PRESS STATEMENT

15/03/2024

For Immediate Release

ATT: Tony Carnie

Daily Maverick
RE: Virginia Bush Nature Reserve

Your query regarding the abovementioned refers.

EThekwini Municipality’s Spokesperson Gugu Sisilana responds as follows:

QUESTIONS
1. Can Ethekwini confirm that it has received an "eco-estate" application by Mr ZC Dlamini
(aka Zah Ndlovu) or any other entity to develop up to 100 housing units and a further 134
housing units in three five-storey tower blocks on approx 39 hectares of land contained
within the proclaimed Virginia Bush Nature Reserve, which is protected as a nature reserve
under the National Environmental Management Act in 2018, under the management
authority of the Ethekwini Municipality? Yes, a long-term lease application was received by
eThekwini Municipality and the land application was circulated by Real Estate to the
relevant municipal departments. The application was on Portions B, C and D all of Erf 3193
Durban North for a residential development.

2. On what date was the development application above first received by the municipality -
and what were the relevant details of the applicant - as furnished in the first/subsequent
application (i.e official name,address and contact details of the developer)? The application
as described in 1. above was received and circulated in January 2019 to relevant
departments. On the basis of the site choice, the submission was not supported and the
applicant at the time was not in a position to furnish the municipality with his relevant
details. The name and contact details of the applicant are known to the municipality,
however, such details are subject to the POPI Act, and the decision whether to make such
details known may be subject to PAIA application process.
Subsequently, in February 2023, the relevant departments provide their final input on the
application, which was used by Real Estate to make a decision on the application.
3. On what date did Ethekwini respond to the developer indicating that it had made a
decision to consider, reject, approve his application? The municipality did not support the
application and a decision was made in March 2023 after receiving information from
relevant departments.

4. Has the municipality advised the applicant that the proposal was rejected or declined? If
so, when was this, and what were the reasons furnished to the developer for such decision?

In March 2023, the applicant was advised of the decision to not support the lease
application. The reasons for not supporting the application can be summarised as follows:

 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.
 The Virginia Bush Nature Reserve has also been a fundamental core component of
the Durban Metropolitan Open Space System (D’MOSS) since 1999. And Virginia
Bush Nature Reserve Conservation Visitors Resource Centre was officially opened by
His Worship the Mayor, Councillor Derrick W Watterson JP on the 13 April 1989.

 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.
 The proposed Northwood Development will have a significant negative impact on
the Virginia Bush Nature Reserve and will result in irreversible biodiversity and
ecological losses.
 This site is one of the remaining natural green spaces in the Durban North that
requires protection.
 The proposal, while claiming/ purporting to be ‘eco’ in nature will result in excess of
60% to 70% of the current intact habitat being lost.
 This is contrary to the conservation goals of the EThekwini Municipality, as well as
those of the Provincial and National Conservation Agencies.
 The proposed habitat loss will directly impact on the National Conservation Targets
for KZN Coastal Forest- an Endangered habitat listed in terms of the National
Environmental Management Biodiversity Act (Act 10 of 2004) and will impact directly
on a number of Endangered and Critically Endangered species.
 The Virginia Bush Nature Reserve is listed as a Critical Biodiversity Area (CBA) and the
Provincial Systematic Conservation Plan.
 A CBA in terms of the Provincial Systematic Conservation Plan is designated as
irreplaceable in terms of its conservation status.

5. If no decision either way was taken on whether to reject or approve the proposal, why
was that?
See response to question 4. above.

6. It is apparent from correspondence from the office of Minister Barbara Creecy that Mr
Dlamini/Ndlovu wrote a letter to her office in April 2023 expressing his "frustration" and
"concern" regarding the handling of his property development proposal made to Ethekwini.
The municipality wishes to make no further comment on the summation.

7. As I have as yet been unable to contact Mr Dlamini personally to elaborate on the nature
of these "concerns and frustrations" can Ethekwini respond to the implied criticism he
appears to have raised with the Minister about his dealings with Ethekwini?

The applicant on this matter is entitled to their opinion and the municipality wishes not to
be drawn into this debate as the municipality has made its position on the lease application
to be clear and in writing.

8. Since Mr Dlamini was advised by Minister Creecy in August 2023 on what steps he could
take to pursue the matter further, has Mr Dlamini made further contact or submitted
revised proposals with the municipality in this regard (including a 50-year lease proposal) -
and if so, what was the outcome of this communication. Yes he made further contact.

To-date the municipality has not discussed any revised proposal for the site with the
applicant.

9. Has the municipality received any communications/instructions from MEC Siboniso Duma
regarding Mr Dlamini's development plans? The application including the position of the
municipality from an environmental perspective was discussed in December 2023. If so,
what were the nature of these communications/instructions – and what is the role/status of
the MEC in an application that appears to be the specific preserve of the City as the
designated management authority? The MEC is the delegated authority to NEMPAA for
proclamations in the KZN even though the municipality is the designated management
authority. The proclamation of Virginia Bush Nature Reserve and others was Gazetted by the
MEC. In that regard, the municipal officials were requested to provide guidance to the
applicant on the application.

10. I understand that a meeting was held between Mr Dlamini and officials of Ethekwini on
March 7 - and that Mr Dlamini walked out of this meeting, also indicating that he was
elevating the matter to the Presidency. Can Ethekwini comment on the reasons for this turn
of events and confirm that this meeting was held?

There was no meeting between the applicant and some municipal officials on March 7
(assuming you are referring to 7 March 2024). However, a similar meeting was held on 1
February 2024, but no one walked out of the meeting, all stakeholders present in the
meeting were engaging in a professional manner until the meeting was officially closed by
the chairperson where the reasons for not supporting the application were explained to the
applicant.
11. Two further perceptions have arisen
a) That Ethekwini has gone to extraordinary lengths to continue engaging and agreeing to
meet the developer after his application was declined/refused: engagements that would not
ordinarily afforded to other development applicants as a matter of routine.

Officials of the municipality are obligated to serve all members of the public and when
requests for meeting are submitted then these are accepted. During any engagement the
official carryout their responsibility in a fair, firm and professional manner. The assertion
that the municipality has gone to extraordinary lengths more than it would with other
applicants is not true and is rejected.

b) That by continuing to engage/accommodate this developer, the municipality is creating

the perception that it is being "bullied" or willing to entertain housing developments of a
similar nature in other proclaimed nature reserves and components of the D'MOSS network
within Ethekwini?
Does Ethekwini wish to comment on these perceptions or any other aspect of the matter?

The municipality wishes not to be drawn into perceptions or speculations. Officials of the
municipality are obligated to serve all members of the public and when requests for
meeting are submitted then these are accepted. During any engagement the official
carryout their responsibility in a fair, firm and professional manner.

ENDS

Issued by the eThekwini Municipality’s Spokesperson Gugu Sisilana.

For more information, contact 031 311 4820/18.