Environmental Affairs and Tourism Budget Vote

Kent Durr MP – ACDP (NCOP)

Thursday, 13 June 2002


Kent Durr MP for the African Christian Democratic Party and member of the National Council of Provinces gave the following speech today during the Environmental Affairs and Tourism Budget Vote:


I wish to speak about acquisition of land for the National Parks Board in the Western Cape.

I wish to raise the matter of Langefontein once more, a tract of land, currently owned by the Department of Defence and which is superfluous to their needs, where ownership of the land is currently under review. The National Parks Board, whose land to the North is contiguous with Langefontein, has applied for the land; There are other competing interests. The land is central to the long-term expansion plans of the National Park Board and will protect the West Coast biosphere. The land can be transferred at no cost, because it is government land.

Only about 1% of West Coast fynbos is left. The rest has gone to the plough, development or alien vegetation.

The Langefontein land in question is one of the last opportunities the state has to increase the size and the viability of the West Coast Park and to expand the bio-diversity under its span of control. It can acquire the land at no cost.

The land has an extremely low agricultural potential but is rich in botanical species even with its present size. To subdivide the land for agriculture is to condemn new owners to poverty. The land can only be grazed by domestic animals for about 3 months per year and is not arable.

The land would provide the opportunity to increase rare botanical biodiversity and to reintroduce rare species of animals; The land adjoins Elandsfontein that has the second oldest human remains in Africa after Sterkfontein. It has high tourism potential and therefore will support employment. It will make the eastern side (across the R27) of the National Park more commercially viable and are botanically diverse, as the area has marginally better soils and a marginally higher rainfall.

The Parks Board application is supported by Western Cape Conservation authorities and the Western Cape government as well as conservationists worldwide.

My difficulty is that I have now heard that the Department of Correctional Services has applied for the land and buildings which would be just about the worst news for conservation if this were to happen in this supersensitive area, that is vital to the viability of the West Coast National Park.
The matter has been dragging on for many months, if not years, and we would greatly appreciate an answer.

The Western Cape Parks cannot expand northwards, very little southwards and east before it reaches developed areas or intensive agriculture.


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For further comment please call Kent Durr MP at 083 280 2674 or ACDP Media Liaison Liza Bloemetje at 082 478 1037