The death of 84-year-old Mr Jeremiya Bhekinkosi Makhoba on 25 June 2023 brings with it a distinct sadness. Instead of living the last few years of his life enjoying the peace and tranquillity of his rural homestead in the farming community of Ophondweni, sitting under his favourite guava tree outside his front door, he spent […]
Continue readingTag Archives: Somkhele
Gooseberry Grandmother’s Daughter
Today we celebrate Human Rights day in SA and those heroes and sheroes committed to achieving human and environmental rights in our country, even at the cost of their lives. This sensitive new documentary, made by filmmaker Julie Laurenz, is about Fikile Ntshangase, the 63 year old woman who was shot dead in her home […]
Continue reading
TRIBUTE TO GOGO MARIA NDLOVU
Warm, Loving and Wise…These three words best describe Gogo Ndlovu according to the GET research team who are interviewing elders in Somkhele to learn what life was like in the area as far back as the 1930s. Sadly, on the afternoon of 16 November, Gogo Ndlovu passed away, a couple of weeks after she had […]
Continue reading
Community Rights Vindicated against Unscrupulous Department of Minerals and Energy and “Egregious” Mining Company
This article was first published on the website of All Rise – Attorneys for climate and environmental justice Judgment in the long-standing matter of MCEJO and Others v Minister of Minerals and Energy and Others was handed down on the evening of 4 May 2022. In her well-reasoned 48-page judgment Judge Bam finds in favour […]
Continue reading
South African government urged to take bold steps to empower our Constitutional Rights to a healthy environment
JOINT PRESS RELEASE: 25 October 2021On Friday, 22 October, in remembrance and support of environmental activist and campaigner, Fikile Ntshangase, a group consisting of environmental justice activists, NGOs and community members, from the area surrounding a controversial coal mine, marched on the anniversary of her murder. The march was in support of the #DefendTheDefenders and […]
Continue reading
Unforgettable Fikile’s Golden Dream
By Sheila Berry 2021 was to be the year of jam making in Ophondweni. Not any jam but a very particular jam with the name of Qhomqhom in Zulu. This is the name given to gooseberries that grow in abundance in this part of KwaZulu Natal. Fikile had been very excited when she first saw […]
Continue reading
Unforgettable Fikile
By Sheila Berry Mam Fikile Ntshangase was a shero who paid with her life for her strong belief in justice and integrity. It took 6 bullets from a hired assassin’s gun to silence this 63-year-old woman who unflinchingly spoke out against corruption, illegal actions and acts of betrayal. Fikile’s name means “arrived” in Zulu and […]
Continue readingMEDIA RELEASE:MINING RIGHT FACES GROWING OPPOSITION
29 April 2021 [See below for Contacts.] MINING RIGHT FACES GROWING OPPOSITION The Gauteng High Court has accepted the intervention of four new applicants in the review of Tendele coal mine’s contested 212km2 mining right issued in 2016 by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR). Pretoria, Gauteng – Judgment was received on Wednesday, 28 April […]
Continue reading
GET SET FOR CONSTITUTIONAL COURT APPEAL
Within hours of the Supreme Court of Appeal handing down judgement on Tuesday, 9 February 2021, in the matter calling for Tendele coal mine to comply with environmental legislation, the legal team acting on instructions from the Global Environmental Trust (GET) were making plans to take the case on appeal to the Constitutional Court. Kirsten […]
Continue reading
THE KILLING OF SOMKHELE ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST, FIKILE NTSHANGASE
“I refused to sign. I cannot sell out my people. And if need be, I will die for my people.” Tragically, grandmother Fikile Ntshangase’s words became a reality when she was gunned down in her home at Ophondweni, near Mtubatuba, on the evening of 22 October 2020. Mama Ntshangashe was the Vice-Chairperson of a sub-committee […]
Continue reading