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On February 25th, the Democratic Alliance (DA) announced that a state-owned mining company was attempting to gain prospecting rights on prominent farms in the Stellenbosch and Durbanville area. We said that exploration and other mining activities should not be the function of a state owned company and could lead to damaging financial consequences, especially in times of a recession or slow economic growth, as was recently experienced.

AEMFC subsequently issued a statement, to the effect that they would withdraw their application. The matter was then discussed with GCS (Ptd) Ltd, which was appointed by AEMFC as independent environmental consultants on the project; however, they have subsequently denied having received any instruction from AEMFC not to procedure with their environmental management plan (EMP).

According to the regional office of the Department of Mineral Resources, AEMFC is still proceeding with the application; the application was not withdrawn and the statement that the application was withdrawn was not correct.

This then also confirms GCS (Pty) Ltd's insistence to proceed with the submission of the EMPs, whilst no response has been forthcoming from AEMFC regarding an explanation of this contradictory state of affairs.

GCS is also proceeding with the submission of the EMPs required for the approval of the prospecting rights application.

Questions have therefore justifiably arisen as to the circumstances in which the public was made to believe that the applications were in fact withdrawn as previously reported and whether the state owned AEMFC deliberately mislead the public to believe that they were withdrawing their applications.

The Department has scheduled a Western Cape Regional Management committee meeting (RMDEC) at which meeting objectors would be afforded an opportunity to raise their objections. The undue haste at which the meeting has been scheduled does not allow much time to peruse and comment upon the EMP's which were supposed to have been submitted by GCS by the 12th of March 2010.

Mining activities and wine farming do not coincide, thereby causing scarce jobs, valuable tourism and wine farming revenue to be lost at the expense of ill considered and insensitive applications for prospecting rights.

The above confusion illustrates exactly why state owned mining companies ought not to be involved in mining activities, causing harm to other role players in the industry.

The DA therefore calls on the State owned company, AEMFC, to state whether they have in fact withdrawn their applications for prospecting rights on, inter alia, the historical De Grendel, Hooggelegen and Haasendal farms. Such a step would clarify an already unacceptable situation regarding some of the best wine farms in the wine industry.

We do however welcome the stance that appears to have been taken the Department on this matter. The Acting Director-General stated this morning, at the portfolio committee on mineral resources, that although they could not speak on behalf of AEMFC, the department remains of the point of view that such an application cannot be granted on existing winelands. This is the right position, and it is the reason that the state mining company must withdraw their prospecting rights application.