Mine to tear down internal fences on disputed North West land

Mine to tear down internal fences on disputed North West land

The people of the Lesethleng Village paid for their land and are the rightful‚ lawful owners and should be consulted with as such.
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Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) said that Pilanesberg Platinum Mine “will immediately halt its activities on a portion of land on Wilgespruit” while an ownership dispute is being reolved.

This comes‚ LHR said in a statement‚ after the parties had “reached a settlement”‚ which will also entail perimeter fencing remaining intact‚ “but gates will be opened to allow freedom of movement while security personnel remain to protect the mine’s equipment”.

All fencing within the boundaries of the portion of land in question‚ however‚ will be removed.

The mine “has also given an undertaking to continue providing food for livestock and delivering water to the community”‚ LHR said‚ although this was not part of the settlement.

The dispute goes back to 2008‚ when members of the Wilgespruit community were informed that the tribal authority had acquired mining rights to Wilgespruit.

The were consulted‚ the LHR said‚ “as mere surface occupiers instead of the rightful owners” despite having “owned and farmed on Wilgespruit for over 100 years”.

“Were it not for discriminatory laws during apartheid‚ the community would already be listed on the title deed‚” the LHR said.

“However‚ because black people could not register land under their own names during apartheid‚ the deed was put under the name of the Bakgatla-ba-Kgafela tribe despite the land being paid for by the community themselves.”

Despite the community’s objections‚ the mining activities continued with parts of the farm being fenced-off and de-bushed.

“The mine had sought to constructively evict the community by continuing its mining activities on the land without agreement from the community‚” the LHR said.

“This had been done through dispossessing them of their land by restricting access to water and de-bushing at least 41% of the surface area of the land – effectively making any farming activity impossible and threatening the lives of animals on the land with starvation.”

The head of of LHR’s land and housing programme‚ Louise du Plessis‚ said: “Too often‚ poor and vulnerable communities are bulldozed by mines that completely disregard their land rights.

“The people of the Lesethleng Village paid for their land and are the rightful‚ lawful owners and should be consulted with as such.

“The crux of this case is that nobody can be dispossessed of their land without a court order.”

In the most recent development in the dispute‚ a month ago‚ “the community was told that their consent to live on Wilgespruit had been withdrawn and to vacate in terms of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act”.