Sand mining over our dead bodies
Wild Coast faction vows to oppose ‘exploitation of land’
THE bitter feud over sand mining in a Wild Coast village is far from over with a threat from defiant opponents that they would rather die than betray future generations.
The group of more than 3 000 members of the Amadiba Crisis Committee (AMC) said living with the guilt of betrayal would be worse than death.
Their threat comes as four AMC members were arrested yesterday for their part in violent clashes.
Scores of residents from at least five villages in Mgungundlovu Administrative Area, popularly known as Xolobeni, gathered at the Mbizana Magistrate’s Court yesterday to demand the immediate release of Kakiwe Mtwa, 55, who was charged with malicious damage to property for allegedly smashing the car of a rival group member, Zamile Qunya.
Qunya, of the Xolobeni Empowerment Company (Xolco), was heading a nine-vehicle convoy driving to the proposed mining site at Kwanyana Beach last week when they were stopped by an armed group who barricaded the road.
On Sunday, when the convoy again attempted to break through the roadblock, the two groups clashed.
Yesterday, the four members of the AMC were arrested on charges of intimidation, but released pending further police investigation. There was confusion at the court when the prosecutor said he had not received a docket charging Mtwa.
For nearly two decades, residents have been at each other’s throats over the proposed mining of titanium-rich red sand on the coastline by Australian company, Mineral Commodities (MRC).
AMC’s resistance to the mining project is backed by human rights attorney Richard Spoor and the Legal Resource Centre.
The Daily Dispatch visited Xolobeni yesterday where residents voiced their opinions on the proposed development.
A 64-year-old Mabhuti Tanci said not all of them would benefit from the project were it to go ahead.
“We are not educated. We are unskilled. We will miss out on job opportunities because we don’t have the ability to operate those machines [used for mining].”
He also asked what would be left for the community when the 22-year mining licence expired.
AMC spokeswoman Nonhle Mbuthuma said they opposed any exploitation of the land that has provided sustenance to their families and their livestock.
Among other reasons, she said, the mining would disturb their ancestors’ graves, and the crops, grazing and estuaries they depended on to survive.
Mbuthuma said their water reservoirs would be depleted by the time the envisaged mining came to an end.
“Where will our children’s children get their water from?”
Ward 25 councillor Nokwamkela Mteki denounced the violence in Xolobeni.
“The situation is grave, I don’t want to lie. We must stop fighting. People must sit down and talk.”
She said it was for the mining owners to come to the community and sit down with those residents who were concerned with the project.
Chief Lunga Baleni, who is said to be in favour of the development and has been accused of trying to force his view on residents, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The community will today hold an imbizo at Chief Baleni’s homestead to discuss their way forward. —