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ANGRY residents of the Middleburg area have called for Shell to “get out the Karoo” after the company failed to guarantee the security of their water if fracking goes ahead. Addressing Shell representatives at a hall in Middelburg’s Grootfontein Agricultural College in a hall packed with farmers in T-shirts saying “Don’t Frack with our Karoo,” members of the audience asked repeatedly if the multi-national could “guarantee no risk to our water”.
Shell technical expert Tony Cortis eventually responded, “You can’t plan for every eventuality” - and earned a howl of outrage in return.
The meeting was hosted by Shell and their consultant Golder Associates as part of the public participation process to discuss the draft environmental management plan (EMP).
The report was prepared by Golder as part of Shell’s application to explore for shale gas in a 98000ha tract of the Karoo through the western, northern and eastern Cape.
At centrestage is hydraulic fracturing or fracking, the controversial method Shell says it will be using to extract the gas.
Fracking uses up to six million litres of water for each well. Laced with chemicals and other corrosion additives, it is pumped down the drill shaft, then forced at great pressure through apertures in the shaft into the surrounding shale rock bed, which can lie up to 5km below the surface. The shale fractures and releases gas which travels back up a separate shaft to be harvested as a source of electricity.
Golder facilitator Robin Housome began the meeting on a bizarre note by explaining at length to the audience how to get out the hall in an emergency, as their safety was of importance to Golder and Shell. The audience - most of whom it was clear believe Shell’s fracking could cause a real emergency - laughed incredulously.
Attorney Derek Light who is representing 200 landowners and other complainants in the matter said the draft EMP is “not worth the paper it is written on”.
“I have read through 2000 pages but there is no scientific content, no site-specific data, no facts at all, that allow us to weight the risk involved in what is being proposed, that will enable us to comment meaningfully.
“You can dress it up as pretty as you like but it does not tell the story.”
The right to explore that Shell is applying for is an invasive right, so this generic formulation of the draft EMP, around a hypothetical well and desk top studies, is fatally flawed and unlawful in terms of the landowners’ constitutional rights, he said.
Central to the “lack of detail” charge is the refusal of the company to reveal what chemicals it will be using to frack, or from where it will get the huge volumes of water required.
The draft EMP says water source options are municipal waste water, seawater that Shell would bring in by train, waste water from mines or water from dams, rivers or boreholes.
The chemicals’ issue was highlighted in the US documentary Split Estate screened by the farming community before the meeting.
In it, former senior US Environmental Protection Agency environmental engineer Weston Wilson says in an interview some of the chemicals used in the fracking liquid are “toxic to the point of injection”.
The documentary showed interviews with people who describe how their health deteriorated once fracking started near their homes, through water and air pollution. Footage showed rivers bubbling with gas which flared when lit, and how this phenomenon only started when fracking began nearby.
Asked about this, and other horrors described in the Oscar nominated fil Gasland, Cortis said, “there has been pollution.... but this has been the result of faulty installations.”
Asked to explain how the fracked gas will always percolate in a controlled way out the shaft and not through fissures widened by the fracking up into the aquifer - he told The Herald no evidence had ever showed that this could occur.
He confirmed however that not all the chemicals pumped into the ground can be extracted. Asked about the danger of long-term leaching of this fluid into aquifers, he answered once again that no tests had showed that this can occur.
Golder has recommended in its draft EMP that Shell should be allowed to proceed with exploration inclusive of up to 24 wells, but that no production right should be granted until the federal government study into fracking, underway in the US, has produced its results.
Light said it was incomprehensible that Golder could approve fracking in the exploration phase of the Karoo project but urge caution before it is introduced in the production phase.
Asked about this, project leader Brett Baxter told The Herald “stakeholders have expressed a lot of concern specifically around the production phase.
“We did consider how this applied to exploration but felt that with the limited number of wells in this phase plus mitigation measures, it was acceptable.”
A key premise of the anti-fracking lobby is that much of their groundwater is inter-linked and any contamination at even one site could quickly spread.
Donald Smiles MP earned the biggest cheer from the audience when he demanded of the Golder and Shell officials: “are you aware that the people of the Karoo do not want to deal with any risk to their water?
“The water is our treasure. It is our only thing.”
AN online video hoax purporting to show Eastern Cape Premier Noxolo Kieviet in a drunken stupor at an East London sports club has been lambasted by the ANC as an elaborate smear campaign. The amateur video clip which appears to have been captured by a cellphone was first posted on Algoa FMs website on Thursday morning before making its way onto video-sharing website YouTube.
Rhinos take to the skies in massive covert operationTHREE black rhino were darted and airlifted out of the Eastern Cape bush yesterday (March 29 2012) at the start of the biggest sale ever of this critically endangered species. The animals were transported across the Eastern Cape veld, blindfolded and suspended by their feet at the end of a long chain beneath a Super-Huey helicopter, that contracts out at R20000 an hour, and which once flew very different missions in the Vietnam War.
Three more bodies foundANOTHER three bodies believed to be that of the missing rugby players who drowned at Bluewater Bay after being swept out to sea on Sunday have been found by rescue workers. Police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge said that all three bodies were found between St Croix Island and the Coega Harbour. "We are currently busy recovering the bodies and only once the family have identified them will we be able to release their names," he said. The search will continue for the remaining missing body. This comes after police recovery experts yesterday found the body of Anelisa Mbuzeli, 21, floating about 800m from the Port of Ngqura sea wall, near Jaheel Island, at 11.30am.
Taking the plunge for a rhinoSEVEN media personalities took the plunge yesterday (March 28 2012) in honour of Themba the Kariega rhino who died at the weekend, after a vicious poacher assault a month ago. Aided by Skydive PE, they screwed up their courage and jumped out of an aeroplane 3kms above Uitenhage Aerodrome.
Call for bay to be SA's first green cityNELSON Mandela Bay can become South Africa’s first “transition city”, leading from the front to create a brave new model built around low carbon emissions, local economic development and “sustainable livelihoods”. That’s the view of political and social development activist Dr Janet Cherry, who is a lecturer at NMMU and also a leading member of Transition Network PE, one of the organisations that attended the Cop17 climate change summit in Durban in December, and which participated in the Cop17 Feedback Session at city hall last week.
Themba's struggle for life recountedFOLLOWING the death of Themba, veterinarian Dr William Fowlds struggled to hold back tears yesterday as he told 150 schoolboys from Grahamstown's St Andrew's Preparatory how the severely mutilated rhino - “who fought so bravely” to survive - collapsed and drowned in a rock pool at Kariega Game Reserve.
Chinese pair held after mussel bustTWO Chinese nationals have been arrested and a huge haul of 4611 mussels have been seized in a joint bust by department of fisheries officials and the PE flying squad. The bust took place yesterday (March 26 2012) afternoon in the dolosse area opposite North End prison. Mussels are plentiful from east of the harbour all the way to the New Brighton pier.
BBC film on hitman, husbandTHE family of slain bride Anni Dewani is anxiously awaiting the screening of a documentary that is promising to reveal the dealings of her husband and a hired hitman days after her execution-style murder.
Empty promises plague Eastern CapeON the eve of Human Rights Day, Eastern Cape residents have little to celebrate as the province still lags far behind the rest of the country with regard to service delivery in four key areas: water, electricity, sanitation and waste removal. In a recently released study done in 2009 - the latest to date - the province scored well below the national average on these.
Ex-Bay boy Alexander rubs shoulders with starsHE might have been too chicken to actually greet Ryan Reynolds, but former Bay resident Alexander Hart says being part of a big-budget Hollywood film was not a bad way to make a buck.
Woman tells of caring for kidnapped baby's siblingsIN a twist in the case of Dianne Wabanie's abducted newborn baby from Dora Nginza last week, a Gelvandale woman has revealed that the mother had her other two children removed from her care on grounds of alleged neglect.
Abducted newborn found?HEALTH officials believe they have found the newborn baby boy who was stolen from Nelson Mandela Bay mother Dianne Wabanie as she recovered at Dora Nginza Hospital last week after giving birth.
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Janet [28 March 2011 16:21]
I don't believe that there's any way that fracking could be perceived as being viable for the Karoo, or any other area in the world for that matter. It's invasive, water-intensive and highly dangerous, regardless of what might be proposed and said to sugar-coat it. Even a 1/100 chance of contamination of water or air is not acceptable.
Farming in the Karoo, the ecology, the people and the animals all depend on the little bit of water that we have in this area. Our country is already suffering a general scarcity in water resources, it's outrageous to think that we should or would risk our water to support and permit a controversial and dangerous mining method for NON-renewable energy.
The money, resources, time and energy for fracking should be put into exploring renewable energy such as solar and wind energy! The risks of fracking on our water, people's health, and air quality (chemical pollution is ALWAYS a bad thing!!) does not balance out with the short-term benefits that gas mining offers.
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Feiko [26 March 2011 21:56]
I am Dutch and I shame myself for the misbehaviour of Shell in South Africa, Nigeria and other countries. It could possibly help if you let Geenpeace know what happens in the Karoo ([email protected]). Greenpeace fights companies that act in unlawful ways and don't respect the population and the environment. It is a primary Dutch organisation, but it acts world wide. I wish you the best in your struggle for your rights!
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Hennie [26 March 2011 8:49]
Shell, go try and do your fracking in Holland and see what your fellow country men will say - LEAVE OUR SOUTH AFRICA AS IT IS!!!! We will not benifit - only Shell will
Next step boycott Shell...
- Report Abuse
JvO [25 March 2011 18:30]
LEAVE THE KAROO ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is our beautiful country side and home, and to allow shell anywhere near it would be devastating!!!!
"Stop fracking up the karoo"!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Report Abuse
Malcolm [25 March 2011 14:44]
I fully support the suggestion to boycott all Shell products. If they have no regard for the countryside or impact it will have on nature and the inhabitants, why should we contribute to their profits by using Shell.
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Tim [25 March 2011 8:21]
Nooo,we shouldn` boycott Shell unles we are hundred percnt satisfied that ou action will yield the desired results!
How do you boycott a multinational that is JSE listed;global and don`t depend on ordinary people for business.
What should have happened and should happen now is for the constitutionalisation of corporacy to which this is what any new government will tell you that your first priority is to drag corporacy into your constitution,or semantics or ideologies! If that would have been th case thn Shell woul have followed the law in its bid!
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Mark [24 March 2011 16:41]
I think that everyone in South Africa and indeed worldwide should boycott Shell garages if they insist on carrying on with this destructive fracking which will destroy the water table of our beautiful Karoo.
Lets hit them in their pockets because that appears to be the only language that they understand.
- Report Abuse
jseus [24 March 2011 13:13]
go home greedy yankee doodle doo.
when the sh@t hits the fan they will be nowhere to be seen just like in wall street with the housing pyramid.
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Werner du Plessis [24 March 2011 11:34]
Shell, or any other company, that really believe themselves when they say the following :
1. Fracking would not leave a permanent scar in the area they mine.
2. Fracking would not bring risks into the area that WAS NOT THERE BEFORE.
3. They would leave the area a better place when they're finished.
4. They will help the farmers in the area to deal with losses that occured as result of fracking.
THEY LIE!
The so-called benefit for the community and job creation should also be looked at, everyone claims that jobs will be created if they need permission to start something, but how longterm will it be and what happens to people when they stop the projects. People will be brought into the area if locals can't provide enough labour, these people will be left in squatter camps outside towns when the "frackers" leave, who will be responsable for this?
I can go on for hours, point is : If you can't assure that the "benefits" you bring will make a longterm contribution in the area and its inheritance, STAY OUT!
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Dr C Pretorius [22 March 2011 19:55]
Like all neo-colonialists, Shell will strip our country of it's beauty and leave nothing, except for the 'black whitemen's' stuffed pockets.
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Greyscale [22 March 2011 12:36]
"can't plan for every eventuality"? The karoo doesn't have much water to begin with and now they want to tamper with that without planning for 'every eventuality? This is disgusting!!! Leave the Karoo alone!
- Report Abuse
ANOTHER knife attack has occurred at Arlington Waste Disposal Site. The attack, which took place on Saturday afternoon, comes amid calls by the DA for an investigation into the chaotic state of the site and questionable swopping of contractors.
Schoenies otter takes fishing lessonsIT’S one of the iconic wild animals of the metro’s open spaces, but it’s not often seen - certainly not clambering onto the rocks right under your feet. But that was the experience of fishing buddies Gavin Curtis and Stuart Duckenfield who were trying their luck with light tackle and pilchards at Schoenies yesterday (August 10 2011).
Cause and effect of climate change explainedSO HOW to communicate the complexity and magnitude of climate change to youngsters from a little school in Zwide? The kids, in grades six and seven at Mzimhlophe Primary School, were given the answer to this question during their visit to the SA Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre (Samrec) yesterday (August 03 2011).
R1.5-million farming venture will fit Eastern Cape to a teaTHE Eastern Cape government has set aside R1.5-million to kick-start an expanded honeybush tea industry that could be ramped up to produce a turnover of R100-million a year and hundreds of new jobs. The good news follows on the results that have emerged from a study of the honeybush industry, commissioned by the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) on behalf of the provincial economic development and environmental affairs department.
Snowed-in guards airlifted to safetyNINETEEN stock-theft guards stationed on the top of the Drakensberg have been plucked to safety as heavy snow presses in on their lonely outposts. The guards are housed alone or in pairs in 10 shipping containers, at key points along the Lesotho border with the north-eastern Eastern Cape, in the Rhodes area.
Algoa Bay the best monitored in all of AfricaALGOA Bay is now “the best monitored bay in Africa” with millions of rands worth of equipment installed below the surface measuring a wide range of environmental conditions. That was the proud revelation yesterday (July 28 2011) from SA Environmental Observation Network (Saeon) co-ordinator Shaun Deyzel, who was speaking at a marine science symposium hosted by SA National Parks, at the Addo Elephant National Parks.
Mantis in new Nigeria dealPORT Elizabeth based tourism group Mantis Collection has announced a bold expansion into West Africa with a landmark, multi-million US dollar deal signed in PE yesterday (July 25 2011) to roll out a sumptuous suite of boutique hotels in Nigeria. Mantis founder Adrian Gardiner signed the deal at Shamwari Townhouse in Summerstrand with highly respected Nigerian businessman Nze Chidi Duru, who is the chairman of Abuja-based Grand Towers Plc. The Nigerian company has interests in the pension, banking, retail, communications, IT and hospitality sectors.
Surf event sets greening benchmarkBILLABONG Pro J-Bay is setting a benchmark for international surfing contests with a comprehensive programme to protect the local environment and combat global climate change.
Karoo farmers take their fracking probe to Jo'burg oil summitA SMALL Karoo farmers’ association is so concerned about fracking, and damning new evidence out of the US, it is funding the R10000 bill demanded for a four-day oil and gas conference in Johannesburg, to allow one of its members to attend.
Swell job for man with decades of experienceWITH the small waves prevailing yesterday (Sunday July 17 2011) for the Billabong Pro J-Bay, all surfing mojos are focused on the second week of the contest and the swell that, it is hoped, will still set things on fire. The man with un-paralleled expertise in this department is contest director Eric Stedman, 54, who has been scanning synoptic charts, fiddling with barometers and assessing wind direction since he was a grommit back in East London in the 1960s. It also helps that he began surfing Jeffreys Bay 43 years ago.
New official whale watching operator launch in the bayALGOA Bay’s first boat-based boat-based whale-watching operation in a decade has been officially launched - and already some exciting sightings are being reported. Lloyd Edwards of Raggy Charters, the company awarded the boat-based whale watching (BBWW) license for Algoa Bay, said yesterday (July 14 2011) he spotted the cow and calf pair of southern right whales off Algorax earlier this week.
Super surf contest starts at J-BayTHE latest edition of one of the great global surfing contests, built around an iconic right-hand point break, was launched in Jeffreys Bay last night (Wednesday July 14 2011).
Unique source of Bay waterHOW many cities in the world can say they get their water from a World Heritage Site? Very few, I bet. Yet, that’s the case with Port Elizabeth and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and in fact the Gamtoos River Valley vege farmers.
Bayworld raggies returned to the oceanTHE biggest baddest pair from Bayworld’s de-commissioned aquarium, two bulky raggedtooth sharks, were released yesterday (July 26 2011) back into the sea. It was a sad day for the oceanarium, where they have lived for nearly two decades, inspiring awe in hundreds of thousands of visitors - but it is good news for the species, as the pair are now part of a research project aimed at securing our waters as one of the few safe havens in the world for raggies.
Unique study of great whitesA UNIQUE study into the abundance, distribution and movement of great white sharks in Algoa Bay, sponsored by the metro, has been launched. There has never been a fatal shark attack in Algoa Bay, but the metro has committed the R800000 grant as a pro-active step, taken in line with their marketing of Port Elizabeth as “the watersports’ capital of Africa”, researcher Dr Matt Dicken explained yesterday (June 21 2011).
Dairy farm could close soonBUSHY Park Dairy Farm, a flagship “proudly Port Elizabeth” business and a much-loved feature of the metro for the past 20 years, is facing closure. The shock news was confirmed yesterday (June 21 2011) by managing trustee Puffer Hartzenberg, who was responding to unconfirmed reports about the matter.
Refurbished Skead book publishedA NEW book aimed at celebrating our natural heritage and guiding sound future conservation policy has been published in Port Elizabeth. Historical Incidence of the Larger Land Mammals in the Broader Western and Northern Cape (including the Eastern Cape as far east as Sundays River) is a complete re-furbishment - with summaries, maps, illustrations and two new chapters - of the original work of the same name by legendary naturalist Dr Jack Skead, who died in 2006.
Co-op sponsors two farmers on US missionTWO Karoo farmers have flown out of PE on a ground-breaking mission to the US, to get the low-down on fracking, in the country where it all began.
Link Refit to electric cars proposalIF WE CAN link Refit with electrical motorcars - then we could really be onto something. Speaking to The Herald yesterday (June 14 2011), department of environmental affairs deputy-director general for climate change, Peter Lukey, said the scheduled launch this month of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff (Refit), will likely lead to significant positive change.
Exciting reforestation project underway in TranskeiAN UNUSUAL re-forestation and carbon sequestration project is underway in the heart of the old Transkei, where savage erosion is a common feature. The R7600000 project is being run as a partnership between the Congress of Traditional Leaders’ of South Africa (Contralesa), the national department of environmental affairs and a Johannesburg-based company called Carbon Worx.
Branch recalls fascinating careerFOR world-renowned reptile and amphibian expert Dr Bill Branch, who retired this week from Bayworld after 32 years employment there - it all began in 1969, on the shores of a lake in East Africa.
Green electricity programme set to launch this monthGOVERNMENT will this month launch the long-awaited Refit programme that will make funding available to pay private energy entrepreneurs who will generate their own green electricity and sell it to the grid.
EC investment boost to counter climate changeEASTERN Cape economic environment MEC Mcebisi Jonas yesterday announced significant new green economy investment to boost green economy skills in the province.
EC leads climate change battleTHE Eastern Cape government has declared its intention to lead from the front in the war against climate change, with a landmark multi-benefit project agreement signed at the Eastern Cape Climate Change Conference in East London yesterday (June 08 2011).
Climate change conferenceEVERYONE change - a milestone Eastern Cape climate change conference, featuring senior political leaders and climate change experts, is set to start in East London today (Wednesday May 8). The Eastern Cape Climate Change Conference will focus on the strategy document that has been prepared by local role-players, and will look towards the UN’s Cop17 summit, the international climate change indaba in Durban in December
'Plenty of power for smelter,' says CDCBLACK-out fears notwithstanding, there is more than enough electricity for the megawatt-hungry Coega manganese smelter, according to the Coega Development Corporation (CDC). CDC communications’ chief Senzeni Ndebele was responding this week to concerns expressed about the power demands of the smelter and how this will affect Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality residents and existing businesses.
Motherwell eco-schools big recipientsTWO Motherwell “eco-schools” were the recipients this week of tens of thousands of rands worth of equipment and furniture to help them learn better. The 26 maths and reading software packages, 100 desks and 200 chairs were donated by ABB after the power and automation giant participated last year in a Wessa eco-schools’ workshop in PE.
Pollution plume off the beachfront raises concernsA STRANGE-looking plume of discoloured water has been appearing sporadically in the bay between Shark Rock Pier and Humewood Beach, resulting in a number of calls from concerned residents, Following an initial report on May 20 by Humewood resident Elize Pretorius, and then disappearing for several days, it reappeared again this week, prompting further calls.
Put the environment on agenda of new councils Concerns over Ngqura oil leak 'unfounded'CONCERNS have been raised that the oil and gas exploration rig in Port of Ngqura could be leaking oil into the bay. Both the Norwegian company that owns the ultra-deepwater drilling rig and the harbour authorities have rejected as unfounded the concerns raised by environmental group Ocean Messengers.
Ball of fire not the beginning of the end.Was it a bird? Was it a plane? Was it a comet hurtling to Earth in delayed fulfillment of Harold Campling’s doomsday prophesy? Well, no. In fact, it was the International Space Station (ISS) and space shuttle Endeavour, catching the last rays of the setting sun.
Ngqura a fish magnetTHE Port of Ngqura has become an extraordinary magnet for marine life, and could point the way to an important new role for harbours, according to Bayworld marine biologist and shark specialist Dr Matt Dicken.
Stately emperor pays family a flying visitTHERE are moths and there are moths - and then there is the pine tree emperor, one of the giants of the insect world. Gorgeous yellow in colour and “easily the size of a man’s hand”, one of these moths swooped into a Seaview home the other night.
Endangered forest clearing probedA SWATHE of critically endangered forest and new generation legislation formulated to combat climate change are at the centre of a confrontation in Deer Park. The forestry department has slammed as “reckless and malicious” the clearing of the area, which is over 100m long by on average 4m wide.
Male in search of good life turns up at beachfrontHE WAS a prickly customer - but in the end he came quietly. It was Patrick Mange, the cleaner and gardener at beachfront flatblock Bandle, next to the Beach Hotel, who found him.
EC operators performs strongly at IndabaTHE Eastern Cape has fared well at the Indaba tourism conference and expo in Durban, taking gold in two different categories in the main Welcome awards and only just falling short in the Eteya emerging tourism operators’ awards. The Welcome Awards winners are both from PE and are both family-owned businesses: the Plantation, the wedding, functions’ and accommodation venue on the Sardinia Bay road, and Economic Cars and Bakkies, the 20-year-old Walmer-based car rental firm.
NMMU microscope a global break-throughNMMU has been catapulted into the forefront of nanoscience research with the arrival of a state-of-the-art custom-built microscope from Japan. The high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) is the first of its kind that has been sold commercially outside of Japan and the last of a suite of four electron microscopes, costing a total R90-million, that have arrived in the past week from Tokyo manufacturer JEOL and a second manufacturer in The Netherlands.
'Port guards like the Stasi'FOREIGN tourists yesterday compared guards at the Port Elizabeth Harbour to the dreaded Stazi security police of East Germany, following an incident in which their driver was manhandled, forcibly detained and then bundled off to Humewood Police Station. The incident happened yesterday morning as the tourists, a group of five Russians and a Belgian, were about to enter the harbour at its southern entrance, headed for a day diving excursion in Algoa Bay with local dive company Expert-Tours.
How to rejuvenate Baakens River ValleyI WAS chatting to permaculture activist and leading member of Transition Network PE Naomi Suzane the other day, and she came with a great idea of how to secure, rejuvenate and celebrate the Baakens Valley. We kicked her idea around, and this is how it turned out.
Dad's call following son's deathSIMON Swart started drugging in his early teens and he had been through 15 rehabilitation centres before he died, alone in his room in a backpacker lodge in Central, a fortnight ago. But there was much more to this young man.
Nuclear moratorium callTHE concern group challenging the Thyspunt nuclear reactor has called on government to place a moratorium on all nuclear development in South Africa until the full extent of the Fukushima disaster is known. The call by the Thyspunt Alliance - a broad coalition of residential, cultural, environmental, tourism, fisheries, business and surfing interests in the Oyster Bay, St Francis, Humansdorp and Jeffrey’s Bay area - co-incides with the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl, the historic nuclear melt-down in Ukraine.
Major show jumping event scheduled for PEPORT Elizabeth has been named as a host city for a world show-jumping championship qualifier event, sparking great excitement in the show-jumping fraternity, and the promise of an energising mid-Winter injection of tourist revenue. The event will be attracting the country’s top jumpers, so it is being celebrated in horsey circles - but it is much more than that, event co-ordinator Tanya Radke said yesterday.
Oceanarium seals readied for departureHOW do you transport eight seals to Pretoria? That’s the preoccupation right now of Bayworld’s oceanarium team, as the relocation of their animals moves ahead.
Chumming fines co-incide with issuing of whale permitNELSON Mandela Bay Municipality has issued four fines to marine tourism operator Lloyd Edwards related to the controversial chumming incident off Humewood Beach last month. The issuing of the fines at the Port Elizabeth beach office on Friday co-incides with the issuing this week of the long-awaited boat-based whale watching (BBWW) license for Algoa Bay - to Edwards.
Nieu Bethesda farmers count flood costsIT COULD take some farmers in Nieu Bethesda a decade to get back to where they were before the flood that hit them Saturday. That’s the word from the mountainous catchment area north of Graaff-Reinet, where well over 100mm of rain fell in 24 hours, flooding the Gats River and all its tributaries, flattening stock fences, stripping roads to bedrock and bursting farm dams.
Are these Chinese nationals South African Citizens? If not how have they gained entry,if they are who is behind this! This trend is a smack in the face of"Homeland Security" meaning anyone can walk in...
dokhotelo 29 March 2012 5:31 pm........they could not find the Galaxy syrup in the whole SA..........
mcstrange 29 March 2012 5:34 amit is too late already. the methane is being released in vast quantities from the arctic as I write this, the final forcing leading to irreversible change. Let's enjoy PE while we can. ...
mcstrange 29 March 2012 5:31 amErm, excuse me but why exactly would a municipal employee need a Galaxy tablet??? That is a waste of my ratepayers money. I'd like one but don't need one. Frivolous expenditure. ...
dokhotelo 28 March 2012 9:37 pm......as for the remaining ANC voters who are not well connected in the largest organized crime syndicate in power , they are the real slaves of the ANC lies, deceit and obscene corruption, but choose...
dokhotelo 28 March 2012 9:27 pm....Agree!!....They are not "refugees".........They are "one-way foreign exchange students"..............
thirsty 27 March 2012 5:40 pmLawrence what is stupid, confusing and nauseating, if not just pathetic, is that the department of education in the Eastern Cape is under administration. Mrs Zille did not call all blacks living in th...
mastermindPE 27 March 2012 1:33 pmWhat a load of codswallop !!!!! The truth hurts amongst the eyes hey??? Your Black South Africans are flocking to the Western Cape in droves in search of a better life instead of voting the ANC=pf Thu...
royboy 22 March 2012 11:00 amIt is about time that the media started showing pics of these thugs to name and shame,then we can see what these hyenas look like so we can recognise them if they are released....
moladi 20 March 2012 8:22 pmFor more information on award winning moladi construction technologies - visit moladi.net...