A ministerial halt has been called on mining at Xolobeni for the next 18 months.
One lawyer representing the Wild Coast community has hailed the decision as one of the most significant in the 12-year battle to keep out controversial Australian mining company, MRC and their South African subsidiary, TEM.
Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane yesterday cited “significant social disintegration and a highly volatile current situation in the area” when he declared the moratorium in the government gazette.
Attorney Henk Smith, of the Legal Resources Centre in Cape Town, called the move highly significant.
“Will we ever have such a good case where a community can decide if they want mining?
“The moratorium shows that government is faltering.”
Smith said: “Who is causing the volatile situation?”
He said the minister’s views were at odds with those of Xolobeni and many in government, who felt international miners were aggressively attracting unsavoury local elites, who were behind the turmoil.
Smith said his attorney Richard Spoor had written to the minister two weeks ago threatening to get a high court decision to allow the local community to decide on the mining question.
Zwane’s decision was published in yesterday’s Government Gazette number 40277, item 1014, after more than a decade of popular resistance to the campaign by MRC and their black empowerment partners to extract minerals from the red dunes at Xolobeni.
Zwane invoked Section 49 (1) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act to prevent Transworld Energy and Mineral Resources SA (Pty) (TEM) from pursuing their mining application and from lodging any more prospecting or mining applications in the area.
The minister added the proviso that the prohibition would only be lifted if he was satisfied that the community conflict and unrest has been resolved.
Zwane stated the moratorium would be in place on state land situated in the Xolobeni area, known as mining blocks Mpahlane, Mnyameni, Kwanyana, Sikombe and Mtentu within the magisterial district of Mbizana.
He also invited relevant stakeholders to submit their presentations in writing by October 7.
The minister’s main opposition group, the Amadiba Crisis Committee, was unavailable for comment late yesterday. — mikel@dispatch.co.za
Xolobeni mining bid on hold for 18 months
One lawyer representing the Wild Coast community has hailed the decision as one of the most significant in the 12-year battle to keep out controversial Australian mining company, MRC and their South African subsidiary, TEM.
Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane yesterday cited “significant social disintegration and a highly volatile current situation in the area” when he declared the moratorium in the government gazette.
Attorney Henk Smith, of the Legal Resources Centre in Cape Town, called the move highly significant.
“Will we ever have such a good case where a community can decide if they want mining?
“The moratorium shows that government is faltering.”
Smith said: “Who is causing the volatile situation?”
He said the minister’s views were at odds with those of Xolobeni and many in government, who felt international miners were aggressively attracting unsavoury local elites, who were behind the turmoil.
Smith said his attorney Richard Spoor had written to the minister two weeks ago threatening to get a high court decision to allow the local community to decide on the mining question.
Zwane’s decision was published in yesterday’s Government Gazette number 40277, item 1014, after more than a decade of popular resistance to the campaign by MRC and their black empowerment partners to extract minerals from the red dunes at Xolobeni.
Zwane invoked Section 49 (1) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act to prevent Transworld Energy and Mineral Resources SA (Pty) (TEM) from pursuing their mining application and from lodging any more prospecting or mining applications in the area.
The minister added the proviso that the prohibition would only be lifted if he was satisfied that the community conflict and unrest has been resolved.
Zwane stated the moratorium would be in place on state land situated in the Xolobeni area, known as mining blocks Mpahlane, Mnyameni, Kwanyana, Sikombe and Mtentu within the magisterial district of Mbizana.
He also invited relevant stakeholders to submit their presentations in writing by October 7.
The minister’s main opposition group, the Amadiba Crisis Committee, was unavailable for comment late yesterday. — mikel@dispatch.co.za
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