Ocilwane community sends coal mine reps packing
Angry Ocilwane residents reject Ibutho Coal's proposed Fuleni open cast mine, saying they will never accept it no matter what they are offered.
HOSTILE response from Ocilwane community members brought a briefing session by Ibutho Coal at Fuleni last Sunday to a premature halt.
Ocilwane is one of four villages directly affected by the proposed Fuleni open-cast coal mine.
Community members turned out in force for the meeting, with over 100 people in attendance.
Ocilwane lies 10km from the existing Somkhele coal mine and residents suffer the effects of the mining operations, including contaminated water and respiratory problems.
When residents heard that Ibutho Coal expected them to live a mere 500m from the proposed Fuleni mine, the hall exploded and the meeting came to an end before Marietjie Eksteen of Jacana Environmentals could finish her presentation.
Ocilwane spokesperson for mining, Phila Ndimande, told Ibutho Coal Director Thembi Myeni to not call another meeting.
‘Ocilwane does not want the mine no matter what you offer us,’ Ndimande said. The area’s chief reportedly supports this sentiment.
Meeting cancelled
Owing to the hostilities from Ocilwane residents, Ibutho Coal cancelled its meeting with the KwaNovunulo community scheduled for the same day.
Since 2006 Ibutho Coal has been working to obtain mining rights for its Fuleni Anthracite Project.
The company obtained two prospecting licenses from the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) despite not consulting would-be affected communities on tribal land surrounding the proposed mine.
Furthermore, permission via the tribal council to enter into a land lease agreement was not obtained and no such lease exists.
A document was lodged with the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) in Pietermaritzburg but was allegedly not considered by the board owing to a lack of signatories.
The validity of the document also lapsed after two years, well before the first prospecting license was granted.
Sheila Berry, spokesperson for the Global Environmental Trust’s Communities and Wilderness Alliance (CAWA) said Ibutho Coal was gaining a reputation for skipping vital steps in the EIA process to fast-track coal mines before rural communities know what has hit them’.
According Jacana Environmentals’ Eksteen they are busy with the final stages of the scoping report.
However, according to Berry, the final scoping report was submitted to the DMR and made available to the public on 10 July. This means Ocilwane residents’ concerns raised at Sunday’s meeting would never appear in the document.
