Xolobeni row flares up again
Publish date: 22 January 2019
Issue Number: 589
Diary: Legalbrief Environmental
Category: Mining
Unresolved conflict between government and the Xolobeni community reignited last week, with Minister Gwede Mantashe's announcement that a survey would be conducted in the area to gauge public support for mining, writes Legalbrief. Mantashe, after meeting with the community last week, said a 'firm decision forward' would be taken based on the outcome of the survey, notes a report in The Citizen. ‘If mining goes ahead in Xolobeni, it must be sustainable and co-exist with tourism, agriculture and other economic development initiatives.’ The Mineral Resources Department said the survey was in line with one of the outcomes of the judgment in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) last year, calling for thorough consultation of the Xolobeni community prior to any granting of a mining right. If the community says no, there will be no mining, if the community says yes, mining will proceed, the department said. ‘Whichever right-owner is granted the licence to mine must also adhere strictly to the provisions in the MPRDA (Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act) and Mining Charter, including implementation of social and labour plans,’ Mantashe said. The meeting was tension-ridden, with strong opinions on both sides of the spectrum within the community, notably towards the end of the meeting. As a result, police used stun grenades to disperse the crowd at the event.
The Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) has vowed to not allow the community survey proposed by Mantashe to take place at Xolobeni. According to a report on the IoL site, Mantashe on Wednesday visited the Xolobeni community, which has been divided over the proposed mining of sand dunes along the Wild Coast for over a decade. Before Mantashe arrived, the ACC said on its Facebook page that the agenda for the meeting was ‘impossible’ and ‘simply arrogant’. They also noted Mantashe's late arrival. As with Mantashe's last visit to the area, Wednesday's engagement at Xolobeni sports ground descended into chaos, which only deepened when a community member, who said he was part of the ACC, supported the mining. But ACC spokesperson Nonhle Mbuthuma said the committee believed the man was ‘paid to "lie about being part of ACC".’ ‘We never had such a person in Amadiba Crisis Committee. The fact that Mantashe allowed him to speak and refused the real members of the committee an opportunity to speak tells us something,’ Mbuthuma said. She said the ACC would not allow the survey to take place. ‘We don't trust that the survey will be independent and credible, it will be rigged to produce an outcome that supports the mining. We also don't understand why the Minister is using state funds on surveys as if it's the department that wants the mining,’ she added.
Community rights bodies have come out in support of the beleaguered Xolobeni residents. Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua) and Women Affected by Mining United in Action last week announced plans to picket at the offices of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR). According to a Mining Weekly report, this would be to serve notice that, should Mantashe and the DMR continue to ‘bully’ the community of Xolobeni, Macua would launch a national campaign in support of the community, which would see mining affected communities from across SA take to the streets. Macua believed Mantashe was ignoring court rulings compelling him to consult with mining affected communities as legitimate stakeholders of the mining sector.
Any survey of residents of Xolobeni about mining commissioned by government will simply amount to intimidation and could be in contravention of a recent ruling of the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria), according to the Bench Marks Foundation. According to a Bizcommunity report, the organisation was responding to a meeting on 8 January between lawyers representing the ACC and Mantashe. ‘By far the majority of households – 68 out of 72 – in the planned mining area are part of the litigation against the state that was ruled on by the Gauteng High Court, and in which Bench Marks Foundation was the final applicant. The state was the respondent in this case and has appealed the court’s findings. For it to approach the households in question at this point would be an unacceptable act of intimidation,’ says John Cape, Bench Marks executive director. ‘The Amadiba Crisis Committee, which represents the majority of households in the area, has made it very clear that the application by Australian company Transworld Energy and Mineral Resources should be dismissed and a moratorium on mining in the area should be declared.’ Capel added that communities seldom benefit from mining, but face all the negative impacts of mining, from land loss, land degradation, air quality and health problems, water contamination, lack of access to clean water, and a host of airborne diseases. Christopher Rutledge, Action Aid’s natural resources manager in SA, said the organisation was disappointed in Mantashe. 'The Minister is playing games. He is subverting the Constitution to a tick-box exercise. When he came in he gave us hope that he was going to change things. He is treating residents like subjects rather than citizens,' said Rutledge.
A study has found that the mining industry only benefits a few while condemning mining-affected communities to poverty and violence. According to a report in The Mercury, the research, to be officially unveiled early next month, was conducted by ActionAid SA (Aasa) on the socio, political and economic conditions of mining-affected communities in SA. ‘(The) research completely debunked claims by the Minister that mining will bring jobs and development to communities such as Xolobeni,’ the research found. The research has found that: 73% of respondents indicated that no individuals in their households were either currently employed or previously employed by the mine; of the 27% who indicated that someone in their household was employed at a mine, 41% indicated that they were casual or manual jobs; 79% indicated that there was no benefit from the mines at all; and 40% of women indicated that jobs are only accessible through sexual favours. The research, which was conducted in eight communities across SA, also found that mining-affected communities were faced with deteriorating health and well-being. Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute executive director Francesca de Gasparis, said the rural community ‘live well off their land and the ocean and have a deep respect for their ecological and cultural heritage’. ‘However, should government plans for mining not be stopped, their way of life – which goes back more than 300 years – will be severely compromised, along with the Pondoland centre of plant endemism,’ De Gasparis said. De Gasparis said it seemed as though ‘government and the mining company were pitting community members against each other, manipulating the situation, and ignoring the court ruling’.
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South African human rights activist and social worker John Clarke last week threatened to sue AmaMpondo king Zanozuko Sigcau for defamation. According to a Daily Dispatch report, Clarke said he would also sue if the king prevented him from carrying out his professional work. He said he would sue if the king again said that he was inciting violence and misleading the people of Xolobeni in order to prevent mining. Clarke was speaking outside the Mbizana Magistrate’s Court where well-known South African civil rights lawyer and Xolobeni anti-mining group attorney Richard Spoor was being charged with inciting violence. Charges were laid against Spoor by the police deputy provincial commissioner, Maj-Gen Andre Swart, following chaos that erupted in Xolobeni Mantashe’s meeting with the villagers in September 2018. Last week, the king commented at a public meeting that Clarke was ‘one of the white people’ who were dividing the people of Xolobeni. Clarke said he was a social worker assisting the people of Xolobeni in exercising their human rights. He said he was working with the ACC, and he recognised Sigcau as a chief. Clarke said the king should be uniting AmaMpondo rather than dividing them and taking sides. ‘We never imposed ideas on the people of Xolobeni, but we advised them of their human rights,’ he said. Spoor said they would make representations to the NPA to have the ‘spurious’ charges withdrawn. The case was postponed to 28 March for further investigation.
