Sunday Tribune May 13, 2007 Edition 2
by Myrtle Ryan

As the battle surrounding the mining of dunes in the Xolobeni area of the Eastern Cape rages on, the South African Human Rights Commission has also entered the fray.

Human rights workers are insisting that in addition to the required scoping and environmental impact assessment reports and public participation process (which Australian mining company Mineral Resource Commodities (MRC) will have to follow) an equally important issue needs to be addressed.

This is the human element and the negative impact mining could have on the local communities for generations to come.

They have turned to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) to assist as watchdogs for the community and human rights lawyer Richard Spoor, consultant social worker John Clarke and founder member of Sustaining the Wild Coast Assocation, and Mzimhle Popo, an attorney from the Eastern Cape office of the HRC, visited members of the communities - who live near the proposed controversial dune mining - where they consulted with about 75 residents firmly opposed to the mining application.

The team also spoke to King Mpondombini Sigcau and his wife, Queen MaSobhuza Sigcau, who according to Clarke were delighted to learn that the HRC was gathering information on an impartial basis, because it had the clout as a state institution responsible for promoting understanding and adherence of fundamental human rights already entrenched in the South African constitution - for all citizens, especially those in remote, isolated and historically neglected places such as the AmaMpondo.

“There is a fundamentally unequal power relationship between such communities and foreign mining companies, so we have called in the HRC to investigate allegations that the right to freedom of expression has been violated in the past, because people have been denied free access to the media,” said Clarke. “The community also stands to have their environmental rights violated in future if the mining goes ahead as planned by MRC.”

He expressed the hope that the HRC would call public hearings that promoted an open and transparent climate so that affected parties could challenge the MRC Mining Rights Application.

Plundering

The Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) is about to begin a 180 day evaluation of the application, which comprises an Environmental Management Plan, a Social and Labour Plan, a Mining Economics Plan, and a Health and Safety Plan.

“We simply want to ensure DME is scrupulous in its assessment to ensure there would be no plundering for short-term profit,” said Clarke, adding that he had applied to the department under the Public Access to Information Act - another human right entrenched in the Constitution - for a copy of the Mining Rights Application so that it can be scrutinised by independent experts.

As to sustainability, there was no guarantee that the short-term benefits of mining could be sustained. The youth of the area could inherit a worked out mine, in an environmentally damaged area, which offered little to encourage visitors who in turn would plough money into the economy, he said.

The whole situation had the potential for violence and there were already rumblings in the community, who had pointed out that in the Pondo Uprisings of the 1960s even tribal chiefs had been killed when they were perceived to be giving away land belonging to the people to outsiders.

Clarke maintains that while MRC is citing Xolobeni as a “project” it could more accurately be described as a “venture”, that is, something which has no guarantee of success.

“The risk of this venture will be borne by the Xolobeni community, rather than MRC itself, because they (the community) have not been given sufficient information.

Having seen the 2006 Annual Report for MRC (there are only three directors), he said it was obvious the company’s orientation was towards exploration in different parts of the world. It has also applied for a prospecting right for its Tormin Zircon Project in the Western Cape, and has diamond tailings mining in Sierra Leone.

Speculative

Clarke believes the Australian Stock Exchange rules encourage junior mining companies to list publicly to attract what is essentially speculative investment. A similar venture, he felt, would not have made the grade in South Africa.

“South African stock exchange rules would preclude it from operating here,” said Clarke.

Furthermore MRC’s subsidiaries in this country - Transworld Energy and Minerals and the Xolobeni Community Empowerment Company (XolCo) - as private rather than public bodies, were less open to scrutiny.

Many of the XolCo Directors (drawn from the community) Clarke said, did not seem aware of the many ramifications of the mining issue and that it was potentially a gross violation of their own rights, as they would be left “holding the baby” if MRC sold out or floundered.

“The 26% share of Xolco is valued at about R126 million. MRC say they will lend them the money to purchase the shares. Where is that money coming from?” Clarke asked.

The HRC would ensure there was no exploitation, would ensure everyone had access to reliable information in terms of the Public Information Act and, most important of all, that Section 24 of the Bill of Rights was upheld, that is, “the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing; and to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation; promote conservation; and secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development,” said Clarke.

John Barnes, General Manager for MRC Resources in South Africa, said MRC was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, was audited, and followed guidelines on corporate governance laid down by that country’s stock exchange.

“It is my belief that the Australian Stock Exchange sets the highest standards of accountability,” he said.

“TEM has embraced the empowerment charter in South Africa through the development of XolCo through its community based trusts,” said Barnes.

For more information, visit the website of the Sustain the Wild Coast Campaign www.swc.org.za.

Posted on May 13th, 2007
Filed under: Newspaper and Media