Mpumalanga Wetland Forum Minutes of the Meeting Held: 19 August 2011, 10h00 Venue: Committee Room 2, Witbank Civic Theatre, Emalahleni

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he Meeting Held: 19 August 2011, 10h00 Venue: Committee Room 2, Witbank Civic Theatre, Emalahleni 1. Welcome welcomed everybody present and thanked everyone for attending.

1 he Meeting Held: 19 August 2011, 10h00 Venue: Committee Room 2, Witbank Civic Theatre, Emalahleni 1. Welcome welcomed everybody present and thanked everyone for attending. mentioned that quite a few colleagues are attending the important RMDEC meeting in Dullstroom at the same time. 2. Attendance 2.1 Present See attendance register. A round of introductions was made. 2.2 Apologies Pinky Monyela DWA Peter Ardene - YWG Richard Green DAFF Michelle Hiestermann -MWP Pat Martinson Friends of Witbank NR Andrew Husted Digby Wells Norman Hayton Friends of Witbank NR Shivambu Murhandziwani Glenn Ramke EWT Hein Geldenhuys -Dedet Don Cater Eastern Wetland Rehabilitation Love Shabane -DoA Diketso Khaile ICMA Thya Pather -DWA Kerryn Morrison - EWT Anton Linstrom - WetEarth Namhla Mbona - SANBI Kristi Garland Birdlife SA 3. Acceptance of Agenda The agenda was accepted subject to the following changes: Additions: 5.5. MWF Awareness & Education Working Group 5.6 MWF Monitoring & Compliance Working Group 5.7 MWF Wetland Inventory Working Group 9.3 Exxaro Arnot Mooifontein Public Participation Meeting Announcement Altered agenda accepted. 4. Minutes of Previous Meeting 4.1 Acceptance of Minutes of Previous Meeting Minutes accepted without change. 4.2 Action Items Actions arising from the minutes: 1. The updating of the database is ongoing. Members leaving the Forum should inform in order for him to remove their details from the database.

2 2. Contributions to the MWF newsletter are ongoing. Anyone wishing to contribute should contact. 3. Use of the MWF banners by Forum members remains ongoing. Should any forum member wish to use the MWF banners please contact. 4. to continue to identify and target specific stakeholders to attend the MWF meetings. 5. to follow up with Tania Henning regarding the WWD 2011 Attendance Register. 6. All MWF members to please register on the Wetland Portal of SA Discussion Forum. 7. Don Cater to look through MWF books and report findings back to the MWF Treasurer before the AGM. 8. MWF bank details to be included in the newsletter and the webpage. 9. MWF to contribute to the National Prosecuting Authorities Newsletter. Information on case law was received from Altus Lotter. 10. Department of Education is continuing with an audit/survey of schools that have a wetland on their property and/or neighbours a wetland. Charlotte Nkosi requested assistance for the educators as well as education officials from the department in order to understand and manage the wetlands. 11. Ronell Niemand to send Michelle Hiestermann the details for the Chrissiesmeer municipality for the purpose of organising a workshop with the local municipality of the Chrissiesmeer/Steenkampsberg area due to the current stewardship and Ramsar work. Ronell Niemand also suggested Michelle Hiestermann contact the Social Ecology department of the MTPA. Ronell Niemand to send contact details to Michelle Hiestermann. 12. Hannes Marais from MTPA has developed a comprehensive field form that is compatible with the NWI field form. Hannes Marais to send the form to Gavin Cowden and André Beetge. 13. Charlotte Nkosi to liaise with André Beetge, co-ordinator of the MWF Wetland Inventory Working Group as to how to capture data from her school audit/survey and how this can contribute to the database. 14. will continue to ask for assistance with regard to the organising, hosting, sponsoring and general ideas with regard to the MWF 10 Year Anniversary Celebrations. 15. According to Charlotte Nkosi there is a large environmental career guidance gap in schools in Mpumalanga and perhaps the WG could assist with identifying bursaries, internships and skills development programmes. Charlotte Nkosi to compile an regarding the latter for the MWF Chairman to circulate to all MWF members. 16. Ursula Franke to register the MWF as and I&AP for mining applications. 17. MWF members to please send through all EIAs received to Ursula Franke (ursulaf@ewt.co.za) and copy. Should you know if the EIA falls within a sensitive area please flag this for Ursula Franke and with valid reasons why. 18. All comments/objections for the EIA of the William Patrick Bower sand mining to be submitted by 29 August. Ursula Franke to follow up with the consultants Don Cater & Paul Meulenbeld Charlotte Nkosi Ronell Niemand Hannes Marais, Gavin Cowden & André Beetge Charlotte Nkosi & André Beetge Charlotte Nkosi & Ursula Franke Ursula Franke

3 regarding the licensing of the sand mining operations. 19. The MWF Wetland Inventory Working Group will compile a work plan explaining the links between national and provincial initiatives and the provincial database, future mapping plans and civil society education and awareness raised. The WG will then raise funds for database management. André Beetge to send the work plan summary and funding request for circulation to all MWF members. 20. All members are encouraged to make use of the Wetland Portal of SA. Andre Beetge & Gavin Cowden 5. Feedback 5.1 Mining in Sensitive Areas Workshop () The workshop was organised/hosted by SANBI on 23 May In attendance at the workshop was SANBI staff, external stakeholders and representatives from MTPA, WWF, DWA and DMR. Specific attention was given to the coal mining applications in the Wakkerstroom area focussing on social implications versus environmental implications. When comparing social implications to environmental implications these mining operations will not be sustainable. In the Wakkerstroom area there is a transfer of water from one catchment (Usutu catchment) to another (Vaal catchment). These mining applications constitute a threat to clean water systems especially in terms of Section 49. These proposed mines will operate in the food basket of SA and thus will have a negative effect on food production and food security. See attached report from Ursula Franke for more information regarding the workshop. Members can also contact Dan Sonnenburg (dansonnenburg@gmail.com) for more information. indicated that the EMF for Chrissiesmeer has been completed and the EMF for Wakkerstroom is in the process of being completed. The EMF for a specific area must be taken into consideration when looking at a mining application. It is however not stated that the EMF has to be enforced. Gavin Cowden mentioned that there is an intention by DMR to declare the Chrissiesmeer area a Section 49 area. DMR has asked for public comment for 30 days. Gavin Cowden however has not seen the actual declaration yet. Any information regarding the declaration must please be forwarded to. AgriSA is planning to establish a working group which will look into mining within Mpumalanga. AgriSA s main concern is food security since the province produces 20% of the country s maize. Records show that food production in the province is declining with 5% 6 % per year. suggested that Hennie Laas should mention the SANBI initiative to AgriSA. will forward Dan Sonnenburg s contact details to Hennie. also mentioned that Garth Batchelor is a key stakeholder in terms of this. will follow up and co-ordinate with Dan Sonnenburg, Hennie Laas and Garth Batchelor the way forward in terms of meetings and copies of presentations. Hennie Laas

4 5.2 MWP/MWF Wetland Capacity Building Strategic Planning Workshop (Michelle Hiestermann) Ten members of government attended a Strategic Planning Workshop for Wetland Capacity Building at the DEDET offices in Nelspruit on 8 July The workshop was run by the WESSA/WWF Mondi Wetlands Programme and the aim of the workshop was to discuss the roles and responsibilities that the different institutions have in terms of wetlands, the major wetland issues they are dealing with, to address the contradictions and barriers to learning about wetlands within the institutions and working together to come up with solutions to overcome these barriers and contradictions. The roles and responsibilities of the following institutions were discussed: DWA, ICMA, Department of Education, DEDET and MTPA. The solutions that the team came up with are: Evaluate and audit own needs in relation to work; Human resource management will be told what courses are needed to attend in relation to the budget and personal development plan; Make an effort to use internal resources and in-house wetland knowledge; Improve communication; Wetland forum attendance; Attend site visits and environmental days; Form working groups of authorities; Crocodile and Olifants catchment forums; Develop a contact list with roles; DEDET wetland workshops; Public bulletins from the working groups; Public reporting using the Wetland Portal; and Wetland training. indicated that he will put the report of the workshop, done by Michelle Hiestermann, on the Wetland Portal under Meetings/Documents. This report will then be available to all members. All contact details will also be made available via the Wetland Portal. 5.3 DWA Water Reconcilliation (Resource Economic Study) (Garth Bachelor/DWA) This point is standing over until the next MWF meeting. However, mentioned that the main aim of the study is to attach an economic value to water. A water reconciliation study is being done for the Olifants River. Paul Meulenbeld offered to forward the contact details regarding the study to. Paul Meulenbeld 5.4 Wetlands Portal Update (Marc de Fontaine) Marc de Fontaine mentioned that there has been a surge in usage of the Wetland Portal and a couple of people are actively using it as a discussion platform. The wetland portal is showing stable growth in the number of users on a month to month basis. The current number of active users is not high but it seems as if people are using the portal mainly to have a look at what is happing in terms of wetlands. The target is to get everyone to open the portal site everyday in order to

5 keep track of what is happening and that is not yet the case. The advantage of the portal is that everyone can share information and it can be used as a search engine but that requires participation from everyone. Marc also mentioned that Rhodes University will close its wetland list server which was basically an distribution system. Mark will contact Fred to find out the reasons for the closure. If members are posting topics for discussion on the portal, should be copied so that he is aware of it and it can be highlighted to other members. The portal is also an opportunity to advertise for consultants/service providers of which there is only one advertisement at the moment. 5.5 MWF Awareness & Education Working Group The working group met last week at Ermelo with 5 6 people present. It was the setting up of the working group and priorities, tasks, and actions with dates were identified. Tjaart Booyens is involved with the organising of the provincial Climate Change Summit, held by DEDET. A possible exhibition by MWF at the summit will be done through the working group. will send out the details regarding the summit. 5.6 Monitoring and Compliance Working Group This working group has not met yet. Paul Meulenbeld mentioned that there is a new application for mining in the Belfast area. The mining company has yet to apply for a mining licence as well as a water use licence. A public meeting will be held in Belfast on 29 August at 16:00. Paul indicated that the promotion of the mining of pans is worrying. Koos Pretorius has contact details regarding legal aid and he can be contact if need be. It was agreed that this working group should comment on all mining applications. André Beetge offered to forward the comment documents to. All members are encouraged to submit their comments on the various applications. Ursula Franke should send the application database to which will forward the information to the MWF. Gavin requested input from all members with concrete facts in order for the MWF to make comments on the various applications. Marc de Fontaine André Beetge Ursula Franke An open day for public participation will be held at Mooifontein, Arnot turn-off, on 24 August. DWA sent out a directive to stop all mining at Mooifontein. The water use licence has been withdrawn and Exxaro must provide a rehabilitation plan for the site. Again all members were urged to submit all relevant information regarding mining applications to so that it can be included in the comments from the MWF. It was mentioned that directives are to be issued to the Schoemanskloof landowner by DWA, DAFF and DEA. The landowner was instructed to stop all work at the site. A post was placed on the portal regarding the wetland at Crossings in Nelspruit, but no further information is available regarding that. Reports were also received regarding the draining of a wetland in the Ohrigstad area.

6 The landowner was instructed to appoint a consultant to do a wetland study. This is the same scenario as in Schoemanskloof. These issues again highlight the need for feedback from the various working groups. There are currently huge concern about mining applications and the destruction of wetlands. Members are urged to report any destruction of wetlands and post photos as evidence on the wetland portal after which the discussion site on the portal should be used. 5.7 Wetlands Inventory This working group s main aim is to get wetlands mapped by using the forms of Hannes Marais (MTPA). MTPA wants to create a database for provincial wetlands of which Hannes Marais will be the custodian. Mapping forms should first be send to Hannes Marais and then onto the national database. The working group need to get information from the forestry sector regarding its wetlands and the group should also determine the format in which this information should be requested. Charles Hopkins and Mervyn Lotter has done a lot of work on the database already. A R5 000 donation from a sponsor was received for the database. Early indications are that the mining companies and the forestry industry are willing to share their wetland information. 6. Working for Wetlands Projects 6.1 Update on current projects (André Beetge) Working for Wetlands received its budget from DEA at the end of June and all projects are working at the moment. CoalTech has approved a budget for a project looking into how wetlands can assist with acid mine drainage. CoalTech will provide the funding for the plan and Working for Wetlands will be responsible for the implementation. André Beetge requested information from members on which wetlands should be considered for this project. He suggested that the rehabilitation of existing wetlands and artificial wetlands below the mines should be considered first. 7. Items for Adoption 7.1 None 8. MWF Finances 8.1 Feedback from Treasurer Some funds have been deposited for Kim Webb s farewell. Donations can still be made via bank deposit or cash donation using a form. The form will be circulated by. All donations must be deposited by 31 August. The account closing balance on 18/08/11 was R An amount of R is owed to creditors. Therefore, the projected bank balance on 18/08/2011 is R General 9.1 MWF 10 Year Anniversary/WWD Celebrations 2012 A meeting to be held on 2 September will decide on the venue for the WWD 2012

7 Celebrations. A request was submitted for a proposal from the province. The theme of the WWD is Wetlands and Tourism. It was suggested that Chrissiesmeer would be the best area to host the event due to the tourism in the area and it being a RAMSAR site. The section 49 application for Chrissiesmeer area as well as the Steenkampsberg area also counts in its favour. André Beetge will found out if MWF can do a presentation at the meeting. If Mpumalanga can secure the national event, the provincial and national event will then become one event. volunteered to compile the proposal in order to secure the national event. A suggestion was made to link up with the Mpumalanga Heritage Resources and try and link the venue with a heritage site. The MWF will have to establish a committee which will be responsible for organising the event. It was also suggested that Athol Stark from Ermelo should be contacted regarding additional tourist information about the Chrissiesmeer/Ermelo area. Committee members: André Beetge, Paul Meulenbeld,. will send out an requesting a committee meeting. Marketing materials and sponsorships should also be looked into. André Beetge 9.2 REMINDER Provincial Wetland Forum Survey 2011 A reminder was issued to all members to participate in the survey. The survey form is available on hard copy as well as on-line. The deadline for the submission is 31 August. 10. Date and Venue for the next meeting thanked everyone for their attendance and positive contribution to a successful meeting. The next MWF meeting is scheduled for the 2 December 2011 in Chrissiesmeer. The exact time and venue will communicated at a later date. A planning session will take place in the morning before the AGM meeting thereafter. A year end function in the form of a bring-and-braai will take place after the MWF meeting. will send out an to all members. 11. Site Visit 11.1 Introduction (Johan Combrink) Johan Combrink gave a short introduction on the history of the Witbank Nature Reserve. André Beetge explained the plans for wetland rehabilitation within the nature reserve.

8 he Meeting held on 19 August 2011 ATTENDANCE REGISTER MWF meeting held at Witbank Civic Theatre on Friday 19 August 2011 at 10:00 Name Organisation Telephone Fax No. Portfolio Marc de Fontaine Rand Water Paul Meulenbeld DWA: E&R Emalahleni Local Johan Combrink Municipality Martin Fuwela Xstrata Coal SA Daleen Strydom DEA - Working for Water StrydomD2@dwa.gov.za Aquatic Weeds André Beetge SANBI - Working for Wetlands A.Beetge@sanbi.org.za Rehabilitation Joseph Mabunda ICMA mabundaj@inkomaticma.co.za Sampie Shabangu DWA shabangus2@dwa.gov.za Mlalazi Mthandazo DWA Mlalazim@dwa.gov.za Bongani Mashele SANBI b.mashele@sanbi.org.za Khanyiso Mtolo DEA kmtolo@environment.gov.za EMF Bradley Nethononda DEA bnethononda@environment.gov.za EMF Andiswa Makam DWA: SEA makama@dwa.gov.za RHP Mahlodi Dikgale DWA: SEA DikgaleC2@dwa.gov.za RHP Soko Mthobisi DWA: SEA sokom@dwa.gov.za RHP Hennie Laas Mpumalanga Landbou/Agriculture mp.landbou@mweb.co.za Agriculture MDEDET Gcowden@mpgov.za Policies

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