Thursday, 16 February, 2017
Tim James
Today it looks like the battle might be effectively over, with the Swartland Municipality (based in the town of Malmesbury) effectively trashing the wine-farms that have brought international honour to the region – in favour of short-term benefits to landowners (remember the folktales about how much farmers love their land?) who think they’ll do better out of destroying the basis of agriculture on their land.
The story and the issues and the history of the struggle are complex, and I can’t claim to comprehend the details. But some months ago, as I understand it, the Swartland municipality licensed one sand-mining operation; earlier this month, after much contestation, it finally granted licences to two more operators. One is in the Aprilskloof (affecting the immediate environment of wineries including Sadie Family Wines and Lammershoek), and one in the Siebritskloof (where Badenhorst Family Wines and David and Nadia Wines are based). The precedent is set; there’s little prospect of further permissions not being given. It’s going to mean not just scars on the landscape, but a roaring flow of trucks on the sand roads leading into these kloofs – roads which are already suffering, and certainly not designed for this.
Wine tourists? Seems like the municipality doesn’t much care about them either.
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Editors Note:
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