Keep koppies unspoilt – Afriforum

AFRIFORUM recently took a walk in one of the last parts of unspoiled nature left in the koppies of Southcrest.

The organisation is worried about the impact the construction of housing complexe (retirement village) will have on the flora and fauna in the area.

Ricky Mans, from AfriForum Alberton Environmental Affairs, is concerned about “the impact the development of 656 units will have” as a result of the installation of the required infrastructure.

“If you take a walk in this unique little diverse piece of land in the suburb, you will see how rare and beautiful animal and plant life will be destroyed by this development,” he says.

“We found an amazing Mountain Protea, which is an endangered plant. With it taking around 15 years to reach 1.5 metres, this was clearly an old man. And it only flowers once it gets to between five and seven years old. We also found some smaller ones which only grow from seeds produced every nine to 11 years. While admiring the old man, we were greeted by a Rock Dassie family, but unfortunately they are almost as camera-shy as the golden mongooses who showed their agility, darting through the rocks hiding from our lenses,” adds Mans.

“The natural spring makes this such a green and lively area, almost like you are not in the suburbs. The abundance of life is amazing if you just sit still for a few minutes. The number of birds that frequent the area is amazing. Can we really allow this to be destroyed?” asks Mans in his conclusion.

The RECORD has contacted the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality regarding this issue to find out about the process of doing an environmental study before building and whether or not this was done.

Request for comment was sent to the EMM. No comment was received by the time of going to print.

The developers, Marprieu Developers cc, held a ward committee meeting on May 16 and reassured residents of Southcrest in particular that all the rules and procedures had been followed for the eight hectare development. (Article published in the RECORD of March 22 page 3.) During this meeting, Francois du Plooy and Tinus du Plessis provided an explanation of the property and Du Plessis assured the public that thorough planning has been done to satisfy all parties.

On Monday, April 3, a few community members discussed their concerns regarding the proposed development and again, concerns about proper impact studies were raised. Some of these concerns include the fauna and flora, water supply, sewerage, blasting during construction, traffic implications.

At the meeting, Alderman Bruna Haipel and ward committee member Gene Vivaz made it clear that they are in the process of arranging meetings to analyse these concerns and that they will report back to the community. The RECORD will report on these feedback meetings as soon as it has been scheduled.

Further attempts to contact the developers have failed, including several phone calls to persons involved going unanswered. An e-mail with questions have been sent to the developers, and the RECORD is awaiting their response.

According to Willie van Wyk, chairperson for AfriForum Alberton, Southcrest is going to be completely built over, affecting not only the flora and fauna and ruining the scenery, but also, says van Wyk, “Southcrest will not be able to handle it in terms of infrastructure. What about the residents? Where will all the vehicles, like cars, trucks and emergency vehicles drive?” he asks, referring to the quiet suburb with its narrow roads.

It has also come to the RECORD’s attention that the construction may infringe on a heritage site, but this information must still be verified, and the RECORD is looking into these allegations and will keep readers updated.

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