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Green Scorpions to go on sand mining blitz
BY RMB MARK ALLIX
ENVIRONMENTAL management inspectors known as the Green Scorpions will embark on a sand mining blitz across South Africa, and the days of the raids will be undisclosed to ensure greater impact.
The Department of Environmental Affairs said on Tuesday that officials from national and provincial departments would take part in a joint compliance and enforcement initiative aimed at addressing environmental and water damage caused by unlawful sand mining operations.
The damage caused by such operators had been identified as one of the key drivers of the loss of biodiversity in the country, causing “irreparable degradation to the environment”, the department said.
The latest blitz is a collaborative effort that includes the departments of mineral resources and water and sanitation. Previous operations have revealed organised criminal activity that is often extremely hostile.
The Department of Environmental Affairs said it would issue a media statement once the blitz was completed.
“Green Scorpions from the Western Cape department of environmental affairs and development planning and the national department engaged in enforcement activities earlier this month,” the department said.
This resulted in the confiscation of heavy-duty machinery used in the removal of sand. The investigation was at an advanced stage and would be prosecuted soon, the department said.
Building collapses may happen more frequently in South Africa unless more careful attention is paid to the specification of appropriate materials to meet each building’s design criteria.
After a spate of building collapses in the past year, nine construction workers are presumed dead and several are injured after a building collapsed in Alberton, Johannesburg, on Monday.
Aggregate and Sand Producers Association of Southern Africa director Nico Pienaar said the entry of “unlicensed and unscrupulous” quarry and mine operators into the sand and aggregate supply industry in South Africa was causing problems.
“These operators may claim to be mining a certain type of aggregate at a certain location, when in fact they do not have a mining licence and are illegally obtaining it elsewhere.
“At surface level the aggregates may look the same, but they may have completely different chemical compositions when examined under the microscope,” he said.
Mr Pienaar said that incorrectly specified materials could lead to building failures immediately or years later as a result of the corrosion of foundations from surrounding soil conditions.
“Even the size of the aggregates used in concrete, or the composition of sand used, can play a role in the future strength of a structure. For example, acidic soil may corrode certain types of stone and can eventually lead to pitting and tunnelling of foundations, which can make it spongy and unsuitable in years to come.”