Lost domestic tourism associated with 4x4 ban still a problem.

The closure of all beaches in South Africa in terms of legislation passed way back in 2002 needs to be revisited as it caused many job losses with TKZN (Tourism Kwa Zulu Natal) issuing a document ( Ocassional Paper 20 ) suggesting that more than 20 000 economic opportunities were lost  along the Elephant Coast of KZN as a knock on impact of the 4x4 ban.

We would like to have this issue revisited, and properly addressed. In the past the IWPA used all kinds of devious political tricks to side step the issue. We now need to open the debate about the extreme economic impact of these issues on the domestic tourism industry of St. Lucia and surrounding rural areas.  see  OCCASIONAL PAPER 20 by KZN

this issue of low tourism numbers has many knock on impacts, which are very difficult to overcome without serious government support.  There has been very little visible government support within the rural areas of Mtubatuba local municipality and surrounding rural areas of the other local municipalities in the Umkhanyakude District Municipality.  domestic tourism is still very poor and has not recovered at all since the 4x4 ban.  International tourism has however increased significantly, and the tourism  consumer pattern within the Umkhanyakude district municipality has changed drasticaly, but the rural folks are still excluded some how......

WE thus wrote an OPEN LETTER  to the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority ) out lining the problem and requesting assistance  to solve the problem.   this fell on closed ears and blind eyes....  so we need to take further steps and  bring the matter before the public, and then take legal action if the IWPA still shows us the middle finger...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx2QSHFfEjk2TTcyTHpjeWZZMUk/view?usp=sharing

the 4x4 ban was the start of many problems that followed.  bad management of the lake along with its tourism potential followed and also needs serious high level government  interventions.   lake St. Lucia and associated estuary is ( was )  the primary  breeding ground for many marine species, and the fact that the lake is still dysfunctional is a real concern, which should be elevated to a national disaster #NATIONALDISASTER

what to do and which way to get the right folks to see the problem is not as easy as it appears to be.  your help in talking about these issues and sharing this post within the social media space, asking for alternative views or open honest discussion around these very thorny issues  will be appreciated.


#4x4ban
#Frankie2socks

Fishing in St. Lucia, KZN South Africa 10 November 2017

Eventuality  had some time  to go fishing today,  10 November 2017, but the weather  did not play fair.  Took a walk down past the St. Lucia I a Skiboat  club, then along the board walk to the beach.

The water was looking good, but the side wash picked up quite seriously  just before low tide, and the wind picked up bringing some rain.  Ran away, and had a beer at the St.  Lucia Ski boat  club, then toddled off home with ZERO FISH...

Thanx for reading here. Please sign our petition here 

4X4 BAN and the Mtubatuba IDP process.

The 4x4 ban,  or the closure of our beaches to reasonable motor vehicle access, has had a rather nasty impact on the tourism associated with recreational use of the South African beaches within rural areas along the South African Coast line

In the Elephant Coast region,  where the IWPA are in control  of the coastal zone, and manage the area in accordance with the world heritage act, these losses have been very pronounced and rather disturbing, causing huge economic issues, which have been festering and causing anger amongst the folks on the ground for the last 15 years.  way back in 2004 KZN TOURISM estimated these economic losses caused the tourism industry of Umkhanyakude District Municipality to shed in excess of 20 000 jobs.

  These 20 000 job losses were never addressed, as the IWPA claimed that they had these issues, under control,  and that the envisaged INTERNATIONAL TOURISM that would be generated through the marketing of the world heritage status of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Wold Heritage Site and the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative would off set these losses.   These tourism gains due to the world heritage status of the park, as well as other government initiatives, including but not limited to the LSDI, never materialized. 

It is thus time to take action and demand an answer from central government what they are doing to alleviate the serious economic losses caused by the 4x4 ban.  This will be accomplished by taking the issue up at the Mtubatuba Local Municipality IDP structures and requesting that the various role

players come and explain their role in ensuring the failure of the domestic tourism sector within the Umkhanyakude district municipality, focusing on the Mtubatuba Local municipality, and the St. Lucia tourism node, which is the region that suffered the biggest losses with the local arts and crafts industry collapsing and disappearing .

The iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority is the government appointed body  to look after the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park World Heritage Site along the Elephant Coast of KZN South Africa.  It is the duty of the IWPA or the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority to ensure that tourism associated with the use of our first world heritage site is equitable and reaches the majority of tourism stake holders within the area (Umkhanyakude District Municipality)  The IWPA have failed miserably due to the implementation f the 4x4 ban which did not go down well with the domestic tourism market shedding more than 20 000 jobs, as per the last paragraph on page two of this document by KZN Tourism.  

what to do and which way forward is now an issue that needs urgent attention from central government, with the question being  

1) Do we mine the lake, leaving the rehabilitation up to the IWPA,  or 

2) do we push tourism as an alternative, or 

3) do we chase the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority out of town, then mine the lake, and rehabilitate the area to be the biggest nature based tourism project ever ?

my self personally, I like option 3.......

See open letter to the Mtubatuba Local Municipality here for more

The heat is about to be turned up, and there is a new leadership at the IWPA

Andrew Zaloumis has run away from his responsibilities as CEO of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority, and we have a new fella in charge of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority.

Let's hope the new guy has a fresh attitude, and appreciates DOMESTIC TOURISTS.........

The 4x4 BAN ISSUED is a out to get more attention, and our petition at AVAAZ needs your signature.

We also have pages at 4x4ban.blogspot.com

Your support in signing our petition will  be appreciated

The IWPA needs to please explain their esturay managment strategies

Please sign our petition

The St. Lucia Estuary is currently ( SEPTEMBER 2017 ) a disaster zone, and the ecological biodiversity within the Lake St. Lucia and the St. Lucia Estuary system has collapsed. The Estuary Management  plan for the St. Lucia Estuary as is mandated in the Integrated Coastal Management Act is not in the public zone, and we need to know why. 

Please sign our petition so we can have a mandate from the public to take some actions at the local Municipality level to have the issues of bad management within the IWPA addressed.

 

The IWPA or iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority has not held proper public participation process meetings within the Mtubatuba Municipality, and the tourism associated with the St. Lucia lake and estuary systems  has not been included in the economic development forums of the Mtubatuba municipality Local Municipality IDP as id mandated in many different laws and legislations associated with the management of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park such as the 4x4 ban  and the Integrated Coastal Management Act.

to download this letter as a PDF file click here

Start quote of letter to iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority

Old School Birding Club <marketing.osbc@info4u.co.za>

water flow issues within the lake St. Lucia system. 1 message

Old School Birding Club <marketing.osbc@info4u.co.za>

Sun, Sep 17, 2017 at 4:26 PM To: info@isimangaliso.com

OPEN LETTER addressed to info@isimangaliso.com and published to 4x4ban.blogspot.com then shared on social media.

info@isimangaliso.com is the registered email address for the IWPA --- iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority see their web site at www.isimangaliso.com

attention administrative staff at the IWPA

Hi

Many thanx for your post on FB https://web.facebook.com/iSimangalisoWetlandPark/posts/ 896067270542666

I have a few questions but am not sure where or who to ask. Can you link me up with the correct folks ?

I received an email containing a news flash from newsflash@isimangaliso.com on 10 September 2017 (covering the same subject matter) and this seems to be rather confusing info. Either the scientists concerned are trying to fool us as the general public, or they are not qualified to do the job, as the info put forward is rather incorrect in many aspects.

lets start with the issue of the water flow between the ocean and the estuary....

does the estuary system include the lake or is it only the Umfolozi river flood plains ?

I was always under the impression that the estuary system included the water flow in and out of lake St. Lucia. If this is wrong then I apologise. If this is right, your scientists need a slap on the ear, and a rather tight solid one that makes their head spin... so that they can catch a wake up!!!!

From the article it is clear that they talk of the lake, but they deliberately neglect to discuss the water flow patterns which are needed to scour the estuary mouth clean, along with the water volume flow measurements, which keep the lake system from silting up.. they keep discussing the water flow of the Umfolozi river as if this is the only issue at stake. The Umfolozi river only really comes into play when there are drought conditions, and the mouth to the estuary system is closed to prevent the lake from becoming a salt pan, which nature takes care of itself. . Water evaporation is the issue here, as sea water would replace the evaporated water in the lake system, and cause ultra high salt level problems very soon, leaving the lake as a salt pan. This was close to happening, and we had a total fish die out when the lake actually dried up. This has not been declared an international disaster zone, in my mind due to tourism issues, with the IWPA fearing a collapse in tourism due to the bad publicity, and that is a major threat to the future of our tourism associated with lake St. Lucia. If the lake is not part of the tourism picture we will all be in trouble, coz the beaches are already out of the picture due to the 4x4 ban and the subsequent job losses where KZN tourism estimates more than 20 000 job losses in the formal tourism sector as in their occasional paper 20, found here http://www.zulu.org.za/userfiles/1/file/ ForIvestorandResearcher/Research/Occ%20Papers%20PDFs/Occ%20paper%2020% 20Legislation%20on%20the%20Use%20of%204X4's%20on%20Beaches%20.pdf see last paragraph on page 2

Who can I speak to so that I may find out more, and where may I find the IWPA input to the Integrated Estuary Management Plan as is mandated by the ICMA (Integrated Coastal Management Act 2008) chapter 4 sections 33 and 34

From the news flash article it is clear that the scientists in question who put this plan together have an agenda other than the natural rehabilitation of the lake and related estuary system. This needs to be explained at the PPPM (Public Participation Process Meetings) which are mandated in terms of the NEMA (National Environmental Management Act) and these issues also need to be included in both the Mtubatuba Local Municipality IDP, and the UMkhanyakude District Municipality IDP, so that these can then be included in the Provincial IDP and then pushed to the central Government IDP. This is essential as the estuary management is not exclusive to the St. Lucia estuary mouth, but also includes the lake systems, the fresh water catchment zones and the subsequent silt flow patterns that are in place due to a host of different reasons including but not limited to

bad agricultural practices in the estuary catchment zones bad land management in state owned lands in the estuary fresh water catchment zones over grazing in rural farm lands, which fall within the estuary fresh water catchm3ent zones bad land management in game parks (Hluhluwe / Umfolozi parks) and poor information flow patterns between the IWPA and the rest of the world, which are stilted and often not inclusive of the bad community impacts associated with the IWPA decisions.

Many of these estuary fresh water catchment zones are not even in the UMkhanyakude District Mu8nicipality, which compounds the need to have this addressed at provincial level through the provincial IDP

see these video discussing the missing silt traps along the Umfolozi River and related problems which your scientists are apparently sidestepping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGMpYyg5wt0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwpQE_tdp-Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpDp-s4EZHY

this is a serious matter, and somebody needs to be held accountable.

your help in assisting me to find the required information, and who to speak to , so as to evaluate an amicable way forward will be appreciated.

I used the email address admin@info4u.co.za to request registration with the IWPA integrated management plan, which is the equivalent of the municipal IDP , but for some reason this has not been activated and I do not receive the necessary invites or updates to these management plans. It is my opinion that this email address admin@info4u.co.za has been blacklisted, or labelled as spam by the IWPA administrative system. This is a problem in my mind....

Your advice of what my next step should be, before legal action is taken to force the issue will be appreciated, as I would prefer to solve these problems without legal actions which will be very bad for tourism within the area as a whole. We all rely on tourism, so when this dries up there will be other problems... no tourists in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park is not a good thing for anybody. the 4x4 ban has already cost us dearly with KZN TOURISM in their occasional PAPER 20 (see link above)

estimating job losses in excess of 20 000 way back in 2004. Many things have changed since then, but domestic tourism has not recovered, and the IWPA are not doing anything visible to get domestic tourism numbers back up to where they were prior to the 4x4 ban. The recent destruction of perfectly functioning infrastructure which is mainly used by domestic tourists at the St. Lucia Estuary Mouth, and the extreme bad parking planning, along the St. Lucia beach front adds to this perception that the IWPA are anti domestic tourists within the park as a whole. see http://zululandobserver.co.za/ 153111/demolition-works-st-lucias-estuary-beach/ a clear way forward where information flow between the park and concerned citizens is addressed at the mandated public participation process meetings will be truly appreciated. If this is not activated soon, we will be forced to take alternative actions which include legal steps to force the issue. these will give out such a vastly negative vibe that tourism within the area will be drastically affected. We wish to minimise this impact, so please help us to connect with the right folks who can ensure that our concerns are addressed in an open and transparent manner where all will be happy..

looking forward to your response.

FRANKIE2SOCKS

End quote of letter to iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority



Please sign our petition

Please sign our petition so we can have a mandate from the public to take some actions at the local Municipality level to have the issues of bad management within the IWPA addressed.

iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and Public Participation Process Meetings

iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and Public Participation Process Meetings

 The  iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority  ( IWPA ) is in place to manage the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park World Heritage site,  South Africa's first world heritage site, which was renamed as the iSimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage Site after the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean acquired its own world heritage site, and there was confusion over which St. Lucia world heritage site was being discussed. The IWPA or iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority is mandated by the WHCA or World Heritage Convention act  to manage the park for us as world citizens.  We as local residents who live adjacent to and  within the park, are supposed to benefit from the tourism  associated with  the park.   Here Section 22 of the

act is very clear, and mandates the IWPA to integrate their management plan with all three tiers of

government through its IMP process. 

tier one = local municipality and district municipality level

tier two = provincial level 

tier three = central government level

to down load your copy of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority's Integrated Management Plan click the link below.

 #IMP = #INTEGRATEDMANAGEMENTPLAN 

Integrated Management Plan for the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

This is however not  the case, and the South African or DOMESTIC TOURISM MARKET is currently very under developed and not supported by the IWPA's attitude and plan, Where they want to push international tourism to the exclusion of domestic, regional and local tourism.  

In the past (pre #4X4BAN ) this was the major tourism sector, with

international tourism making up just under 8 % of the total tourism volume.  Today domestic tourism only makes up a small percentage of tourists visiting St. Lucia, with international tourism being the dominant sector, and a very large percentage of these tourists spending less than 4 hours in St. Lucia, only stopping over long enough to do the estuary boat cruise.  The only beneficiaries of this bulk based international sausage machine tourism  is the IWPA and the boat owners.  Many of the INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS  doing these boat trips do not even stop over for coffee in our area.

These issues are not discussed at the #IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority) #IMPPPPM (Integrated Management Plan,  Public Participation Process Meetings)  and there is no clear future plan discussed with the communities of #DUKUDUKUSOUTH,  #KHULAVILLAGE and the domestic fishing tourist, showing how and where the local communities surrounding the park, are meant to become involved and do their part so that they may get their share of the income generated by the parks actions, in-actions, events management and community development levies.

This is in gross violation of the original ROD taken to implement 4x4 ban found here where section A clause 6 and section B clause 6 as well as section C clause 6,  discusses a particular reporting issue that needs to be discussed and integrated into the Mtubatuba local municipalities IDP STRUCTURES and other statuary mandated planing process such as  the Estuary Management Plans mandated by the Integrated Coastal Management Act

the WHCA or World Heritage convention act, in section 22  discusses these issues again, where the IWPA is mandated to integrate their development plans with all three tiers of government.   this must how ever be re3ad in conjunction with section 13 of this same act....

I am in the process of finding support to push this issue hard at the upcoming Mtubatuba local Municipality Integrated Development Plan, as is mandated in the MUNICIPAL SYSTEMS ACT and associated legislation. The economic losses associated with the VERY POOR MANAGEMENT by the IWPA need to be accounted for and amendments to plans need to be justified or explained. 

Occasional Paper 20 by KZN Tourism discuuses the economic impacts of the 4x4 ban, showing massive joblosses exceeding 20 000 folks as a knock on impact od the 4x4 ban 

more coming soon  #FRANKIE2SOCKS 

What is the annual cost of implementing the 4x4 ban within the Elepehant Coast ?

Sun rise on the beach

There is so much documentation out there discussing the NEGATIVE ECONOMIC impacts of the 4x4 ban, but it appears that these have not been read by the folks on the ground within the #ISIMANGALISO wetland park and surrounding rural areas of Umkhanyakude district municipality.

firstly there is the OCCASIONAL PAPER 20 BY KZN TOURISM    found here Tourism KwaZulu-Natal's Occasional Research Papers and Ad Hoc Research Projects

then there are a number of documents that were live on this web site http://www.acerafrica.co.za/ which have since been removed or made unavailable to the public. Acer Africa has been the #IWPA or iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authorities preferred environmental consulting company for a number of years.

The IWPA and associates have many nasty political tricks that they implement, and their PPP or Public Participation Programs are quite well disguised and often hidden from the public through disingenuous tricks and sneaky public perception management strategies.

The current situation where they (IWPA and associates) hold impromptu road blocks and search vehicles for alcoholic beverages when en-route the the local St. Lucia beaches    is also an emotional issue as most South Africans appreciate a beer with their braai.  when this is a problem then the South African Tourists tend to pack up and leave town.  

This attack on our rights to enjoy a beer with a braai is quite a big thing from a tourism perspective, as it chases the lo0cal and domestic tourist out of town.  In the past (pre 2002) this was the main stay of all tourism in St. Lucia with international visitors being very few and far between.  The IWPA decided for us that we should no longer welcome South African folks, but focus on international tourism.

If you take your time and evaluate the OCCASIONAL PAPER 20  (link above) you will soon see that more than 20 000 folks lost their economic opportunities due to the knock on impact of South African Folks no longer feeling welcome within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage site.

these economic  losses are huge,  and have never been fully disclosed to the public at any PPPM or Public Participation Process Meeting.held by the IWPA.  WE will soon be challenging this, as the original ROD (Record of Decision)  clearly stipulates that this must happen.  there is supposewd to be an annual review which the minister gets.  this annual review is supposed to (at least in my mind) go through a public participation process in terms of the this ROD but we as the public are left in the dark and fed the biggest pile of hog wash in show and tell meetings that are meant to be Public Participation Process Meetings.

This will soon be a topic of discussion t the Mtubatuba Locla Municipality RDP process, and cause many red faces and lots of  political posturing.  The St. Lucia tourism folks need to brace themselves for the fall out from these political posturing moves and the public reaction that will follow.

WE as the public will soon be requesting an explanation from the new minister of tourism.... asking for the economic costs incurred to enforce the 4x4 Ban including the cost of lost tourism.

this will cause many problems and open the can of worms, spilling them on the dinner table while the guests are eating ....

We can expect some strange reactions from the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority and the Minister, as this is a big problem where the local community of the St. Lucia area ;ost more than 20 000 jobs due to government attitude. 

Which way the Mtubatuba Local municipality will react is an open question, as these are all new councilors, with none of those who were in power way back in 2000 still being in power....

Frankie2socks is in town....

There is so much documentation out there discussing the NEGATIVE ECONOMIC impacts of the 4x4 ban, but it appears that these have not been read by the folks on the ground within the #ISIMANGALISO wetland park and surrounding rural areas of Umkhanyakude district municipality.

What to do, and how to get folks on the ground, who have suffered  the losses associated with the absense of the #DOMRSTICTOURIST from the tourism mix within the #ISIMANGALISO wetland Park, involved in putting pressure on the Mtubatuba local municipality to address the issues around domrstic and local tourism.

Currently (May / June  2017 ) there have been very few local tourist (Empamgeni, Ricbay, Durban nrwcastle Vrheid ladysmithaand other nearby areas)  visiting  over weekends and this impact is being felt all thebway from the N2 to within Cape Vidal, Mapelane, Kozi Bay, St. Lucia and Sodwana bay.)


Please sign our  PETITION  requesting a public mandate to address these issues 

A report from the #IWPA discussing tourism numbers

This report needs to be in the public domain, and we as recreational beach users need to ask why these issues were never addressed.

Socio-Economic Effects of the Ban on 4x4
Beach Driving on Residents Neighbouring
the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park

SEED UNIT

REPORT BY

Gordon Fakude, Bronwyn James and Sikhumbuzo Gumede

SR SEED

#4X4BAN   #FRANKIE2SOCKS 

Well I have been inactive here for some time due to the difficulty  in some body to assist financially

That has been partiality  solved, so I am about to pick up the pave and add some really serious pressure onto the topic and take it to the next level.

I have put a GOOGLE PLUS COLLECTION in place and will be adding stuff from all over the place in there.  I would also like your feed back, so please leave comments and ask questions.
https://plus.google.com/collection/s6fzNE

#4X4BAN  #FRANKIE2SOCKS

Issues with the IWPA and their PPP (IWPAPPP)

I was in St. Lucia along the Elephant Coast of KZN South Africa for a few days from Wednesday 24 September 2014 to Saturday 27 September 2014 to visit the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the Elephant coast to go fishing with a few friends.  We had a great trip, even though there was no water in the town, as there is an issue with the municipal water supply in the area, which is apparently politically motivated, but we were not there long enough to get to the bottom of the issue.

Read about the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority public participation procedure meetings where this issue should be addressed and solved, but has  not been evaluated yet

WE stayed at a spot called BUDGET BACKPACKERS and they had a 5000 liter JOJO tank which they kept full,  so we had water to shower and clean, as well as flush the toilets.  We were rationed with water and the showers were only turned on for one hour in the morning, and one hour in the evening.

During our stay in St. Lucia I met up with many old friends, as I used to live in Mtubatuba which is just 25 Km to the west of St. Lucia, and many of those who I met up with asked why I had abandoned my fight with the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority) around the 4x4 ban issue and the many job losses associated with this.  Well this fight caused me many economic losses and cost me an awful lot more than most will realise, and is one of the primary reasons why my business went bankrupt, along with many others who were dependent on the local tourism industry along the Elephant Coast of KZN South Africa as a knock on impact of the 4x4 ban.

Unfortunately my business was very informal, and I never kept any records, at that time in my life I also had a DRINKING PROBLEM, and spent an awful lot more money in the pubs than I should have.  I used to make and sell a CHILLI PASTE that was marketed under the brand name of FRANCO's HOTSTUFF which was quite well known by locals and domestic tourists within the area.  I would never leave home without a bottle or twenty and sell these during the day and spend the money on beers or what ever took my fancy.

 At one stage I had three women working for me who cleaned chillies, peeled onions and garlic as well as ginger and other ingredients for my chilli paste.  I would spend a few days at home cooking and preparing so that these three women who did all the dirty work could be managed and understand what they needed to do for the next few days, as when I went out DRINKING,  I sometimes stayed away for a week or more, and only popped in to the house to catch a splash (TAKE A SHOWER) get some fresh supplies of chilli paste and a change of clothes.

During those years life within the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park was like living in paradise. The domestic tourists who frequented the Elephant Coast Beaches spent large sums of money on arts and crafts and in the local pubs, restaurants and shops, but this was a short lived issue, as the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority) took a very dim view of domestic tourists and started calling them visitors, instead of tourists.  The IWPA also made things increasingly difficult for the domestic tourist to enjoy the wetland park, and supported the closure of all the beaches within the  park in terms of the 4x4 ban, and have done nothing to alleviate the huge loss of jobs and associated revenue caused by the fact that the domestic tourism market had a partial collapse, where KZN tourism estimated that 20 000 or more people lost their economic opportunities within the St. Lucia region. see http://bit.ly/ocasionalpaper20

I left the Mtubatuba area in 2010  and have since then not been that active in the fight to open the Elephant coast beaches to reasonable motor vehicle traffic.  There has been a call by some to get me back into this fight, but i am not willing to step into this fight untill such time as I get a public mandate and proper support from the ARBU (Association of Recreational Beach Users) to this end I have established a petition with the AVAAST community and would appreciate it if you took the time and effort to sign that petition, as well as s hare it with your friends, your customers and your online audience.

AVAAZ Community petitions

Once there are enough signatures on this petition I will truly pick up the fight and put pressure on the IWPA to come clean and do what needs to be done to fix the issues associated with the 4x4 ban.  These are difficult issues that have many thorny aspects that most are afraid of tackling due to the divisions within the public on the 4x4 ban issue which is as a result of the pressures of the mining industry on theSouth African Government to get mining permits for the area between Cape St. Lucia Light House and the Mozambique border at Kozi bay.

This in itself is another controversial issue that needs to be addressed with the idea that the rehabilitation of the land after mining is the primary issue.  The area is already in great ecological distress from poor management of the environment for a number of decades, and  lake St. Lucia is no longer  functioning as the fish breeding grounds that it was once world famous for.  Global warming and changing rainfall pattens as well as the poor agricultural management of the catchment area are issues that need to be mitigated and some form of relief for the past damages as associated with the drought in the late 1950's and the subsequent floods in 1963 which caused major disruptions in the ecological functioning of lake St. Lucia and the St. Lucia estuary system.  In the late 1960's there was an opportunity to dredge the lake back to its former glory, as the Dutch government had made some offers to assist in this regard, but politics got in the way and this project (DREDGING THE LAKE) was shelved, and forgotten.

These issues are still with us and are now even more vital to fix.  The only way that this will happen is if these issues are addressed at the mandated public participation process meetings, which the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority) has been mandated to conduct in terms of the NEMA (National Environmental Management Act) and its subservient legislation such as the ICMA (Integrated Coastal Management Act) and the  ROD that closed all the south African beaches to motor vehicle driving, and many others.  The IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority) has also been mandated by the MSA or Municipal Systems act to have zoning maps and related issues in place, all of which have mandated Public participation process procedures that need to be done during the implementation phases of these laws and associated legislation.

I have personally had great difficulty in discovering when and where these PPPM's (Public Participation Process Meetings)  will be held, and have sent email to the registered email address for he IWPA as per their web site and other official publications and had a ZERO response from them.  these emails are available upon request, and are my leverage when it comes to going to court because the IWPA have failed to implement the law, and the subsequent court cases that will be following in the not to distant future, as I have intentions of pushing these issues untill the courts either force the IWPA to comply, or the IWPA is replaced by a competent organisation that will run the IWP (iSimangaliso Wetland Park) as is deemed appropriate by the WHC (world heritage Council) at the UN (United Nations)

.

Your moral support is required for us to proceed.

During our stay within the St. Lucia region we also learned that there were very serious allegations of further mismanagement of the esturay, when the IWPA dug a trench which linked the Umfolozi River mouth to the Lake St. Lucia Estuary, which has since silted up and closed up further due to wind erosion which has made this trench ineffective and meaningless in terms of water management within the lake St. Lucia water systems.

There will be a follow up post discussing this just as soon as I am able to confirm things and have spoken to the sponsors of this action.

We as the ARBU managment require your input and you may send email to us at arbu@info4u.co.za

If you have any information that may shed extra light on these allegations of mismanagement of the St. Lucia water flow issues, please forward them to us at arbu@info4u.co.za or see our Google plus page 

this is part of the 4u2gofishing project which uses the hashtag #4u2gofishing

Time for action.. Either do this or loose out for ever!

BACK GROUND

The 4x4 ban or the closure of the all beaches within the coastal zones of South Africa to reasonable motor vehicle access in terms of legislation  associated with the NEMA (National Environmental Management Act) has had a very negative impact on domestic tourism along the entire coastal belt of South Africa.

Some areas have had bigger losses than others, and the rural areas along the entire Coastline of South Africa have been in the forefront of these very substantial impacts with many thousands of economic opportunities (read jobs) being shed due to exceptionally low domestic tourism numbers along the South African coastal belt.  

This blog is in place to discuss these losses and an action plan to restore a portion of these lost economic opportunities by establishing some  recreational tourism access to the remote beaches of the the Elephant cost of KZN South Africa through following the procedures laid out in the ICMA (Integrated Coastal Management Act) and the MSA (Municipal Systems Act) as well as the NEMA (National Environmental Management Act) and associated legislation, including the ROD (Record of decision) which was taken to close the elephant Coast beaches to reasonable recreational vehicle access.

This is a very tall order, and the last time I got involved in this, I had extreme issues in getting the public to attend mandated meetings such as PPP (Public Participation Process) meetings and local municipality Integrated development plan Public Representative Forum meetings.  I ended up loosing the battle, and gave up hope of ever gaining reasonable motor vehicle access to my favourite recreation fishing grounds along the elephant coast of KZN South Africa.

Since December 2013  I have been recieving emails and phone calls asking me to take up this issue again.  I have been tempted, and refused quite a few times, but the call of those great fishing spots, that can only be reached by driving down the beach or walking more than 8 Km along the beach is just too great.  I miss those fishing trips, and would simply love to go there again, with my friends.

The reaction of the south African public to the 4x4 ban came as a surprise to many, and the fact that the South African population shunned the remote beaches of South Africa had many unwanted and surprisingly negative impacts, to both  the financial and natural environments.  I will be talking about the Elephant Coast here  because that is the area where I have personal experience, but other rural coastal areas have the same and similar issues with both the natural environment and the socio-economic environments.

The socio-economic effects are easily seen, and many of those who relied on the domestic tourism market for their income are now living off the fat of the land, and causing environmental degradation within the entire Umkhanyakude district Municipality, as the friends, family and colleges of  those who come to the Elephant Coast for their fishing holiday are now putting up great resistance to the idea of walking great distances down the beaches, and have thus forced a change in coastal tourism dynamics.

These very serious drops in the domestic tourism numbers are a very large concern to us as the Association Of Recreational beach users, as this impacts on our members coastal experiences.  This mass stay away has caused manybusinesses within the DOMESTIC TOURISM MARKET to close up shop,  and those that remained have not been doing very well at all,  with many becoming bankrupt and their employees finding them selves destitute. 

It has been alleged that the camp sites at Mapelane in the extreme South East corner of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park lost more than 90 % of their annual turn over, and the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority) has refused to discuss this at the Mtubatuba Local Municipality Integrated Development Plan Public Representatives Forum  meetings as well as at Mandated PPP (Public Participation Process) meetings in terms of the 4x4 ban and associated laws and legislation.

The laws and legislation have been written in a people friendly way, and the South African Constitution gives us the rights in chapter 2, section 24, but the people need to take up the issue and attend the mandated meetings in sufficient numbers to force the issue at local municipality IDP level, where these matters are supposed to be addressed in terms of various different laws and associated legislation. 

Those who are not following their public mandates in terms of the various acts and associated legislation must either be removed from office or forced  fix the issues according to the laws in place.

I am once again taking up the issue, and request your help in the form of a mandate. click this link to see our petition and then if you agree, give us your mandate by signing the petition.

public rights in terms of the Integrated Coastal managment act

we need some moral support from the public  see http://bit.ly/4x4ban-petition

When discussing the 4x4 ban and its negative implications for the Elephant Coast Tourism Industry I am often confronted with the question "what right do you have to challenge the 4x4 ban?"

We need to confirm these negative implications, and I feel the best way to do that is to reference an occasional paper issued by KZN Tourism in 2004  where KZN tourism alleges that more than 20 000, thats right "TWENTY THOUSAND" people lost their jobs as the result of the knock on impacts of the 4x4 ban.

we need some moral support from the public  see http://bit.ly/4x4ban-petition

Next we need to do an insitu evaluation of the folks who lost their economic opportunities, and what they can do to mitigate their situation.  The vast majority of the 20 000 plus people who become indigent due to the knock on impacts of the 4x4 ban come from the local indigenous Zulu / Tsonga people who relied a great deal on the tourism trade associated with recreational use of the Elephant Coast beaches. Many within this sector were associated with the arts and crafts industry, in one of the following areas:
a) collection and gathering of relevant raw materials for the manufacture and distribution of local arts and crafts industry
b) the actual manufacture of the arts and crafts
c) sales and distribution of locally produced arts and crafts

we need some moral support from the public  see http://bit.ly/4x4ban-petition

The next sector where there were big losses is those who provided tourism services and labor to the tourism sector.  Here we are talking of :
a) waiters, and other staff  at restaurants
b) maids and cleaning crews at lodges,B+B's , self catering establishments, camp sites,  hotels and guest houses
c) Gilly's, boat crews,  divers assistants, Tour guides,  drivers, gardeners and other official laborers
d) shop assistants, petrol attendants, front end staff, and managers of tourism businesses.

So you may ask how did the 4x4 ban cause these losses? and you would have a very valid question that is easily explained, though the explanation is complex, and has many strangely related issues. Tthe basics is that those who used to come along with the fisher folk for an outing  suddenly were asked to walk great distances to preferred fishing spots, and they rebelled against this idea, as they were along for the experience, and were not into the serious walking issue that they were suddenly confronted with.

we need some moral support from the public  see http://bit.ly/4x4ban-petition

Simple solution, these tourists who were just along for he ride suddenly disappeared off of the Elephant Coast Tourism industry's radar, along with their vast spending power as tourists or weekenders . This did not just impact on one or two areas, but was wide spread over the entire South African coastline.  Some areas were affected more than others, but I can only speak for the Elephant Coast, as I lived in the town of Mtubatuba during this time period where the Elephant Coast Tourism Industry had a very serious collapse, with the resort of Mapelane allegedly loosing more than 95 % of their annual turnover.

These statistics can easily be confirmed by the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority (IWPA) as  they are the legal successors of the GSLWPA (Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park Authority) who is the South African Government body appointed to manage the iSimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage Park World Heritage Site which includes the Elephant Coast of KZN south Africa within the Umkhanyakude district Municipality.

we need some moral support from the public  see http://bit.ly/4x4ban-petition

Exactly how many would be recreational beach users stopped visiting the Elephant Coast is still a mystery, even after there were numerous government studies done, which were submitted to parliament, but never discussed at local municipality level, as well as the many PPP (Public Participation Process) meetings for the IWPA IMP (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority Integrated Management Plan) and the IWPA submissions in terms of ROD a25/7/8/3/2/4 or the 4x4 ban in both sections A (6) as well as B (6) which would need to be conducted in terms of the National Environmental Management Act  (NEMA)  and associated legislation.

So we have established that in our opinion the 4x4 ban has caused a serious and very negative economic impact within the Elephant Coast of KZN South Africa. The exact size of these losses has never been discussed within the Mtubatuba local municipality during any of their annual reviews of the Mtubatuba Local Municipality Integrated Development Plan Public Representatives Forum meetings, nor at any of the WPA IMP PPP meetings.

we need some moral support from the public  see http://bit.ly/4x4ban-petition

What to do now?

Firsts we need some moral support from the public  see http://bit.ly/4x4ban-petition

next we need to attend the Mtubatuba IDP PRF meetings and present this petition along with some requests for inclusion of issues into the Mtubatuba Local Municipality IDP.

During the last few weeks starting in late October 2013 many people have been asking me to get involved in these issues once more, and I really would love to go fishing along the Elephant Coast of KZN in comfort and style, so I have opted to take up the issue as requested.

So from Jan 2014 you will start seeing  and hearing more about the ARBU and its related efforts to have the Elephant Coast tourism issues addressed at the correct political levels including the local municipality IDP and its subsequent elevation to the provincial legislature then the national legislature.

we need some moral support from the public  see http://bit.ly/4x4ban-petition

ARBU seeks a mandate - south coast live

The ARBU or Association of recreational Beach Users needs a public mandate and is thus advertising all over the place requesting the public to take a look at our mandate request

The South Coast of KZN  South Africa has a marketing platform at http://southcoastlive.co.za and the ARBU has opted to use this platform, amongst many others.

You can see our social request for your mandate  here

to read the latest request by the minister for comment on the 4x4 ban issue see this page

This new draft legislation is not that vastly different from the current legislation, and it still has no clauses for public access to the Elephant Coast beaches, and no mention is made of the vast job losses associated with this legislation as in this report by KZN Tourism

These issues are very complicated and the government is trying to side step many thorny issues which include

• lost economic opportunities  as a result of the 4x4 ban
• environmental impacts of the 4x4 ban on the IWP (iSimangaliso Wetland Park)
• the tourism impact of the 4x4 ban on the domestic tourism market of the Elephant Coast
• non compliance of the ICMA by the minister of Environmental affairs
• non compliance of the ICMA by the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority)
• Inability of the local municipalities within Umkhanyakude district municipality to comply with the ICMA as a result of the non co-operation of the IWPA (iSimangaliso wetland Park)

ICMA = Integrated Coastal Management Act   act no 24 vof 2008

We will be looking a bit deeper into these matters and be posting more indepth posts soon.  in the mean time we still need your mandate

If you do decide to sign our mandate with AVAAZ.ORG thrn please also ask others to do the same. the more signatures we get the better the influence your mandate will have when we need to use it at public meetings and in our court applications.

many thanx for reading, please comment and ask others to visit our pages to.

ARBU requests minister to attend Mtubatuba IDP

The issues around the 4x4 ban and lost economic opportunities within the Elephant Coast region and the Mtubatuba local municipality have never been discussed at the Mtubatuba local municipality Integrated Development Plan Public Representatives Forum and the Management of the Association of Recreational Beach Users feel that this issue needs to be addressed so that everybody can be on the same page, and those who have been playing by unknown rules can be held accountable by the current rules and regulations just like everybody else.

To achieve this we have sent a request to the Ministers office requesting that the minister attend the Mtubatuba Local Municipality Integrated Development Plan Public Representatives Forum and inform the Mtubatuba residents of  the steps that the minister is taking to ensure that the ICMA (Integrated Coastal Management Act) is indeed being applied within the coastal zones of the Mtubatuba Municipality.

The IWPA or iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority has been appointed by the minister to act as the custodian of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park world heritage site, as per legislation connected with the world heritage convention act,  and as such is the responsible authority to ensure that the zoning and zoning maps for the areas under their control are kept up to date and made available to the public through the Mtubatuba Municipality's LUMS (Land Use Management System) for the areas that fall within the Mtubatuba local municipality, and at other local municipalities within the Umkhanyakude district municipality where the IWP WHS (iSimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage Site) falls within their jurisdiction.

The IWPA have neglected to do this, or I should rather rephrase that to read OBJECTED to perform these duties as they have been mandated to by various acts and associated legislation. The ARBU (Association of Recreational Beach Users) has been trying for many years to get the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority) to conform with these laws and regulations through the channels as laid out in the rules for the local municipality's Integrated Development Plan strategies, but failed miserably due to the attitude and dirty tricks tactics of the IWPA management.

It has thus become time to take drastic action and request that the minister intervene. below is a copy of our correspondence to Mrs. Elsebe Peens who works in the ministers office, and her acknowledgement of receipt for our request.

our message sent...

Frank Gainsford <admin@info4u.co.za>

Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 6:57 PM

To: peens@dwa.gov.za

Cc: pretpeppie <pretpeppie@vodamail.co.za>, Petrus Viviers <petrusviv@gmail.com>, Frans van der Walt <frans@qs2000plus.co.za>

My reff = IDP PRF / mtuba  / June 2013 email sent to  peens@dwa.gov.za as requested by members. / also published to blog http://4x4ban.blogspot.com/ Attention  / action : Minister of Environmental Affairs : Me. Edna Molewa all others FYI - (please forward to those concerned in your contacts lists) Fishing issues, the 4x4 ban and lake St. Lucia as breeding ground for many fish species. The ARBU or Association of recreational users has been requested to take action and help the residents of St. Lucia in the Mtubatuba local municipality, of the Umkhanyakude district municipality in KZN  in their efforts to bring the mismanagement of the lake St. Lucia to the attention of the minister, and request that the minister address their concerns through personal attendance of the Mtubatuba Local Municipality's IDP PRF  (Integrated Development Plan Public Representatives Forum) process, where an explanation of a few different items would be required to be discussed. These items are all directly connected to the tourism potential of the Elephant Coast as a whole, and the Mtubatuba Municipality in particular. Part 1 the 4x4 ban ( http://www.zulu.org.za/userfiles/1/file/ForIvestorandResearcher/Research/Occ%20Papers%20PDFs/Occ%20paper%2020%20Legislation%20on%20the%20Use%20of%204X4%27s%20on%20Beaches%20.pdf ) 1) the serious economic losses associated with the drop in domestic tourism numbers caused by the 4x4 ban has never been addressed at the Mtubatuba Local municipality Integrated Development plan, where all zoning matters are supposed to be addressed as is mandated in the 1) Municipal systems act 2) the NEMA (national environmental management act) 3) the ICMA (Integrated Coastal Management Act) 4) other related legislation This implies that the zoning of the coastal recreational use areas as practiced and implemented by the IWPA (iSimanagliso wetland park Authority)  are in practice illegal. The minister is mandated  by the ICMA (Integrated Coastal Management Act) to bring the changes made by the minister (or his appointed agents) in terms of the NEMA  (National Environmental Management Act) and associated 4x4 ban  legislation  to the attention of the local municipality and have these changes introduced to the local Municipalities LUMS (land use management system ) and the appropriate zones to be reflected in the local municipalities maps once these changes have been accepted and processed as per the appropriate legislation. It must be noted that when a zoning issue is brought before the court, the only zoning that is valid is the current zoning as reflected in the specified local Municipality's zoning maps at the time of the contravention or alleged contravention.  If these zones have not been  not accepted by the identified local municipality's IDP PRF as per the mandated procedures in the relevant acts they are not valid and may be contested in court, and the ministers point of view will thus be moot and thrown out of evidence. The IWPA ( iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority) has never participated in these procedures to have their zones included in any municipal maps at the Mtubatuba local municipality  IDP PRF  level, and the minister has not sent a Representative to the Mtubatuba local Municipality  IDP PRF to have these issues addressed. This introduction of the ministers changes to the Mtubatuba local municipality's zoning maps has thus not been done, and we request that this be addressed in the current IDP review process. This request does not come lightly, and we are currently evaluating the possibility of taking legal action against the minister, and her appointees,  for failure to perform oversight in regards to these issues. Part 2 fish stocks It has come to the attention of the Association of Recreational Reach Users that our membership base has been accused of over fishing the Elephant Coast during many different discussions with a wide variety of the public and their different associations, around the 4x4 ban issue. This is an insult and very far from the truth. The fact that the breeding grounds of many fish species is mismanaged by the IWPA (iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority) is never brought up and we as the ARBU (Association of Recreational Beach Users) feel that it is time that the minister came to the Mtubatuba Local Municipality IDP PRF (Integrated Development plan Public Representatives Forum) and discuss these issues in detail so that the Mtubatuba Municipality may make the appropriate requests for government assistance, as well as assistance from the United Nations and other international sources to address these ultra important issues in the correct forums, as the IWPA has blatantly refused to do so after many direct requests at the Mtubatuba Local municipality Integrated development plan public representatives forum by my self personally as CEO of Info4u and a founding member of the Association of Recreational Beach Users, as well as numerous others who have tourism issues along the Elephant Coast of KZN South Africa as a concern. The records of the Mtubatuba Local Municipality Integrated Development Plan Public Representatives forum will reflect the many times that I have personally requested the IWPA  to take up the issues of the 4x4 ban and related economic impacts of low tourism numbers as well as the poor ecological management of lake St. Lucia and this impact on tourism numbers to the Elephant Coast. Issues that need to be addressed with urgency are listed here. There are many other issues that need to be addressed, but they are in our opinion not as urgent  as these matters listed below 1) the levels of DDT in Lake St. Lucia with associated toxicology reports as a direct result of the Anti malaria campaign introduced by the past minister Mr. Vali Musa 2)  Water flow issues as a result of the restrictions imposed by man made structures, and the IWPA dredging spoil dumps as well as  other related actions including filling of the back channels with building rubble by the IWPA along  and within the St. Lucia Estuary delta , with a focus on the bridge as one enters the town of St. Lucia 3) the silting up of Lake St. Lucia following the 1963 floods and the subsequent actions taken by all authorities since then to address the problems of declining fish stocks as a result of the massive damage to the ecosystem 4) the current custodians of lake St. Lucia (the iSimangaliso Wetland Park) and their refusal to follow instructions as mandated in the many laws and associated legislation which mandate them to hold Public Participation meetings and give feed back to the public through the appropriate channels such as the local municipality Integrated Development Plan Public Representatives Forums. The Ministers  input and attendance of the Mtubatuba Local Municipality's IDP PRF would be highly appreciated, and have a very large impact on the ability of the Mtubatuba Local Municipality to solve some of the problems or at least mitigate against the issues relating to the 4x4 ban and the mismanagement of lake St. Lucia by the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority with the related impacts of these actions on the domestic and foreign tourism trade flow patterns, and the job losses associated with this poor management practices of the IWPA. Regards Frank Frank Gainsford   http://social.me/info4u2use phone - office hours 039 315 1555 Founding Member of the association of recreational Beach users. www.arbu.info4u.co.za -- Contact Info4u <http://www.info4u.co.za> for your internet based information Technology queries! We  help small businesses get their information in the cloud. cloud-computing made simple<https://sites.google.com/a/info4u.co.za/cloud-computing/> admin@info4u.co.za 072 - 505 - 5111

Her reply 

RE: Request minister of Environmental affairs to attend the Mtubatuba IDP - - RE: 4 X 4 ban and St. Lucia as breeding ground for many fish species - from The Association of Recreational Beach Users

Peens Elsabé <PeensE@dwa.gov.za>	Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 3:50 PM
To: Frank Gainsford <admin@info4u.co.za>
Cc: pretpeppie <pretpeppie@vodamail.co.za>, Lebogang Mphuthi <Lmphuthi@environment.gov.za>, Seoloane Lincoln <SeoloaneL@dwa.gov.za>
Dear Mr Gainsford On behalf of the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Mrs B E E Molewa, MP, I hereby acknowledge receipt of your electronic letter with reference IDP PRF / MTUBA June 2013 dated 11 June 2013, in the above regard. The content has been noted and will be brought to the attention of the Minister. Sincere regards Elsabe Office of the Minister Ministry of Water and Environmental Affairs Sedibeng Building, PRETORIA Tel : +27 12 336 8888 Fax : +27 12 336 7817 Cell:  083 266 9351 email: peense@dwa.gov.za