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

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 

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.

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