Ecotourism clashes with industrialisation
Published by MAC on 2003-07-07Ecotourism clashes with industrialisation
July 7, 2003
By Samantha Enslin, South African Press Association
The Amadiba Coastal Community at Xolobeni in the Eastern Cape are caught in a tug-of-war between an Australian company, Mineral Commodities, which is planning to mine in the area, and environmentalists who are opposed to both the coastal dune mining and the N2 toll road, which will cut through the area.
Velaphi Ndovela, a member of the Amadiba Coastal Community Trust, which is situated in Pondoland, said that to reach a decision on whether to support the mine and road would be a long process in which five villages and two imbizos (gatherings) would be needed. The land on which this 500 homestead community engage in subsistence farming and ecotourism is state land and Ndovela conceded that their decision might have little influence on the final outcome.