Mining Communities to March to Anglo Platinum’s Mogalakwena Mine Offices in Mapela Area North of Mokopane. Communities Have Invited Platreef and Lonmin to Meet Them at Anglo Platinum’s Offices too.

Naga Ke Ya Rona! The Land is Ours!

Mogalakwena Municipality, Limpopo – Communities from various areas of Mogalakwena Municipality in Limpopo, including Mapela and Mokopane will be marching on Friday, 28 September 2012. The march will begin at 10h00 at the Turn-off to Ga-Machikiri and Ga-Molekane (Road to Anglo Platinum’s Mogalakwena Mine off N11, north of Mokopane). The communities will march to Anglo Platinum Mine Offices and PlatReef and Lonmin have been invited to receive their memoranda there.

Since 2001 and earlier communities around MAPELA have been facing negative impacts caused by Anglo Platinum. In more recent years, Lonmin and Platreef have begun prospecting in their area too.

TO ANGLO PLATINUM:

Mapela area communities made demands as part of the Department of Mineral Resources-mandated task team for the area, and none of these demands – which were made to Anglo Platinum and DMR – have been met. The government-facilitated task team is no longer active, meaning there is no platform for representation to the Department – previously 17 communities in the Mapela Tribal Authority area were represented on the task team. These villages include Ga-Molekane, Sekuruwe, Armoede, Rooibokfontein, Ga-Machakiri, GA-Mokaba, Ga-Lelaka, Ga-Chokoe, Sekiming, Leruleng, Danasani, Hans, Mashahleng, Ga-Chaba, Ga-Pila, Sterkwater, Seema.

The Mapela area communities demand immediate engagement with government and Anglo Platinum to further the discussion so that communities can have their needs met.

TO PLATREEF RESOURCES:

Communities affected by Platreef Resources demand that Platreef, and Chief Kekana (Mokopane area), and Ndunu Machakiri of Ga-Machakiri village to get out of the Baltomfontein Farm because that farm does not belong to Chief Kekana or Nduna Machakiri – it belongs to the beneficiaries who laid a claim through their land claims.

Communities don’t want the tailings dam that Platreef intends to construct on that farm.

We demand that Platreef and Chief Kekana stop dangling R10 000 to each and every Nduna to accept the conditions for mining. On 22nd September 2012, Platreef was chased away at a meeting where the company wanted to conduct a public hearing in terms of the Environmental Management Plan. If platreef doesn’t stop these corrupt practices, then the community of Mokopane (Villages of Madiba, Tshamahansi, Mosesetjane, Machakiri, Magogoe, Mzombana, Mmaletleke, Sekgakgapeng) will continue to chase Platreef from the area.

We demand that Platreef stop engaging only with Chief Kekana and Nduna Machikiri, and instead they must engage with the majority of the people in these villages as we must give consent to any mining operations in our area.

We demand that Platreef stop using the ‘self-imposed’ Nduna Malose Kekana because he is not acting in the best interest of the communities. He is also in a high position at Platreef and is acting on their interest more than the communities – his contract at Platreef should also be terminated. In the community of Mosesetjane, where community members were recently arrested for protesting the occupation of their land, we further want Platreef Resources to stop everything it is doing before the communities of the area can give a consent.

TO LONMIN:

AFRIORE sold their entire Akanani platinum project in the Mapela area to LONMIN for USD 441 million in 2006. The communities of Mapela where Lonmin wants to operate want Afriore to go back to Lonmin and return that money because we are standing with our comrades in Marikana who were massacred. Lonmin is not showing any humanity in any way. Afriore should then give the communities of Mapela the stakes in the Akanani project instead, if the communities consent to this.

In 2008 13 Prospecting Rigs of Lonmin were chased away from Sekiming in Mapela area. We want to remind LONMIN that their rigs were chased away and have been kept out of Sekiming because the community itself never gave consent. Claims were made that the Chief of Mapela Tribal Authority was consulted, but we as communities demand they consult with the majority of community members, not the Chief.

Naga Ke Ya Rona! The Land is Ours!

Contacts:
Phillipos Dolo 073 789 2489
Paul Thobane 072 831 7092
Abram Sithole (Chippa) 083 973 3410