“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…
May 15, 2020 Shootings, threats and other violence have ratcheted up tensions in Somkhele where a mine extension has exposed deep fault lines in a poor community. Fred Kockott and Matthew Hattingh report The Mthethwa home, near the Somkhele coal mine in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, was raked by gunfire recently while the family, including…
Below is the letter from Youens Attorneys to the Department of Mineral Resources Task Team for Somkhele. The meeting between the Task Team and the Somkhele Communities on 1 October 2018, was cancelled by the Mayor of Mtubatuba.
Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe, visits the Somkhele Community On Saturday 22nd of September 2018, Minister of Mineral Resources Gwede Mantashe will finally face the community of Somkhele/Mpukunyoni. The community, which for years has suffered a number of injustices and human rights abuses under the hands of ruthless mining…
The application brought by The Global Environment Trust (GET) and members of Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organization (MCEJO) against Tendele Coal Mining (PTY) LTD, on 24 August 2018 in the Pietermaritzburg Supreme Court has been heard. Judgement to be handed down in about 3 months PIETERMARITZBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: Our day…
Notice: The Somkhele and Fuleni communities neighbouring the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park unite on 24th August 2018 at the Pietermaritzburg High Court in their resistance against the ongoing illegal mining by Tendele Coal Mining (PTY) LTD and its proposed expansion. PIETERMARITZBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: In an application to be heard in the…
The Somkhele community, GET and MCEJO are honoured to have the support of retired Judge David Ntshangase. He currently chairs the Marikana panel of experts tasked with investigating the nature of public order policing in South Africa, and the use of weaponry by security forces during protests. He lives in…
