Unknown gunmen murdered the Vice-Chairperson of a sub-committee of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (MCEJO) in front of her grandson last month for allegedly refusing to sign an agreement with the mine for the legal bid to be dropped.
Days before her cold-blooded murder, Ntshangase had reportedly expressed her intention to write an affidavit, revealing that sub-committee members had spoken to her of a payment of R350 000 in return for her signature.
Tendele mine has denied involvement in the matter.
Environmental rights groups, including the Centre for Environmental Rights, are calling for the police to do more to bring those involved into book and protect other activists in the area.
Violence and Human Rights monitor Professor Mary de Haas says she is buffled about why no one has been arrested yet for MCEJO Coordinator Philani Ndimande’s assault.
Ndimande was assaulted during a meeting in which Ntshangase also attended, a week before the 65-year-old was killed.
Death threats were allegedly made during the fracas.
“There are a lot of clues about who did this; certainly about the threats, people with knowledge about it.”
She believes the Ndimande case could assist police to find those responsible for Ntshangase’s murder.
De Haas says the Ntshangase case has been transferred to the provincial police due to a lack of trust in the police in the area.
She says mines controls people through traditional leaders in rural mining communities.
A Tendele mine security man was apparently killed after Ntshangase’s murder and that case is also being investigated by the KwaZulu-Natal police.
Earlier this month, Ntshangase’s comrade – Ndimande told Local Voices that fear haunts the Somkhele community.
“When night time falls – we are all worried because we do not know when or who might come under attack.”
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has expressed concern over the murder, saying it considers it a threat to the creation and existence of a safe and enabling environment for defenders of social, land and environmental justice to freely exercise their rights.
The community’s anti-mining activists are concerned that the mine places the area’s environment in jeopardy. The noise and dust coming from the mine are other bones of contention.
She had survived an attempted hit the week before her passing.
The 65-year-old was at the forefront of a battle against the Tendele Coal Mining’s extension bid in the area.
It is suspected that she was killed for refusing to sign an agreement to drop court cases against the mine.
Ntshangase was laid to rest in KwaMaphumulo on Friday.
Her comrades say her death has left a huge void.
Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (MCEJO) Coordinator Philani Ndimande says community members are not at ease since Ntshangase’s murder.
“When night time falls – we are all worried because we do not know when or who might come under attack.”
Ndimande, however, says a strong police presence is comforting to them.
“No one has been arrested. Now one of our community members was shot while visiting Durban recently. While we don’t know if their shooting was due to the problem we are faced with here – it is concerning.”
Mam’Ntshangase was Ndimande’s comrade, fighting together under the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation, against Tendele’s plan to expand, which also requires the relocation of families from their ancestral land.
On Tuesday, the community organisation’s case alleging that Tendele’s mining operations on particular portions of land is illegal was heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal.
MCEJO accuses Tendele of having failed to obtain an environmental authorisation in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (NEMA) for conducting certain listed activities on the site. The organisation also wants Tendele’s mining rights set aside, arguing that there was no public participation before the firm obtained a mining licence; there was no environmental authorisation and relocation agreement plan for 19 affected families.
Ndimande says the mine also exhumed the remains of some community members without a permit.
“I was really happy with how our representatives argued our case during the virtual hearing but hey – remember we are faced with a giant. So, while I am hopeful of a favourable outcome – things can go either way,” he told Local Voices.
Judgment has been reserved in the matter.
Call for justice
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has condemned Ntshangase’s murder, saying it is concerning that the human rights activists’ exercise of fundamental human rights, especially in mining communities, has always put their lives in danger.
“The Commission considers the killing of Mam’ Ntshangase as a threat to the creation and existence of a safe and enabling environment for defenders of social, land and environmental justice to freely exercise their rights. The Commission is further concerned that this matter links to larger, systemic issues in South Africa, a lack of adequate enforcement mechanisms of existing legislative frameworks by the relevant State departments, particularly the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy. Closing the legislative gaps and ensuring the enforcement of legislation negates the need for the community to lobby for accountability and justice and removes conflict within communities,” it says.
The SAHRC is calling on the government to create and sustain a safe environment for the exercise of constitutional rights. It believes that justice in Mam’Ntshangase’s case will help achieve this.
Bribery claims
Before she was killed, Mam’ Ntshangase is said to have refused to sign the relocation agreement, which certain of her sub-committee members of MCEJO had purportedly signed on behalf of MCEJO.
She is also said to have stated her intention to depose to an affidavit, revealing that some members of MCEJO had spoken to her of a payment of R350 000 in exchange for her signature.
Ndimande says while divisions over the matter in the community remain, they are hopeful that fellow residents who “accepted money from Tendele” will eventually come around.
“This thing of people taking bribes was not surprising to us. You know when people are hungry they can do anything. But the sad part is money does end and once it is finished – they will see the substance of what we are fighting for. Our land and our environment. And we will always be ready to work together with them should they realise their mistake,” he says.
However, Tendele has denied bribing community members to agree to its planned expansion.
Responding to claims that it offered MCEJO members R300 000 to withdraw their cases, the mine in a response featured on the Daily Maverick says: “What is correct is that the mine has offered compensation to the 145 householders who would need to be resettled to enable the survival of the mine. These offers are based on evaluations of the structures (the land belongs to the Ingonyama Trust Board (“ITB”), although we believe the amounts offered are well in excess of the actual value. The minimum compensation is R400 000 per householder, which includes homes plus various other considerations. The average compensation is R750 000 per householder.”
The mine says each householder will be relocating to other ITB land in the Mpukunyoni area of their choice, “at no cost for the land, having satisfied themselves on matters regarding adequacy of, for example, grazing-land quality and preferences on neighbours.”
Tendele says it has reached out to MCEJO to find solutions to outstanding issues and is ready to negotiate agreements with community members who have not yet accepted the firm’s offers.
It insists that the expansion of the mine is essential for the mine to be saved, arguing that its closure will result in the loss of income directly and indirectly for 20 000 people in an area where “unemployment is up to 90% and the mine is the only real employer.”
The KwaZulu-Natal government has been involved in efforts to find a solution to the dispute between the mine and the community.
It says it has established a task team that will continue to engage with all stakeholders in a bid to address matters of concern from the residents of kwaSomkhele.
“In the memory of Mam Ntshangase, all sectors of society should rally together to expose the perpetrators and ensure that this area does not descend to be a dangerous place for women and community members who participate in development issues,” the provincial government says.
Tendele’s Somkhele open cast coal mine has been operating since 2007 and the company received rights to extend its operations in 2016.
The mine operates in the uMkhanyakude District, which is is known for its lack of hydraulic resources and its poor delivery services of water and sanitation. Community members opposed to its expansion say it will exacerbate water scarcity in the area. They are also worried about pollution that threaten their families’ health, cattle, and farming productivity.
Local Voices caught up with MCEJO Coordinator Philani Ndimande on Monday evening, during a leadership meeting of organisation.
They said they had just returned from a meeting with the commander of the Ophondweni Police Station where Ntshangase stayed.
“He has asked us to give them 48 hours to find the suspects,” Ndimande revealed. “He had previously said we should give him 72 hours. So this really gives us hope that Mam’Ntshangase’s killers will be found.”
Ndimande says Ntshangase was like a mother to him. Describing losing her as a huge blow for the rural community of Somkhele, near Mtubatuba, in KwaZulu-Natal, he added: “Her death gives us the strength to double our efforts and make her wish come true for her community to be helped through this organisation.”
It is suspected that Ntshangase’s murder was linked to MCEJO’s fight against Tendele Coal Mining’s bid to expand operations in the area.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) has expressed concern that the murder could spark violence.
In a statement, the party says the Mtubatuba community seems divided on the matter.
“We, therefore, urge the leadership and whole community of the area to handle this matter with calm and find a way to balance the mining and environmental activities.”
The party says it will embark on a fact-finding mission to the area next week.
Ntshangase (65) was gunned down in front of his 13-year-old grandson. The child’s mother was not staying with them due to work but she has returned home following the tragedy. Ndimande says they are receiving counselling.
The environmental activist, whom Ndimande has as a leader with exceptional skills, will be laid to rest on Friday in Stanger, in Kwadukuza. Her funeral service will be held at the Maphumulo Lutheran Church. A date her memorial service had not been set at the time of publishing.
‘There must be nothing about our land and us without us‘
The uMfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation is embroiled in a bitter legal battle with Tendele Coal Mine.
The mine’s proposed expansion, on the border of Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Park, will require the relocation of more at least 21 families from their ancestral land.
Some activists have allegedly also been intimidated and threatened with death.
Ndimande says their concern is the impact this will have on the environment.
“This place gives us peace. We enjoy the tranquillity of the place and living together with nature. We also plant our own crops; have livestock while we live in harmony with the Big Five.”
Ndimande says government is supporting Tendele’s bid and is pushing for mining in various rural communities. “We have a challenge but we are more than prepared to fight for our rights.”
“Our government is pushing to take the land from us; knowing very well that is totally against the environment we are in. Imagine what mining will do to the Big Five. Our water – we are getting it from Mfolozi River and mining will pollute our water.”
He is urging government to listen to civil society and affected communities.
“We need to government to listen to listen to proposals of civil society who are pushing for a just Mining Charter. As she (Fikile Ntshangase) is not the first one to have been killed – and she is a woman, it feels like people that we trusted with our freedom are taking us back to oppression. To me this is even worse. There must be nothing about our land and us without us!”
News agency, GroundUp, has reported that Tendele CEO Jan du Preez has condemned Ntshangase’s murder and recent incidents of violence and intimidation, which he linked to concerns about the threat of job losses. He is also said to have rejected as blatant lies claims that community members who are supporting the mine’s expansion had been bribed.
Shock, anger and fear have followed the killing of Mfolozi environmental activist, Fikile Ntshangase.
Ntshangase was gunned down in front of her 11-year-old grandson on Thursday night in her home at Ophondweni, near Mtubatuba.
Initial reports say four men forced their way into the home and shot her five times. She passed away on the scene.
Environmental rights groups say they are devastated by the murder and are calling on the police to act swiftly and bring her murderers to account.
“We mourn the senseless tragedy of Mama Ntshangase’s murder, and condemn her killing.”
Ntshangashe was the Vice-Chairperson of a sub-committee of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (MCEJO). MCEJO has been challenging the further expansion of a large coal mine at Somkhele in KwaZulu-Natal by Tendele Coal Mining (Pty) Ltd.
One of the court cases brought by MCEJO is scheduled for hearing in the Supreme Court of Appeal on 3 November. Environmental rights activists say tensions have been simmering over the matter in the area for months now.
Tendele was allegedly pushing for MCEJO to withdraw its court challenges against the planned expansion. Ntshangase refused to sign the agreement, which some of her fellow colleagues signed.
“I refused to sign. I cannot sell out my people. And if need be, I will die for my people,” a defiant Ntshangase said.
She warned sub-committee members that they had no power to make decisions on behalf of MJECO and that the agreement only benefited Tendele. She is said to have also refused to attend any of the secret meetings that other sub-committee members held with Tendele.
“Days before her brutal killing, Mama Ntshangase stated her intention to write an affidavit, revealing that sub-committee members had spoken to her of a payment of R350 000 in return for her signature,” says a joint statement of rights organisations, including the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation; Global Environmental Trust, Women Against Mining United in Action and the Mining Affected Communities United In action.
The environmental rights activists add that: “The court challenge that placed a price on Mama Ntshangase’s life is MJECO’s pending review application of Tendele’s new mining right in respect of a 222km2 area in Mpukunyoni, KZN. This review is due to be heard by the North Gauteng High Court in March 2021.”
Tendele has allegedly publicly described MCEJO’s legal challenge against its expansion as a threat to the mine’s continued existence. The firm’s plan requires the relocation of 21 families (19 of them MJECO members) from their ancestral land. It is alleged to have also tried forcing their hand through intimidation and death threats.
“On 15 October, two sub-committee members, accompanied by two known hitmen, tried to disrupt a MCEJO executive committee meeting with community leaders, which included Mama Ntshangase. One sub-committee member tried to lock the doors, and a prominent leader was assaulted. A criminal case is being opened. This leader, who works in another area, has been warned that his life will be in danger if he is seen in the vicinity,” they say.
Environmental activists also accuse Tendele of trying to get the State, the Ingonyama Trust Board, traditional leaders and fellow community members to pressure affected families into signing relocation agreements. They say the mine appears to have the support of the provincial government.
“In July, the Department of Community Safety and Liaison sent a staff member, apparently from its Civilian Secretariat arm (which is conspicuous in its absence whenever the threat of violence looms), to persuade community members to negotiate with the mine.,” the organisations allege.
The activists say Tendele’s coal mining operations have caused untold destruction of the environment and the homes and livelihoods of the residents of Somkhele.
Local Voices is chasing comment from Tendele and the KwaZulu-Natal government.