INLSA
Tony Carnie
tony.carnie@inl.co.za
DURBAN property developers and local politicians are hoping to secure high-level “political intervention” by national government ministers to ensure that a controversial small-craft harbour is built at Vetch’s Pier.
The proposed intervention by at least three ministers and other parties has come to light from a report prepared by the Durban Infrastructural Development Trust, a public-private trust body which has overseen the development of the International Convention Centre and Point Waterfront. Its members include eThekwini councillors, businessmen and developers.
According to the minutes of a meeting held in October, trust members took a resolution to set up a meeting “with a view to obtaining political intervention at a high level to assist with – and expedite – the Point Waterfront Development, including impediments and obstacles that have contributed to delays”.
The proposal has alarmed members of the Save Vetch’s Association and other interest groups, who believe that the public consultation and environmental approval process has already been muddied by “suspicious” political interference.
Neels Brink, managing director of Laurusco Developments and spokesman for the Durban Point Development Company, who gave a briefing to the trust on October 26, declined to elaborate on what was meant by “political intervention”, and questioned whether the minutes obtained by The Mercury were authentic.
“Any interpretation and conclusion drawn from the minutes of the trust are your own and, needless to say, I cannot comment on behalf of the trust… I also am unsighted as to the whole content of the minutes you seem to rely on and their authenticity,” he said.
But newly elected trust chairman Paulos Ngcobo said he had nothing to hide from the public and had arranged to meet Brink this morning to prepare a full response to any questions on the trust’s resolution. Ngcobo said the trustees felt there was a risk that Durban was becoming “a laughing stock” because of several years of delay in getting the Point Waterfront project off the ground, and there was a need to resolve the issue “once and for all”.
“We feel that the land is being wasted and that we all need to sing from the same hymn sheet… So we need to discuss these issues with the politicians in one boardroom.”
Ngcobo said the trust hoped to arrange a meeting with national ministers seen as key roleplayers – including Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba, Transport Minister S’bu Ndebele and Environment Minister Edna Molewa.
According to the minutes, trustees also raised concerns over “the (eThekwini) council’s role in the delay regarding the lease of the seabed” at Vetch’s beach.
Asked what delays were attributed to the council, Ngcobo said: “We asked the chief whip to deal with it. I think it was to do with housekeeping matters, technical issues and paperwork, but Neels will be able to respond on those details.”
However, the latest moves have angered several parties opposed to the construction of a small-craft harbour, hotel development and retail complex at Vetch’s.
Durban Paddle Ski Club chairman Johnny Vassilaros voiced alarm over the contents of the minutes. “We are also most concerned at the level of secrecy that exists in our council, and believe the public must be made aware of their activities,” he said.
Suspicions
Bianca McKelvey, conservation manager of the KZN branch of the Wildlife and Environment Society (Wessa), said public land and beaches were held in trust by the government on behalf of the people of SA. “If decision-making is taken away to a higher level, it… raises suspicions that these processes are there to set aside ordinary stakeholder processes,” she said.
Wessa was one of 12 members of the Save Vetch’s Association seeking a legal review of the environmental record of decision, which authorised the small-craft development.
There was already suspicion on why a draft decision by the provincial Environmental Affairs Department to reject the small-craft harbour had been overturned at the last moment. A social impact assessment by the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2006 had also concluded that the majority of stakeholders (except the developers) were not in favour of the harbour.
“Our story’s end may appear to depend on the machinations… of government departments, developers and lawyers – but it is also we, the public, who must determine the outcome,” said McKelvey.
