Showdown on the wild West Coast as communities take on miners, prospectors

Activists say the ecology and the livelihoods of traditional fishers and farmers on the coast north of Cape Town are threatened by the rampant and growing exploitation of the area's natural resources

20 February 2022 - 00:00

The West Coast, SA’s other wild coast, unfurls for 400km north of Cape Town. The cold Atlantic Ocean, teeming with fish, a translucent lagoon and a major estuary, tinted pink in flamingo breeding season, are among its wonders. A myriad of bird and marine species call this place home, as do fishing families who stretch back centuries.

Now all of them are at risk from rampant and rapidly expanding mining and prospecting, and oil and gas exploration along the coast.  ..

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