Village fears 12 murders linked to mining and oil

● Businessman Joseph Zwane* lives in hiding, constantly looking over his shoulder. Such caution, he believes, has kept him from becoming murder victim No 13 in the village of eMpembeni, near Richards Bay in rural KwaZulu-Natal. In 16 months, 12 people have been murdered in the village.

Zwane said the murders were linked to opposition to planned mining and to a proposed oil refinery on ancestral land.

Community activists and residents said the village, where most residents live below the poverty line, had become a “killing field”. They said the murders began soon after a delegation visited the area in 2017. The delegation came with drones and surveyors. Residents have called on the provincial and national governments to intervene, but the killings have continued, they said.

Zwane said the delegation that came to the village was “from overseas”.

“They met with members of the community and traditional leadership. They were speaking of a massive oil development and promised people millions of rands.”

eMpembeni has also been earmarked as a possible site for an oil refinery in a deal facilitated by President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Saudi Arabian counterpart last year.

Zwane said the delegation had told the community that “if everyone could agree that they could come into the area and drill for oil, they would receive a lot of money”.

He said he and others — including some of the people who had been murdered — had publicly questioned the deal.

Zwane said that after being twice threatened at gunpoint by an unknown man, he was tipped off about an ambush and the shooting of someone close to him. After the warnings, he fled the area late last year.

In January, the department of energy said it had ordered the Central Energy Fund to work with Saudi Aramco, the biggest oil company in the world and a partner in the oil refinery deal, to investigate suitable sites for a refinery and petrochemical plant.

The department told the Sunday Times: “The outcomes of the work done in investigating this matter will be made public as soon as a decision is made.”

Neither the department nor the presidency responded to questions about the recent murders in the area. Three of the victims were Lungani Biyela, 25, Bheki Ntuli, 30, and two-year-old Angel Ncube, who were shot on May 10 while they slept. Their homestead was then set alight. Two people survived and are being protected by the police.

When the Sunday Times visited the area, residents spoke about living in fear.

Community activist and violence monitor Mary de Haas said she had written letters since last year to various government organisations following the murders.

“There is a culture of secrecy over what is going on, but the people are being shortchanged,” De Haas said.

She said the national police commissioner, Khehla Sitole, had set up a team reporting to the cluster commander of the King Cetshwayo region, which includes eMpembeni, to investigate the murders. Three people have since been arrested.

Last year EFF MP Phillip Mhlongo asked deputy minister of mineral resources Godfrey Oliphant about an oil refinery in eMpembeni.

Oliphant confirmed that the issue had been brought to his attention but said it was more of a security concern.

* Not his real name