When mining leads to bloodstained rural tragedy

The six bullets pulled out of the body of 65-year-old KwaZulu-Natal grandmother Fikile Ntshangase this week are a stark reminder of the diabolical intersection of SA’s geological riches and casualties of development. Ntshangase was at the forefront of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation that is opposed to the proposed 220km² expansion to the existing Somkhele mine in northern KZN. The anthracite mine, which has been operating since 2007, is the subject of three court cases, one of which seeks to overturn the 2016 expansion plan approval based on the argument that the mine didn’t have the required documents to have been granted rights to operate. Ntshangase’s assassination comes after she rejected a financial incentive to capitulate on her stance, raising inevitable questions as to whether she may have paid the ultimate price for her resistance.

Her death renews the pain over the unsolved 2016 assassination of anti-mining activist Sikhosiphi “Bazooka” Radebe, who was shot eight times outside his Eastern Cape home. It struck renewed fear in some anti-mining activists, and resolve in others to expose how the unchecked development of a valuable resource can lead to environmental degradation and pit poor rural communities against each other for profit.

A 2018 Human Rights Watch report documented threats and attacks against community activists, as well as extra-legal restrictions and police crackdowns on protests, in mining-affected communities in KZN, Limpopo, North West and the Eastern Cape between 2013 and 2018. The report found that activists believe these incidents may have been facilitated by police, government officials, private security providers or others apparently acting on behalf of mining companies. It made targeted recommendations for a host of role payers including the presidency, the Hawks, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate and National Prosecuting Authority, as well as the departments of police, justice and mineral resources & energy, and mining companies.

Yet an environment of fear persists and the malfeasance continues. This bloodstained tango of influence and authority must not be allowed to continue to dance over the graves of Ntshangase and other fallen heroes.