The Mercury

March 30, 2007 Edition 1

Tony Carnie

AN AUSTRALIAN mining company and a local black empowerment group have lodged a formal application to mine heavy minerals from the coastal dunes at Xolobeni, just south of the Wild Coast casino.

The controversial mining application was lodged yesterday with the Minerals and Energy Department in Port Elizabeth.

The project partners include the Australian group Minerals Resources Commodities (MRC), its local subsidiary company Transworld Energy and Mineral Resources and the Xolobeni community empowerment company Xolco, which has a 26% shareholding in Transworld Energy and Mineral Resources.

Alistair Ruiters, the former director-general of the Department of Trade and Industry, and Rafique Bagus, a former special adviser to Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin, are also involved in the venture through their holding company Ehlobo Heavy Minerals.

The group hopes to win environmental approval to mine heavy minerals from a 22km section of coastline which covers a lease area of about 2 800ha.

Former Richards Bay Minerals engineer John Barnes has been appointed to manage the project, which is slated to create about 550 jobs over the 20-year life span of the mine.

However, the project has sparked controversy in the region because of negative impacts on the coastal dune environment and a nature-based tourism initiative supported by EU funding.

The involvement of Ruiters and Bagus has also been questioned on the basis that senior state officials should not take up appointments in the private sector if there is a possibility that they have inside knowledge of key government policy decisions.

The head of Xolco, Zamile Madiba Qunya, has also come under fire for his financial interests in the mining venture and simultaneous leadership of the Amadiba Coastal Communities Development Association which runs nature-based tourism projects in the area.

Social worker John Clarke warned last year about “an extremely serious and potentially violent situation” in Xolobeni because of the rival mining and tourism development plans.

In a letter to the Perth-based MRC group, Clarke said certain leaders in the area were intimidating locals and using a strategy of “manipulated consent” to promote mining as the only solution.

MRC Managing Director Mark Caruso responded that he was willing to investigate the situation, but said his company was operating strictly within the law.

A further point of contention has been the relationship between the Xolobeni mining venture and the proposed N2 Wild Coast Toll Road.

Several observers have suggested the proposed toll road was routed through Xolobeni to service the mining group’s transport needs.

SA National Road Agency chief Nazir Alli denied that.

Posted on March 30th, 2007
Filed under: Newspaper and Media