Mining threatens to destroy much of the West Coast, a sparsely populated and environmentally important region: It is home to myriad endemic plant species, not to mention dozens of significant seabird colonies and marine breeding grounds.

While diamond mining has already wreaked havoc on its northern reaches – watch the nonprofit group Protect the West Coast (PTWC)’s film Mines of Mordor for an idea of the damage – heavy sand mining for minerals like zircon, ilmenite, rutile and magnetite looks set to destroy environments along the entire coastline.

By digging up beaches and building cofferdams – dams built to expose the seabed for mining – entire intertidal ecosystems, which lie between the high and low water marks, are ruined. Although companies are legally required to rehabilitate an area when they have finished mining it, government enforcement of legislation is poor and mining firms often pass the buck by selling mines to front companies.

“It should be really easy to tell the difference between legal and illegal mining,” says Mike Schlebach, a big wave surfer-come-activist who is determined not to allow mining to destroy the West Coast, a 550km (342-mile) expanse of rugged beaches and dramatic cliffs where flamingos, seals and jackals outnumber humans.

“But the government departments charged with enforcing mining and environmental laws have blurred the lines completely. We’ve seen loads of cases where due process is not followed.”

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A place of serene beauty, the Olifants Estuary is the third largest estuary in South Africa. It is also home to the largest salt marshes in the country, making it an important breeding ground for many fish and bird species, including black oystercatchers, flamingos and pelicans. But this unique ecosystem also harbours an array of sought-after minerals.

Since 2012, Du Plessis has been fighting to prevent mining companies from destroying what should clearly be a nature reserve. “In the beginning, the concern was sand mining and cofferdam mining on the coast,” she recalls. “Then Tormin [Mineral Sands] made an application to prospect on the northern boundary of the Olifants Estuary, 17km (10.5 miles) inland. Despite 37 appeals, its application was granted.”

Du Plessis worried that the floodgates would open, and she was especially concerned about the way in which fishers’ concerns were roundly ignored. “They were mining on land, on the beaches, in the intertidal zone and in the sea,” says Du Plessis, “destroying breeding grounds for fishes and molluscs and birds and preventing public access to the coast” – a right enshrined in South Africa’s constitution.

“The mining and environment ministers are not doing their job,” laments Du Plessis. “They just sign off on applications. They don’t follow their own rules, they just rubber-stamp.”

The road ahead

Thanks to contributions from corporate and private donors, PTWC has reached a point where it is nearing financial sustainability. Fredericks, Schlebach and Du Plessis all remain committed to ensuring that the people of the Richtersveld finally benefit from the riches beneath their feet, that mining companies carry out their operations – including rehabilitation programs, according to the letter of the law – and that the last pristine stretches of the West Coast remain that way.

They will continue to pursue their multipronged strategy of social media exposure, legal pressure and community activism.  Schlebach is committed to bringing even more stakeholders into the organisation.

They now have another formidable weapon in their armoury. The development of RIPL, a mobile and desktop app that makes commenting on prospecting and mining rights applications much, much easier.

“Any concerned citizen has the right to object to an application, but the process has always been mired in red tape,” explains Schlebach. RIPL updates users the moment a new application is made and makes commenting as easy as filling out an online restaurant review. “It could be a real game changer,” says Schlebach. “Not only for the West Coast, but for communities all across South Africa.”

Talk about riding the wave.