Grape, reported that this matter has now been resolved. The Winelands Action Group issued the following statement which covers the initial scare, conflicting government reports, the resolution and suggestions for future mining policy. 

Autumn vine leaves

The following is the full text of the statement put out by Winelands Action Group:

Following weeks of overwhelming pressure from producer groups such as the various Farmworker Forums, the Cape Winemakers Guild (CWG), Wines of South Africa (WOSA), Stellenbosch and Durbanville Wine Routes, conservation groups such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and WWF’s Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI), the Bottelary Conservancy, the Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance, influential international wine writers, heritage groups from all over the country as well as the public at large in South Africa and around the world, the Department of Mineral Resources today confirmed in writing that state-owned African Exploration Mining and Finance Company (AEMFC) had officially withdrawn their Cape Town and Stellenbosch prospecting rights applications in the Western Cape.

Hailing the news as “a victory for social justice and democratic rights” the Winelands Action Group had been cautiously optimistic on hearing reports a week and a half ago that the Director General of the Department of Mineral Resources, Adv Sandile Nogxina had announced that the applications would be withdrawn, but then had to continue with legal and public protest action when subsequent communication with AEMFC staff as well as their consultants GCS revealed that despite the assurances given in a press release issued on behalf of the Chairman of AEMFC, the state company and their consultants were still going ahead with the application process. Staff of the Regional DME office in Cape Town also confirmed that the applications were going ahead and that ‘the statement issued was incorrect’. Read more of Winelands mining debacle seems to be over