DESPITE rumours to the contrary, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority has not undertaken to breach the Mfolozi River mouth or link the Msunduze River with the sea.
This after Sokhulu farmers along the Msunduze River floodplain recently delivered a memorandum of grievances to the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), demanding the linking of the river with the sea.
The farmers claim their farmlands have been flooded and crops damaged by backed up river water.
‘iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority, together with other affected parties, including the DEA, EDTEA (Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs) and Sokhulu farmers are looking into the matter as a team,’ said iSimangaliso media officer, Debbie Cooper.
‘Currently we are exploring all possible win-win options that will take into account both the social and ecological aspects of the situation, as well as the High Court decision, so that when a decision is ultimately made, none of the key aspects would be compromised.’
Cooper said no decision has yet been taken and the situation is still in too early a stage to forecast any outcome.
She also dispelled rumours that a global engineering firm with a local presence had been contracted to carry out the breaching of the Mfolozi River to the sea.
Not a new issue, iSimangaliso last year won a High Court battle brought by UCOSP (Umfolozi Sugar Planters Ltd), whose members wanted the wetland park authority to be mandated to open, or allow UCOSP to open, the Mfolozi River to drain and prevent further back-flooding to their farms on the floodplain.
The Supreme Court of Appeal found in favour of iSimangaliso and dismissed the appeal with costs.
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