00206B3D20B8200326165746

This document is an appeal decision issued by the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment of South Africa regarding an Integrated Environmental Authorisation (IEA) granted to Mineral Sands Resources (Pty) Ltd. The decision concerns the proposed expansion of the Tormin Mineral Sands Mine to extract heavy minerals, including ilmenite and rutile, across various farms and beaches in the Western Cape Province. After reviewing appeals from four parties—the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), North Western Cape Mining Forum (NWCMF), Raakvat Boerdery (Edms) Bpk, and Merle Sowman—the Minister dismissed most grounds of appeal but upheld two specific concerns regarding the coastal buffer zone and public beach access, leading to variations in the IEA conditions.

• The Minister dismissed the appeal regarding the use of section 102 of the Mineral and Petroleum Development Resources Act (MPRDA) to expand the mining area, ruling that such matters are processed separately under the MPRDA and not under section 43(1A) of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA).
• The appeal concerning impacts on terrestrial biodiversity and Critical Biodiversity Areas (CBAs) was dismissed. The Minister accepted the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) finding that the destruction of CBAs and Species of Conservation Concern (SCC) would be "moderate to low, and very low", and that the project is environmentally acceptable.
• The Minister rejected the claim that rehabilitation of the Namaqualand Strandveld is improbable, citing the applicant's evidence of "demonstrated success of past rehabilitation or re-vegetation efforts" in similar settings, such as the Namakwa Sands mine.
• The request for a biodiversity offset was dismissed because the appointed specialists did not consider one to be warranted based on the significance of the identified impacts.
• The Minister dismissed the appeal regarding the 'need and desirability' of the project, concluding that the socio-economic benefits of job creation and economic growth outweigh the ecological concerns, provided mitigation measures are implemented.
• The appeal regarding the lack of promotion of ownership for Historically Disadvantaged Persons (HDPs) was dismissed on the basis that such issues are regulated by the MPRDA and are not relevant to the granting of an IEA under NEMA.
• The Minister upheld the appeal regarding the Coastal Protection Zone, directing the DMR to amend the IEA to ensure a 10m buffer zone is demarcated from the "toe of the cliff" rather than the "edge of the cliff" to align with geotechnical recommendations.
• The appeal regarding public access to beaches was upheld. The Minister instructed the DMR to add a condition to the IEA stating that mining operations must not encroach on road access and must facilitate reasonable public access.
• The Minister dismissed the appeal regarding cumulative impacts, stating that the Marine Specialist Report indicated that with active rehabilitation, cumulative impacts on sandy beach benthos are unlikely to endure beyond the short to medium term.
• The proposed expansion includes mining 43.7 ha and widening haul roads on 6 ha across ten beaches, 75 ha of inland "strand line" mining on Farm Geelwal Karoo 262, and a 64 ha infrastructure expansion area.
• The Minister dismissed the appeal regarding map accuracy, accepting that the boundaries obtained from the Western Cape Department of Agriculture's "Cape Farm Mapper" tool are assumed to be accurate.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (n.d.). 00206B3D20B8200326165746. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Appeal-Decision-Appellants.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. 00206B3D20B8200326165746. n.d. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Appeal-Decision-Appellants.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=00206B3D20B8200326165746 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Appeal-Decision-Appellants.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrightsnd00206b3d20b8200326165746, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{00206B3D20B8200326165746}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Appeal-Decision-Appellants.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }