(Bloomberg) – A company controlled by billionaire Patrice Motsepe blocked South Africa’s national parks to exploit South Africa’s second largest phosphate deposit in one of the country’s most important wetlands.
Kropz Plc, held by Motsepe’s Africa Rainbow Capital Investments Ltd., applied last month to extract raw materials used to make fertilizers from a portion of the West Coast National Park.
Kropz “Contact us to explore the possibility of a portion of the land in part of the West Coast National Park,” said JP Louw, a spokesman for the organization. He added: “SANPARKS cannot allow any mining activities in the declared national park.” He said Croz had been informed of the decision.
The app exacerbates disputes between the company and conservation activists who oppose the development of the park’s adjacent Elandsfontein mine. Earlier this week, the World Wildlife and Flora Nature Foundation had expressed opposition to the application in a legal dispute with Krop at the mine.
Kropz and the African Rainbow did not immediately respond to questions.
Kropz said in an April 23 statement that it has provided “equal or greater conservation value” to a piece of land near the park to compensate for the land to be excavated.
Environmentalists say they will harm the Langebaan lagoon and the associated aquifers located 61 miles north of Cape Town. These controversies and technical issues have delayed the start of operations since the company acquired the deposit in 2010.
West Coast National Park has 250 species of birds, which is more than a quarter of the total number of South Africa (including flamingos and sand bread). It is also the site of the annual bloom of wildflower fields and fossil human footprints, dating back to 117,000 years.
Sign up for the next African newsletter twice here
(Update the Kropz statement in the third paragraph)
More stories like this are available Bloomberg.com
