Xolobeni fights mining proposal
Few benefits accrue to locals
NONHLE Mbuthuma has lived all her life in Xolobeni in the Eastern Cape. She is a 40-year-old mother of one who farms at home and in the communal area.
For her, Xolobeni is not just a geographical area with mineral riches where an entire community can be uprooted for the sake of profit. Xolobeni is home – she was born there and has built her entire life in the area.
Xolobeni is where her heritage and identity are, it is where her family lives and where some of her loved ones are buried. For her it is where life begins and ends.
Recalling what her grandfather had said to her before he died, Mbuthuma said: “He told me that they fought for this land during the 50s, they fought to protect the land for us, to make sure we live in a healthy environment.
“So when I look at my grandfather’s grave, it pains me to still be fighting the same fight he fought in the 50s in 2018.”
This week in the high court in Pretoria, the Amadiba Crisis Committee – a group of Xolobeni community members represented by Richard Spoor Inc Attorneys and the Legal Resources Centre – argued that the Department of Mineral Resources cannot allow Australian mining company Mineral Resources Commodities to mine titanium in Xolobeni.
In 2007, the Australian miner applied for a mining right for titanium in Xolobeni, but for the past 11 years, residents have pushed back against attempts by the miner to operate in the area.
In 2015, one of the leaders of the community was assassinated months after an attempt by the company to mine the area.
Mining companies in South Africa have been subjected to the wrath of communities experiencing rising unemployment, and many mining houses have been accused of failing to implement their social development and labour plans for the communities they operate in.
This was confirmed by a study by non-profit organisation The Bench Marks Foundation.
The foundation’s Hassan Lorgat said studies showed that people who lived in mining areas, had mostly not benefited.
Lorgat said he was optimistic about the arguments presented in court in the Xolobeni case.
Johan Lorenzen, a lawyer at Richard Spoor Inc, said 68 of the 75 households in the Xolobeni area farmed livestock and the land was used for grazing.
Lorenzen added that most of the members farmed enough to sell some of their produce.
There were about 600 graves in the area that the residents valued. Therefore, the significance of the area means it is a customary law issue.
The non-profit Oxfam this week also released a report in support of the Xolobeni community which shows the Australian miner, which has another mine in Matzikama, near Cape Town, has failed to deliver on its community responsibilities in that area.
The Bench Marks Foundation and the lawyers were optimistic about the judgment, which they hope will be delivered within three months, but said they were ready to appeal if the judgment was not in their favour. —