Oakdene residents concerned about illegal mining

OAKDENE: Residents in Outeniqua Avenue and Soutpansberg Road, Oakdene are very worried about illegal mining which is taking place on the ridge above where they reside. “We’ve noticed a t least six men at a time digging away at the ridge and last week a huge tree was uprooted with all the digging. If this had fallen down the ridge and into the road it could have caused a bad accident. What are the men digging here for?” they ask.

On Tuesday November 19 there was an investigative meeting attended by Ward 56 Councillor Dennis Jane and site and security managers from Balwin Properties Development. Balwin is presently developing townhouse units in Oakdene, close to where the illegal mining is taking place. The purpose of the meeting was to determine if Balwin owned part of the area that is presently being illegally mined and if so, what security measures could be implemented. It was found that the ‘mining’ was not on their property. Balwin’s property’s eastern boundary was to the west of where the mining is taking place.

“The inspection revealed the area in question was in fact an old dump site, primarily of ash, large blocks of concrete and various bottles dating back to last century. The reason for the ‘mining’ was to find these lumps of concrete and remove the reinforcing steel found in the concrete to sell for scrap. This activity on the steep slope facing Soutpansberg Road is creating a potential hazard. One tree has already become uprooted due to the mining action,” said Clr Jane.

Clr Jane is presently attempting to find the owner of the erven involved. “The immediate problem this poses is the area is zoned farmland and as such the Deeds office does not have details of ownership. There is no information of the farmland owner’s details other than their name. So, the search is on to try and identify them. Once contact is made discussions will be entered into as to how the problem can be resolved,” concluded Clr Jane.