“On Thursday, 15 February 2018, one hundred and twenty people gathered in Somkhele, near the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park, to document stories of how their lives have been devastated by Tendele coal mine for the past thirteen years. This brings hope that life in Somkhele is going to change for the better. Sadly, 45 year old […]
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Fighting destructive mining in South Africa: help MACUA activists raise profile of “right to say No!” campaign
Mining Affected Communities in United Action started this petition to the South African Department of Mineral Resources and 3 others Mining-affected communities are repeatedly denied what is known as the right to free prior and informed consent (FPIC) when it comes to mining developments in their backyard. You can help them fight for a Right to say NO to mining developments that […]
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Urgent letter to DMR
RE: NOTICE OF APPEAL AGAINST THE GRANTING OF MINING RIGHT KZN30/5/1/2/2/1004MR TO TENDELE COAL MINING PTY (LTD) A letter has been sent to the Department of Mineral Resources by Kirsten Youens of Youens Attorneys. This is in response to information received that Tendele Coal Mining is mining in an area authorised by a mining right […]
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Dead Cat and Arson Fail to Intimidate Somkhele Activist
Early Sunday morning, 25th February 2018, Bongani Pearce, an activist well-known in Somkhele for challenging Tendele Coal Mining, woke up to the gruesome find of a dead cat’s body in the middle of his yard. While he was still in shock about the dead cat, he noticed that two wooden trusses supporting the roof in […]
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PUTTING THE INGONYAMA TRUST ACT IN PERSPECTIVE
‘The relocation and redistribution of land process took a staggering blow with the unexpected and secretive passing of the KwaZulu INgonyama Trust Act which was passed by the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly and assented to by President de Klerk on 25 April 1994……….’ Cohen, T in Human Rights Yearbook 1995 (1996:144) Amidst threats of violence, a political storm […]
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Zululand Observer – Anti-mining activists prepare for battle
By Tamlyn Jolly ANTI-MINING activists are readying for a fight as their court hearing against Tendele Mining Ltd and Others is set for 24 August. Arguing that Tendele, owners of the Somkhele opencast anthracite mine near Mtubatuba, is operating unlawfully for a number of reasons, the Global Environmental Trust (GET) requested the court grant an […]
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Two Day Report of the meeting held in Somkhele 26&27 Jan 2018 – Hosted by the MACUA/MCEJO (NGO) and GET
By Oscar Gwala On the 26th January 2018, the first day of a two day workshop, 17 participants attended: 7 males and 10 females representing the 6 Somkhele villages directly affected by the Tendele coal mine, namely: Kwamyeki, Dubelenkunzi, Mahhujini, Qubuka, Emachibini and lastly Esiyembeni. The day started off with Billy Mnqondo introducing everyone who […]
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Summary of Court papers – Global Environmental Trust and Others vs Tendele Coal Mining (Pty) Ltd and Others
By Kirsten Youens Our court hearing against Tendele Coal Mining (Pty) Ltd and Others is set down for 24 August 2018. Here is a very brief summary of the papers: Our Founding Papers request the Court to grant an interdict preventing Tendele Coal Mining (Pty) Ltd from operating their coal mine at Somkhele until […]
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Save our iMfolozi Wilderness Campaign – Update Jan 2018
By Rob Symons I trust all all our supporters and the Save our iMfolozi Wilderness community have had a good holiday season and are off to prosperous New Year. We have seen significant developments in our campaign through 2017 so here is a concise update of where we are. Ibutho Coal/Fuleni As we reported in […]
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Somkhele 9 released after intervention by GET lawyers
“You must remember that our strength always comes from struggles and hardship like this.” Yesterday, after a desperate phone call on Tuesday evening, our attorney, Kirsten Youens and advocate, Mawande Mazibuko, attended KwaMsane Magistrate’s Court for the bail hearing of 9 men who were arrested and jailed at the instance of Tendele mine on […]
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