MACUA Will be Protesting in Solidarity With MCEJO and Somkhele Community Against Tendele Coal Mine and Petmin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE| 04 June 2024
Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA) will be protesting tomorrow in solidarity with the Somkhele community. The protest is against Tendele Coal Mine and its subsidiary, Petmin.
MACUA supports the MCEJO and Somkhele community’s protest against Tendele Coal Mine which has inflicted prolonged harassment and intimidation against activists and the residents of Somkhele. The parallel protests aim to expose the ongoing onslaught by the Tendele Coal Mine and its subsidiary Petmin.
Petmin has opted to contravene a court decision to halt Tendele Coal Mine’s expansion, especially since the mine has NOT YET finished the legally required Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). This is a direct violation of the Mineral and Petroleum Resource Development Act, 2002 (MPRDA) and also disregards the fundamental rights and well-being of the local residents in Somkhele. In fact, the mine sent the EIA draft with about 9000 pages for the community to comment and expect the community to comment within 30 days while the documents are also incomplete as they are missing important authorisations and addendums. The mine is being unreasonable by compiling 9000 paged document and expect the illiterate members of the community to read and comment within 30 days.
The tension between Tendele Coal Mine and the residents of Somkhele has escalated to the point where some activists have lost their lives, creating an atmosphere of fear and unease among those fighting for their rights. This situation demands immediate attention and intervention to protect the affected community members from further harm and injustice.
This will not be the last time MACUA embark on targeted protests against the Tendele Coal Mine’s subsidiary Petmin. The executives of Petmin are sitting comfortably in their offices at Bryanston while their heavy machineries are currently bulldozing and displacing the marginalised communities in Somkhele. Petmin has opted to destroy livelihoods in order to maximise their profits.
It is also important to highlight that we have not forgotten that Fikile Ntshangase was assassinated at her home on 22 October 2020. Shortly before she was murdered, Ntshangase had refused to sign a relocation agreement with the mining company, saying: “I cannot sell out my people. And if need be, I will die for my people.”
To date, no one has been held responsible for her murder. Again, another family, the Mthethwa’s in Ophondweni was attacked with 19 bullets for refusal to relocate. We commit to increasing our mobilisation efforts until Petmin, the owners of Tendele Coal Mine respect the lives and homes of the community in the Somkhele area.
Details of the march are as follows:
Time: 09H00
Location: Tendele Coal Mine at kwaMyeki area of Mpukunyoni, Mtubatuba, KZN and Petmin headquarters 37 Peter Place, Lyme Park, Bryanston.
For media inquiries or further information, please contact:
Gilbert Moela, MACUA communications officer at 079 777 61 75
Israel Nkosi, MACUA’s KZN branch coordinator and the convenor of the KZN protest at 076 781 2193