Democratic Alliance member of the provincial legislature (MPL), Heinz de Boer has called out the KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA) after a written parliamentary reply in response to the party’s questions confirmed that the department had a hand in facilitating meetings between the developers and eThekwini Municipality.
Situated between Durban North and Glenashley, the protected area is being eyeballed for extensive luxury homes dubbed the “Northwood’s Eco-estate” comprising 100 luxury houses and an eco-village with 130 luxury townhouse units and three multi-level condo towers.
MEC Siboniso Duma affirmed that EDTEA received a request to intervene in the proposed Virginia Bush Nature Reserve’s development due to a disagreement between the local authority and the developers.
“EDTEA did meet with the developers. This meeting was followed by a meeting with the developer, officials from eThekwini Metro, and the MEC for EDTEA. The MEC advised the developers and eThekwini to further engage on this matter. No consultation was made by eThekwini, however EDTEA is aware that eThekwini Metro and the developer are continuing with engagements accompanied by site visits to find a sustainable solution on this matter. EDTEA does not intend to interfere with the processes since the activity in question is within the mandate of the local authority,” said MEC Duma.
De Boer said that it is a matter of concern that EDTEA has met with both eThekwini and the developers to help iron out a “disagreement” between the two parties and “had undertaken several site visits and further meetings to “find a sustainable solution to the matter”.
“Moreover, EDTEA has now potentially blurred the lines and brought a conflict of interest into the matter by meeting with developers. As custodians of the Environmental Impact Assessment processes (EIA) – this department must remain impartial and adjudicate any potential future EIA applications purely on impact and merits. The DA calls on eThekwini Municipality to instead focus its efforts on securing, fencing, and further formalising Virginia Bush into a sustainable eco-tourism node. Ongoing complaints of vagrancy and criminality emanating from the area could quickly be tackled, and the reserve transformed into a safe green lung that could benefit eco-tourism enterprises and the community at large,” added de Boer.
EThekwini Municipality spokesperson, Gugu Sisilana, reaffirmed the metro’s position saying that the city did not support the application for the development and that a decision was made in March 2023, which was communicated to the applicant.
“In March 2023, the applicant was advised by eThekwini Municipality of the decision to not support the application. Virginia Bush Nature Reserve was formally declared as a Nature Reserve, in terms of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act (NEMPAA, Act 57 of 2003). Formal recognition of the Virginia Bush Nature Reserve in terms of NEMPAA reaffirms the biodiversity and ecological value of this habitat at local, provincial, and national levels,” said Sisilana.
She added that the Virginia Bush Nature Reserve has also been a fundamental core component of the Durban Metropolitan Open Space System (D’MOSS) since 1999. Protection, management, and all activities permitted in the Virginia Bush Nature Reserve are now formally stipulated in terms of the Act and the Environmental Management Plan prepared for the nature reserve.
