Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning:

Question by: 
Hon Andricus van der Westhuizen
Answered by: 
Hon Anton Bredell
Question Number: 
7
Question Body: 

(1)   (a) What actions did the Department and CapeNature take in the past to protect the integrity of the Driftsands Nature Reserve and (b) what were the costs associated with these actions;

(2)       how does the size of the Driftsands Nature Reserve compare to the total areas proclaimed as provincial and national nature reserves in the Western Cape?

Answer Body: 

[1] [a] The Department and CapeNature have collaborated and continue to collaborate with the Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW), the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) and other stakeholders on the Driftsands Intergovernmental Task Team to find suitable solutions to the unlawful settlement scenario. The Intergovernmental Task Team has been meeting weekly for nearly 16 months and in that time, has collaborated in the efforts to:

  • Alert the community of danger, erecting signage noting danger and running awareness campaigns
  • Support the development of community leadership structures for the Task Team to be able to engage with
  • Support the documenting of unlawful occupant households and their socio-economic status
  • Identify “higher ground” relocation areas on site to move the unlawful occupants out of harm’s way
  • Ensure that City of Cape Town undertook a Risk Assessment and prepare a Dam Safety Report which confirmed the fact that a disaster could happen at any time should there be a large enough storm
  • Prepare and revise multiple plans for relocation of unlawful occupants and securing of the Detention Dam
  • Support the development of options across stakeholder mandates and supported the preparation of an emergency housing grant application, prepared emergency applications for water licenses and environmental authorisations
  • Commence the legal process to withdraw and abolish the nature reserve status of the site in terms of the Nature Conservation Ordinance and the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, and
  • Write and submit a number of Cabinet Submissions, 15 Executive monthly progress reports and progress briefings, presented at the WCG-CoCT Intergovernmental Committee meetings, and provide Ministerial and Mayoral briefings.

[b]  CapeNature spent R214 020.00 on removing 144 illegal structures from the nature reserve.  This was undertaken with assistance from the City of Cape Town and the South African Police Services. 

[2]   Driftsands Nature Reserve forms 0.0456% of the total area proclaimed as provincial reserves and national parks in the Western Cape.

Date: 
Friday, July 1, 2022
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