Coal mining dispute tears at Mtubatuba community again
After five years of litigation residents of Mtubatuba are still divided over the expansion of the Tendele coal mine, with the company threatening to cease operations if it cannot resume mining soon.
Tendele Coal Mining, 80%owned by JSE-listed miner Petmin, has operated the Somkhele mine in northern KwaZulu-Natal since 2007. The mine’s coal resources are almost depleted.
The proposal to expand its operation has stoked tension in the area, which rose to prominence in October 2020 when Fikile Ntshangase, a community activist opposed to the expansion, was gunned down in her home.
The dispute again brings to the fore the conflicting interests of economic development and environmental protection bedevilling the country.
Last week, community members, some living within 500m of the proposed new open-pit mines, filed an application in the Pietermaritzburg high court to halt imminent road construction to the new mining area until a new court case on June 9. They were successful in stopping the road-building project for the next two weeks.
Court cases about the mine’s expansion have been ongoing since 2018 when the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (MCEJO) and legal group All Rise brought a case against Tendele to stop the expansion and review their mining rights.
About 3,000 community members, who are subsistence farmers and are part of the MCEJO, do not want to reside near the new mines due to concerns about dust, water pollution and noise, said All Rise attorney Kirsten Youens.
Resident Duminsani Ntombela voiced his opposition to additional mines, telling Business Day he had concerns about noise and dust near his home. He also claimed the current mine did not provide him with a job and criticised the exclusion of community members opposed to the mine from their community meetings. Ntombela said supporters did not really live in the area.
Those in support of the roadbuilding project and the new mine issued a press release on Sunday expressing concern that they will not earn income for the next two weeks. They emphasise their desire for mining and job opportunities and accuse All Rise of impeding development and employment.
The Mpukunyoni Traditional Council, the Mpukunyoni Community Mining Forum, the National Union of Mineworkers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union support the expansion of the mining operation.
They said the organisations cumulatively represented 220,000 community members. Their legal papers indicate that the ongoing conflict and hardship experienced within the Mpukunyoni community was a direct result of the All Rise strategy to try to close the mine.
In 2021, Tendele withdrew its 212km² mining right as it was not valid and said it would focus on three new opencast coal mines that it said it needed to survive.
In May 2022, judge Noluntu Bam ordered Tendele to redo the community participation process and the environmental impact assessment regarding its new mines.
After redoing the process, Tendele issued a statement in March that it could resume mining — only to be opposed by All Rise again.