We attended the recent HRC Subpoena Hearing attended by representatives from the Departments of Minerals and Energy, Environmental Affairs and Tourism and Land Affairs at the Human Rights Commission Offices in as observers, and on behalf of the Amadiba Crisis Committee and Sustaining the Wild Coast Association, we have the following statement for immediate release.

We welcome Commissioner Leon Wessel’s decision, as chair of the subpoena hearing held today at the offices of the Human Rights Commission, to reserve the right of the HRC to adjourn the meeting and reconvene it at a later date.

In order to ensure a properly informed and fully contextualised decision making process we further call upon the HRC to reconvene the meeting in the Amadiba Tribal Administrative Area where the mining development is proposed to occur, so that the Honourable Ministers, government officials and the media, can experience first hand the Amadiba Coastal area of the Pondoland Wild Coast, and to meet the five affected coastal communities face to face.

We were disappointed that the Ministers did not attend the hearings themselves, and delegated the matter to departmental officials and urge the Honourable Ministers concerned to personally lead their delegations to the reconvened meeting. The highly tense situation requires political leadership as well as HRC mediation in support of the joint effort of the Amadiba Crisis Committee, Sustaining the Wild Coast and the South African Faith Communities Environment Institute joint efforts to create a climate conducive to the development of sustainable livelihoods for residents on the Wild Coast.

In addition we call on the HRC to invite the Minister of Provincial and Local Government and his departmental officials responsible for the implementation of the new Local Economic Development (LED) Sustainable Community Investment Programme (SCIP0 to the reconvened subpoena hearing.

Finally while welcoming the HRC’s intervention to ensure due compliance with legal requirements by government departments, we urge the Commission not to lose sight of the substantive complaint lodged by the Amadiba Crisis Committee, and to make a finding in respect of the ACC’s allegations one way or the other.

Nonhle Mbuthuma (0763592982)
John Clarke (0836080944)

Photograph.
Caption. Nonhle Mbuthuma speaking to journalists at the HRC Subpoena Hearing.

Posted on April 24th, 2008
Filed under: Newspaper and Media