2008/09/16
Dune mining – who benefits?
THE astonishing admission on Friday by the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Buyelwa Sonjica, that the consultation process in the planned multi- billion rand titanium mining project at Xolobeni on the Wild Coast was “flawed” raises a number of questions.
Sonjica’s admission followed a heated meeting the same day where the lawyer acting on behalf of AmaMpondo king Mpondomini Sigcau levelled several damning accusations against her department.
Demanding that the licence granted to Australian company Mineral Resources Commodities (MRC) and its black economic empowerment partner, Xolobeni Empowerment Company, to mine the dunes be withdrawn and that Sonjica institute an investigation into the planned project, the king’s lawyer, Votani Majola, made no bones about how Sigcau – who has opposed the project – feels. He said:
l “No proper procedures were taken”;
l Traditional leaders were not consulted, and would anyway never agree to “people from another country coming and employing us on our land”; and
l “The people who would benefit were politicians”.
After the meeting Sonjica told the media she was “disappointed because most of the things said here today, I did not know.”
But how is this possible? When initiating such a project surely the custodians of the land are the first port of call?
Also, government cannot plead ignorance about the opposition to the project – it has been widely reported nationally, including the violence that has erupted.
And Sonjica was in the area herself just one month ago to try and convince people to support the mining.
There are already serious questions over the dubious manner in which her department seems to have pushed the mining rights through. Despite warnings in the environmental impact assessment, and huge questions around the mining company’s financial viability, the department, according to The Times, quietly went ahead and issued the mining licence on July 14. They did this without notifying the South African Human Rights Commission, which had accused the mining company of violating seven constitutional rights.
And, by the time the Xolobeni community found out that the licence had been granted, only two days of the 30 days the public had to protest, remained.
These are not the hallmarks of a transparent process in which a community’s interest takes priority.
This newspaper has already called for the project to be put on hold and the sign- off date of October 31 to be cancelled pending a thorough, independent inquiry.
Following Majola’s revelations we repeat that call. Of particular interest is: Which politician stands to get the biggest piece of this pie?
Posted on September 17th, 2008 by Louis
Filed under: Articles | No Comments »
