[imagesource: matroosberg.com]

Last year, buckets of snow fell down along the Matroosberg route.

Seeing that amount of snow in South Africa is as rare and mythical as uninterrupted electricity, so when it happens, everyone wants to enjoy it while it lasts.

But it seems that the snowline in the Matroosberg sees too many day visitors for a few people’s liking.

This part of the Western Cape mountain range has an illegal car park below the summit, as well as a 4×4 track that leads through the mountains, which has become a rather contentious issue on the eve of our next snowy season.

Some lawyers, environmental groups, and government investigators are currently fighting over whether the area should be closed off from visitors so that the environment can rejuvenate, TimesLIVE reports.

The Western Cape government has gone ahead and ruled the road illegal, but the Matroosberg Private Nature Reserve is insisting that the road is in fact legal and should remain open.

Despite the Matroosberg being within a world heritage site, the area has deteriorated quite a bit, so on May 10, the Western Cape government instructed reserve owners to stop using the route and rehabilitate the road and car park.

On the other hand, TimesLIVE has established that the owners claim to be in possession of road approval, although the matter is still under investigation.

Meanwhile, environmental groups are putting pressure on the government to keep the route closed due to the effects that crowds have on the area, which is home to rare mountain fynbos and several endangered insects found only at or near the mountain’s summit.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust and the Wildlife and Environment Society of SA (Wessa) both agree that the road should remain closed as they are concerned about the area from an environmental and conservation perspective.

The snow fight is far from over, and the two recent cold fronts that brought some light snowfall in the area hint at how much frostier these arguments are going to get.

[source:timeslive]