Residents moved to allow mining

A BLIND pensioner from Limpopo is prepared to abandon a township house built for her by a mining company to return to her ancestral land where she was removed to make way for the expansion of mining operations four years ago.

Phillistas Ngwato, 74, is one of 200 households who resettled in Praktiseer, a township near Burgersfort, Limpopo, to make way for mining. She now wants to return to Segorong village, which was obliterated from the map, in favour of andalusite mining.

Negotiations between the people of Segorong and Rhino Minerals started in 2001 until the community agreed to the move in 2012.

Ngwato said four years after the move she felt the mine had dumped her in Praktiseer.

“I want to go back to the place where they found me. Life was much better there,” she said.

She’s not alone in this feeling. Community members have been discussing their exodus back to Segorong in meetings recently.

Ngwato said their section of Praktiseer was underdeveloped while their children attended school in mobile classrooms.

She also complained about the open sewage that emits a horrible stench.

Community leader Zeb Mabisu said the community was angry that the company had failed to honour the initial relocation agreements.

Mabisu said people were also concerned about discrepancies in relocation fees and the alleged removal of communal graves by the company.

He said people were now preparing to move back to Segorong because they felt life was better there.

“They relocated schools but failed to build new ones. There are no churches, no sports facilities, no jobs. There’s nothing here. The community held a meeting and decided to go back after they realised that the mine was being arrogant,” Mabusi said.

Secretary for the school governing body (SGB) at the Segorong Primary School, Millicent Malepe, said pupils and teachers were struggling to cope since they were moved.

Malepe said at first the high school and the primary school were forced to share the same premises until the community complained to the mining company.

“There was no order and the academic performance of the pupils was affected,” she said.

Malepe said the mobile classrooms were also not conducive for learning.

“Our school buildings in Segorong are still there. We want to go back,” she said.

Another community member, Abel Mnisi, said people had a better chance at a progressive life at Segorong than in Praktiseer.

“We relocated to give the mine an opportunity to make money in exchange for nothing. Our schools are still standing and there is land. There is also water and people can put up structures. We will be covered,” Mnisi said. He said people’s lives had turned for the worst, adding that employment was scarce.

The executive director in charge of ethics and transformation at the company Xolisa Mvinjelwa said they were not aware that residents were planning to move back to their former homes.

Mvinjelwa said the company remained in constant contact with community structures, including the Segorong trust, the SGB and the youth forum. He said the issue of the school had already been resolved and processes where underway to begin construction.

Mvinjelwa said they suspected that certain disgruntled individuals were trying to bring discord among the community.

Magorong village was among several small villages in the scenic valleys near the Olifants River.

Andalusite is a mineral occurring mainly in metamorphic rocks. Its prisms can be gem stones, while andalusite is important in ceramics industry.