Mantashe opposed world heritage status for Barberton mountains because of job loss fears
Mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe was opposed to the Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains gaining World Heritage Site status because the area is home to at least 500 tons of easily accessible gold — equal to centuries worth of mining. A letter leaked to Times Select reveals that Mantashe wrote to environmental affairs minister Edna Molewa a month before the decision‚ urging her to ensure that jobs and economic development were not be trumped by conservation. The mountains were granted world heritage status by Unesco in July. The rocks in the mountains in Mpumalanga are thought to be one of the oldest places on Earth — between 3.2-billion and 3.6-billion years old. The departments of arts and culture and the department of environmental affairs successfully pushed for the mountains to be added as a site. Mining company Pan African Resources‚ which provides nearly all the jobs in Barberton‚ also unsuccessfully objected to some parts of the mountainous site receiving world heritage sta...
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