within the coastal belt between Mbaswane and Manguzi was awash with visitors from Joburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Pietersburg and other areas of the Transvaal, the Freestate and the rest of KZN.  Domestic tourism within Umkhanyakude was a big thing.

Unfortunately for us, the big mining companies wanted to, and still want to, mine the lake and surrounding sand dunes for titanium and other minerals.  For them (the mining industry ) to succeed they needed to ensure that the domestic tourism industry collapsed, and would thus be unable to challenge the mining of our non renewable resources within the rich mineral sands that have been deposited over the years within the flood plains and surrounding sand dunes of the greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park. hence the 4x4 ban which did its job and hurt domestic tourism industry, causing some 20 000 job losses

Mining is a short term financial income strategy, but tourism is a long term business model that will employ many more folks than the mining industry, and have a much wider tax  base, that will also be around for many years.  Those who want to mine our sand dunes and water ways within the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands park have understood this for a long time, but have always been looking at ways to get in, mine and leave without spending large volumes of cash on REHABILITATION like they are currently doing  in the areas just South Of Mapelane.   We need to remember that they started mining our sand dunes in 1974, just North of Richards Bay, and that this mining has ensured the growth of Richards bay into the thriving industrial port that exists in Richards Bay today.

So they have been mining our sand dunes along the east coast of KZN South of Richards bay for more than 45 years.  In this time these mining houses have made huge unthinkable volumes of cash, and their options are now running out.  We need to remember that the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park was declared as a WORLD HERITAGE SITE in December 1999, from within the well managed smoke screen of  public intent to prevent the mining of our beautiful tourism destinations along the then MAPUTULAND COAST.  The first thing that the new authority did was to ensure that the mouth to the St. Lucia Estuary was closed, and stayed closed.  The IWPA did not exist at that time, but ........

The Greater St. Lucia wetlands Park Authority was renamed to the iSimangaliso Wetland park in 2007, but this organisation has been pushing hard to keep the St. Lucia Estuary Mouth closed and ensure that the ocean does not connect to the lake and estuary system.  The so called REHABILITATION which the IWPA undertook in early 2017, where they connected the Umfolozi River to the St. Lucia Lake System, by passing the natural filter system of the Umfolozi Flood Plains, has ensured that the lake has silted up, and that there is no way that the estuary will be able to have a natural breach ever again.  The tremendous amount of FRESH CLAY that was compacted by the bulldozers that pushed the dredger spoil into the Indian Ocean  during this so called rehabilitation process is a real problem, as this introduced clay layer forms a PLUG that will not easily be eroded away, as sea sand would have been.


The residents of St. Lucia tried to talk about this during the public participation process but were closed down very quickly by the scientific component of the IWPA  estuary management team.  I have been saying that the IWPA is preparing the St. Lucia Estuary and lake systems for mining for some time now, as the mining technology does not allow for mining in a saline (salt water ) system, and thus the new fresh look of the lake and estuary system is good for the mining industry.

Then there are the many cases where the IWPA closed down the informal home stay / back yard camp sites within the Umhlabuyalingana and BIG 5 / Hlabisa municipalities. This happened in a very sneaky and devious manner around the same time that the 4x4 ban was introduced. This process coincided with the very big drive by the national government to close down coastal tourism businesses that did not conform to unrealistically high criteria that  they demanded. The Transkie coastal belt suffered extensive losses within their rather active tourism industry which collapsed as a result of these rather nasty closures of informal and semi formal tourism businesses.

With some hind sight and lots of digging around to try and discover where our business within Umkhanyakude disappeared to when our beaches were closed to reasonable motor vehicle traffic way back in 2001 / 2002, one can very easily join the dots and come to some rather disturbing conclusions.  The Occasional Paper 20  by KZN Tourism which discusses the losses associated with the #4x4ban, alledges that more than 20 000 folks within Umkhanyakude district municipality  lost their economic opportunities as a knock on impact of the 4x4ban, and goes on to say that more research is needed as there appear to be other mitigating circumstances which they were unable to pinpoint with the limited budget and resources at their disposal.

The fact that international tourism boomed and flourished after the area was declared a world heritage site, was expected, and if this did not materialise, then something would be very wrong.  The collapse of the domestic tourism market within Umkhanyakude district municipality on the other hand, was caused by the mismanagement of the physical environment  and related renewable resources through the actions, activities, policies and management style of the IWPA.

These  guys  (The IWPA ) have no intention of ever fixing the ecological problems  and economic impacts associated with a dysfunctional estuary 

Please comment here and leave your views and opinions

#Frankie2Socks #4u2fish

St. Lucia Estuary Management Plan and the iSimangaliso wetland Park Authority

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority ( IWPA ) is the  government appointed legal entity put in place in terms of the World Heritage convention Act.

The original appointee was the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park Authority, and the name change ( for marketing purposes) has confused many folks, allowing the IWPA to usurp a whole range of powers and functions which they should not have in the first place.

The IWPA as the legal custodians of the iSimangaliso Wetland park World Heritage Site inherited all the below listed items and many others when the Authority was renamed

• Duties 

• Obligations

• Functions

•  Rights 

•  Legal  responsibilities

 These above mentioned issues are not to be confused with normal working issues or conditions of any legal entity, and the IWPA is not a special body which is above the law as they would have you believe. The IWPA is currently acting and behaving in a very unacceptable manner, bullying the Umkhanyakude District municipality and it's Local municipalities in many strange and devious ways, making it extremely difficult to get things done within the Umkhanyakude District Municipality tourism industry and related economic spaces

The main issue for me personally is the current ( October 2019 ) situation surrounding the management of the St. Lucia estuary and surrounding waterways. The IWPA have adopted a " Let nature take its course attitude" and this is causing many true economic hardships to unravel within Umkhanyakude District Municipality.

EDIT : 2 November 2019 ----  I discovered this link to a plan which appears to be an Estuary Management Plan for the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority here.  there are no dates, or addresses so not sure about this, but .....   They do not respond to my emails from the email addy admin@info4u.co.za   so   perhaps you can contact them and ask if this is an official plan or what is the story....

The folks on the ground who were dependent on the fish, prawns and other renewable resources supplied by the lake and surrounding waterways are in real serious economic distress. The Domestic tourism industry is about to have a total melt down, as the tourism connected to the biological functioning of the St. Lucia lake systems and associated waterways is missing from the Umkhanyakude District Municipality economic opportunity base.

The 4u2fish campaign has thus taken a legal view on these issues, and is in the process of taking legal actions against the IWPA.   It al starts with an #openLetter to the IWPA requesting elementary and basic information through the mandated public participation process meetings, as dictated in the national environmental management act , and subsurvient legislations such as the  integrated coastal management act.

What are your views .... ????

Please use the comments below to air your views.

Please share this further so that we may expand the conversation to include the relevant folks, and find a workable solution.

#Frankie2Socks for the #4u2fish Campaign