Thursday 2 June 2011.

Advocate Thuli Madonsela, South Africa’s Public Protector has received a complaint from the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) representing residents from the Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast, because of the failure of the Director General of Mineral Resources, Sandile Nogcina to honour commitments made to bring closure on the Xolobeni Mining Rights controversy.

“Nearly three years have elapsed since we learned from an announcement on the Australian Stock Exchange web site, that the South African government had awarded mining rights to Perth based venture capital mining exploration company MRC Ltd over our ancestral lands” Mzamo Dlamini, spokesman for the ACC said.

“We instructed the Legal Resources Centre to lodge an appeal against the award after former Minerals Minister Buyelwa Sonjica visited the community to hear first-hand how strongly the local residents and their traditional leaders opposed the plan. She listened, apologised for ‘the failure of MRC’ to consult with us, our Chief and our King, and promised to return after further consultation. That never happened and we are still waiting for her successor Minister Shabangu to keep that promise, as well as subsequent promises made by the DG.”

Sarah Sephton, Director of the Grahamstown office of the Legal Resources Centre lodged the appeal in September 2008. Sun International, owners of the Wild Coast Sun Resort also lodged objections in support of the Amadiba community, and all parties made submissions to a special task team appointed by the Mineral Development Board, chaired by senior ANC MP Adv Patekile Holomisa. Echoing similar defects that the SA Human Rights Commission had found after their own investigation prior to the award of the mining rights in 2008, the Holomisa task team found overwhelming prima facie evidence that the mining rights had been awarded in violation of governing legislation.

Sarah Sephton says the Holomisa task team submitted its report at the end of March 2010, but it took another six months to persuade the Department/Minister to release the report. “The Minister then tried to stall things again by setting up an inter-departmental committee to try to remedy the huge defects found by the Holomisa task team. Our clients refused to accept that proposal, and instructed me to serve notice that we would to seek relief from the High Court to compel the Minister to adjudicate their appeal”.

The Director General then promised that the Minister would make a decision by 25th March 2011, but when that deadline passed he asked for another month’s grace. “More than two months have now passed and the Amadiba residents are not prepared to wait any longer” Sephton said. “I advised the ACC to lodge a complaint with the Public Protector in the hope that we can avoid a costly court application to compel the Minister to take a decision or communicate her decision”.

Dlamini said in doing so they were not fighting with the government. “We are simply exercising our rights by calling on the Public Protector to investigate what we believe a further violation of our constitutional rights to good governance, because of the long delay in deciding on our appeal”

Dlamini says the ACC asked Johannesburg based social worker John Clarke to lodge the complaint. “He has been working with us for many years and empowered us to stand up for our rights and put the pressure on Government to show itself accountable to the Constitution and Bill of Rights.”

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