September 21, 2008 Edition 2

Annie Dorasamy

After a mammoth battle to save pristine wilderness along the Wild Coast, there seems to be a glimmer of hope for Xolobeni, the traditional homeland of the AmaDiba people.

Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica this week stayed the mining rights awarded to Australian company Mineral Resource Commodities and its South African partner, Transworld Energy and Minerals, which would have come into effect next month.

Their plan to mine titanium along a 22km stretch of coastal dunes south of Port Edward would have changed the way of life of the AmaDiba people, who have been living in the area for centuries.

The minister, in a letter to the Legal Resource Centre (LRC), which had taken up the cudgels of the AmaDiba Crisis Committee, said the right to mine would not come into effect on October 31.

This was so she could consult with King Mpondo-mbini Sigcau, Queen MaSobhuza and Chief Ndabazakhe Baleni, and hold hearings where the LRC will make submissions on why she should withdraw the decision to allow the mining.

Sarah Sephton, acting for the AmaDiba Crisis Committee, said, “If the Xolobeni Mineral Sand and Mining project had proceed as planned, the AmaDiba community would have faced permanent and significant changes to their traditional way of life and their connection to the land.

“Such changes would involve forced evictions, loss of access to farmland, income and means of subsistence, relocation of ancestral graves, destruction of culturally important archaeological sites and negative impacts on residents’ health. The mining would result in unacceptable levels of pollution and damage to the environment and would alter the life of the community to its detriment.”

Sephton said she was pleased the minister was taking up the concerns raised in the internal appeal and hoped for a decision that would lead to the withdrawal of the mining licence.

The LRC earlier sent an ultimatum to Sonjica telling her that if the mining licence was not suspended by October 1, it was prepared to go to court.

Posted on September 22nd, 2008
Filed under: Newspaper and Media