Mining Affected Communities, organised by MACUA, participated in three days of Pickets at the Mining Lekgotla in Sandton during August. Over 200 community members sang, danced and raised their banners and pickets to voice their demand for a more inclusive extractives industry.
Communities from Gauteng, Free State, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo called for the scrapping of the Minerals Petroleum Resources Development Act(MPRDA) and for the return of their land and resources.
The Lekotla, which is organised by the Chamber of Mines, together with the National Union of Mineworkers and the Department of Mineral Resources, did not include any community voices and also excluded AMCU from proceedings.
This exclusion follows the path of the Minerals Petroleum Resources Development Act`s exclusion of communities from deciding on their own futures. MACUA has subsequently made a submission to Parliament on the MPRDA.
