Patrice Motsepe’s new mine under fire

A company controlled by billionaire Patrice Motsepe has applied to mine for phosphate in one of South Africa’s most important wetland national parks, sparking a protest from the World Wildlife Fund for Nature. 

Kropz, which is 90% held by Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital Investments, on March 14 applied to mine a section of the West Coast National Park for the fertiliser raw material, the WWF said in a statement on Tuesday.

The section lies adjacent to its $160 million Elandsfontein mine.

“WWF will do anything in its power to preserve the long-term security of irreplaceable biodiversity assets within our national parks system,” the group said.

“This is a rather audacious application, seeking an unprecedented decision to allow mining inside a formally declared national park.” 

The protest deepened a dispute between Kropz and its owners, the WWF, and other activists. In March, the WWF sued South Africa’s Environment Minister Dion George over his decision in September to dismiss appeals against an offset exemption given to the Elandsfontein Mine.

Kropz declined to comment. African Rainbow, the government’s mining and environment departments and South African National Parks didn’t immediately respond to queries.

Environmentalists have opposed the mine as they say it will endanger the Langebaan Lagoon, which lies 61 miles north of Cape Town, and the associated aquifer.

Those disputes, and technical issues, delayed the start up of the mine on South Africa’s second-biggest phosphate deposit, which the company acquired in 2010.

The West Coast National Park is home to 250 bird species, more than a quarter of the total found in South Africa, including flamingos and sandpipers.

It’s also the site of an annual blooming of wildflower fields and fossil human footprints dating back 117,000 years.