Xolobeni ‘no’ to minister’s return to Mpondoland

It is set to be a battle of wills, but for now residents of Xolobeni in Mpondoland are calling the shots to keep mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe at arm’s length.

This comes after Mantashe wrote a letter to the residents’ lawyer, Richard Spoor, inviting him and his clients, the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC), to a mining and economic development meeting in Xolobeni on January 16.

But despite residents saying they do not want the minister there, Mantashe said he was going ahead with the meeting.

“If we allow this to happen, it’s going to be a trend across the country,” he said.

Crisis committee leader Nonhle Mbuthuma said Mantashe would not be allowed back on their land.

“Don’t come, minister Mantashe. We don’t want Mantashe’s third coming to our community . . .

“He asked to meet our lawyers and, as explained several times, the mining minister is not welcomed by the community.

“[The department of mineral resources] should stop the campaign for mining in Xolobeni.”

She said Mantashe had created the chaos in September 2018 that led to Spoor’s arrest.

He was charged with disobeying a police officer’s instruction, pointing a finger at an officer, inciting public violence, and common assault after marching to and protesting outside a meeting headed by Mantashe.

Spoor was released on a warning and is expected back in court on January 17.

“On November 22, the Pretoria High Court ruled that our community has the right to say ‘no’ to mining.

“Communities that have suffered from colonialism and apartheid must give ‘full and informed’ consent before [the department] can approve mining on their land,” Mbuthuma said.

Mantashe said he would not be banned by “some structure” in the community.

“We have a meeting there next week and all the invited stakeholders will be there.

“We can’t be banned by a structure, no, that meeting is going ahead next week and I will see you there.”

In a letter, Mantashe wrote on December 20 to Spoor about the ministerial community consultation meeting on mining and economic development, he said he wanted the Amadiba Crisis Committee to be part of it.

Mbuthuma said human rights organisations should tell Mantashe not to return to their area.

“We appeal to all concerned about land and human rights to tell Mantashe to stop his ‘third coming’.”

The mining issue started

‘We don’t want Mantashe’s third coming to our community . . .’

Nonhle Mbuthuma AMADIBA CRISIS COMMITTEE LEADER

more than 10 years ago in the area when a subsidiary of the Australian mining company Mineral Commodities/Transworld Energy and Minerals, applied for open-cast mining on a 22km-long stretch on the beaches.

Many households were to be affected by the mining, Mbuthuma said, because graves were to be exhumed and relocated.

The overwhelming majority of these families have graves in the area and they are considered to be essential sites for family and community rituals.

In April 2018, the committee went to the Pretoria high court to try to halt any mining in their area.

They argued that Xolobeni residents must give consent rather than “merely be consulted” before a mining licence is issued in their area.

The court ruled in their favour, ordering the department to “obtain full consent from the community before it issues a mining licence”. –