The short answer
To hold the authorities to account, you have to be organised, so that they understand that there will be consequences for not consulting the community in future.
The whole question
The state has decided without consultation of residents to hold the biggest armed forces night shoot in 15 years in False Bay, without public consultation, no due diligence and no Environmental Impact Studies.
The night shoot involves tanks, G5 cannons, heavy artillery, rocket launchers, missiles and over 10,000 rounds of munitions with the weaponry placed on the sand dunes then fired at targets out at sea.
Many residents of False Bay earn income, off the already threatened False Bay, through traditional fishing and tourism. We have objected, we have written to the city and we have asked for Environmental Impact Assessments but the state has rubber stamped this political exercise and by-passed environmental concerns.
Do you have any advice for us?
The long answer
The community should have been consulted and its views taken into account. But as the application to hold this event was approved by the City of Cape Town and Marine and Coastal Management, besides the Department of Environmental Affairs, all of whom have backed the SANDF’s Environmental Impact Assessment, we don’t think that there is any hope of it being called off.
The SANDF has emphasized that sensitive dunes will be demarcated and that SANDF personnel as well as the public will not be allowed access to them. They have also said that boats will be sent out to secure the area and if they encounter whales or dolphins, they will wait until the animals have moved off before starting the shoot.
That might be as good as it will get, and of course it will be horribly noisy.
As at least 76 people in Muizenberg are objecting to the night shoot on the grounds of noise, trauma to animals, and potential environmental damage, perhaps your best course is to take a longer organisational view of the immediate problem, and get this group of people to meet regularly to discuss what they would like to see happening in the area, and formulate demands that can be put to the ward councillor, Aimee Kuhl. Apparently there are also plans for a peaceful protest.
To hold the authorities to account, you have to be organised, so that they understand that there will be consequences for not consulting the community in future.
Answered on Feb. 13, 2019, 11:24 a.m.
See more questions and answers
Please note. We are not lawyers or financial advisors. We do our best to make the answers accurate, but we cannot accept any legal liability if there are errors.