This article first appeared in mcejo.org.za
Tendele coal mine has brought destruction and confusion to Somkhele by bulldozing its way into Emalahleni and mine there, no matter what. Emalahleni, a village near Somkhele, is on the road to Ophondweni, where 63-year old Mam Fikile Ntshangase, our respected MCEJO leader who challenged Tendele mine, was fatally shot in her home on 22 October 2020. Her murderers still haven’t been arrested.
On 9 May 2024, without warning us, Tendele brought heavy machinery to widen this road used by pedestrians, school children and cattle. They made another access road and cleared our grazing land. We are wondering who gave Tendele permission to do this. It was clear the mine was organising to start its operations in Emalahleni at any time. By 14 May, all working machinery was here.
Everyone is very much confused about what is really happening. They are asking so many questions but there is no one to answer them. There are also strangers in the community asking questions. What we as MCEJO know is that Judge Bam ordered Tendele to complete a new EIA before anything like this could happen. This was 2 years ago in May 2022 and still no EIA.
On 15 May, the same day as all the heavy machines arrived and houses in Emalahleni were destroyed without the owners signing relocation agreements, the draft EIA was sent to IAPs at 7pm. Thieves come at night, so we are waiting to hear what is in the EIA that the mine is stealing from us without our knowledge or prior informed consent.
We have not been told anything by the EAPs about the EIA, which is not right. All Rise, our lawyers, have told us we have only 30 days to comment on the EIA report. It is impossible for the EAP to expect this. They have had 2 years to do the EIA and now they are putting us under pressure. After important missing sections and documents are added to the EIA it will be about 9000 pages. All Rise also told us that they have been asking for 60 days to comment but this request has been ignored. We will challenge the 30 day comment period and insist on 60 days. Also, how can the EAP send an incomplete EIA. We think the date should start when the EAP has sent our lawyers everything.
On Saturday, 18 May 2024, everyone from Kwa Myeki was called by Induna Justice Gumede to attend a meeting at the Somkhele hall. About 200 people came. All the chairs were full and lots of people had to stand. The meeting was very short, only some minutes. As soon as people heard that the meeting was to elect a new mining committee to represent the community, everyone spoke at the same time. They said they don’t know about the mine. The community had not been informed about the arrival of Tendele to work in this place. No one from Tendele is here in this meeting. How can we elect a new mining committee for something we don’t know about as the community living in the area? The meeting had started with a prayer but it ended in chaos and confusion.
