Within the lush village of Umzumbe in southern KwaZulu-Natal, communities dwelling adjoining to the SA Lithium mine say they’re already experiencing the adverse impacts of the operation and have been by no means consulted about it. Picture: Aphiwe Moyo
Battle over land is dogging South Africa’s two lithium mines, a mineral vital for each the vitality and transport sectors
A second African Important Minerals Summit was held on 2 and three December in Johannesburg. Oxpeckers zoomed into the mining of lithium, a key element within the manufacturing of electrical automobiles and in lithium-ion batteries for vitality storage.
South Africa has two lithium mines recorded within the division of mineral sources and vitality’s 2024 Working Mines, Quarries and Mineral Processing Vegetation record.
These are the SA Lithium mining challenge in Umzumbe, KwaZulu-Natal, and Norrabees Mine, operated by Namli Exploration and Mining simply exterior the small mission city of Steinkopf within the Northern Cape, which falls underneath the Namakwa district municipality’s jurisdiction.
Norrabees, a comparatively small operation nonetheless in its early levels, started its operations in February 2024, re-opening to course of stockpiles of accessible lithium within the space that had been left behind within the Sixties the place earlier extraction actions targeted on tantalum that was then in demand. Tantalum is a corrosion-resistant steel utilized in electronics.
“At the moment they principally mined for tantalum. They knew about lithium however they didn’t have any use for it. So there are a whole lot of stockpiles right here that we are able to course of earlier than we even begin mining,” stated Riaan Zierman, a geologist at Norrabees.
Over an hour’s drive from the Norrabees Mine is the at present closed Blesberg Mine which additionally mines lithium and tantalum. Operated by Southern African Lithium and Tantalum Mining (SALT), a subsidiary of Marula Mining, the corporate was granted a mining allow by the minerals division for the event and open-pit mining of lithium, tantalum, niobium ores and feldspar till Could 24 2026.
The 5ha operation is likely one of the largest recognized mineralised pegmatite deposits and in addition the biggest supply of tantalum within the nation.
Makes an attempt to go to the mine and communicate to Marula Mining’s common supervisor, Henk van Zyl, have been unsuccessful on the time of publishing. The mine is reportedly closed due to points regarding land claims.
Land rights
The supervisor of municipal planning on the Namakwa district municipality, Gerda Bezuidenhoudt, stated considerations about mining within the area have been expressed by native communities in addition to communal property associations (CPAs), that are landholding establishments established underneath the Communal Property Associations Act to ensure that beneficiaries of the land reform, restitution and redistribution programmes to handle land as a gaggle.
Bezuidenhoudt stated there was battle over the land rights inside Namakwa as landowners and CPAs really feel unnoticed within the conversations over land use actions on their land.
“The battle over the land rights is a really essential subject inside Namakwa due to how people who find themselves landowners and the CPAs really feel that though it’s our land, we don’t have the appropriate to say what should occur on our land,” she stated.
Letitia Pandohe, a Steinkopf resident and businesswoman, stated though there are considerations in regards to the one lithium operation simply exterior of Steinkopf, there’s additionally pleasure and anticipation inside Steinkopf and surrounding areas for the alternatives that the mining of lithium will deliver.
“We all know Steinkopf is likely one of the cities that’s not developed but, so we’re wanting ahead to those lithium mines that may also assist develop our cities, particularly Steinkopf and surrounding villages, and to see that our infrastructure in our cities will likely be developed and that extra of our neighborhood folks will likely be employed,” stated Pandohe.
Pandohe talked about that she is a part of a neighborhood consortium that has developed a database of all of the entrepreneurs and contractors within the space that will likely be submitted to the mines, guaranteeing that they’re thought of to tender for contracts as they change into obtainable.
Steinkopf is a city with a wealthy cultural heritage of the Nama folks, and extra of those mines needs to be working along with the communities to make sure that their actions don’t intervene with the world’s wealthy cultural heritage and biodiversity, she added.
“When mines open or begin being operational, they need to come and interact with the neighborhood, to listen to out what they need and what their wants are. If we are able to come on the identical platform the place we meet one another, then I feel issues will go on a optimistic aspect,” she stated.
“Mines can develop, companies can develop [in a way] that won’t have an effect on our native folks right here as a result of we all know our persons are historic cultural Nama folks and we don’t need our tradition and our heritage to die.”
Important minerals technique
Talking on the inaugural African Important Minerals Summit in August 2023, Minerals Minister Gwede Mantashe stated South Africa was in superior levels of growing a vital minerals technique to assist industrialise and help the nation’s simply vitality transition to a low-carbon future.
He emphasised that there isn’t a common definition of “vital minerals” and that a number of nations have interchangeably used and outlined “vital minerals” in accordance with their particular wants.
He stated the “criticalness” of a mineral mustn’t solely depend upon who’s utilizing the mineral to fulfill a necessity, and that the African continent ought to develop its personal vital minerals technique to make sure that the extractivist nature of mining prior to now will not be repeated.
Questions despatched to the division of minerals about progress made on the proposed technique and whether or not it could be outlined on the second summit in December 2024 remained unanswered on the time of publishing.
Worth creation
Gaylor Montmasson-Clair, senior economist and researcher at Commerce and Industrial Coverage Methods, stated the necessity for such a technique is well timed however there must be extra dedication to implementation.
“For me it’s a matter of what’s the dedication to implementing the technique as soon as it’s designed as a result of we’ve all seen so many of those grasp plans being developed and infrequently for the appropriate causes, however then they have to be carried out, so what for me is essential is how will we use such a possible technique?” he stated.
“It’s actually essential that we see how we leverage minerals for worth creation, notably relating to employment, so the broader technique have to be targeted on labour-intensive actions in manufacturing, in providers and operations and upkeep.”
As the worldwide demand for lithium grows alongside extractive actions in lithium mining throughout South Africa and the remainder of the continent, officers at native ranges of governance are calling for coverage makers and strategists at nationwide stage to take sufficient time to develop a correct technique that advantages its indigenous folks.
Brian Cloete, of the Namakwa district municipality’s native financial growth unit, informed Oxpeckers that though the African continent has the potential to create the very best methods for the mining of vital minerals, present mining laws advantages overseas homeowners and operators.
He steered that these methods have to focus extra on encouraging native possession, which may also encourage extra sustainable mining practices.
‘Plan with us, for us’
Cloete and Bezuidenhoudt emphasised the necessity for all plans for the vital minerals technique and mining developments to start with engagements at native stage, considering problems with land possession.
“We will likely be beating in regards to the bush if we don’t begin proper on the base, which speaks to land possession, the land on which the challenge[s] have to be developed,” stated Cloete.
“Possession have to be clarified and that possession have to be native, however lots of these items are organised and organized on a nationwide and a provincial stage. And on floor stage, you simply see issues taking place and it’s truly a shame.”
Regardless of being a district that performs a outstanding position in South Africa’s vitality transition and internet hosting a number of renewable vitality initiatives, Bezuidenhoudt stated native authorities officers within the Namakwa district really feel unnoticed in among the discussions across the planning which entails mining initiatives and a few renewable vitality initiatives.
“I feel there’s a niche when it comes to the communication to deliver us in control and to plan with us for us and never with out us,” stated Bezuidenhout.
Issues down south
Within the lush village of Umzumbe in southern KwaZulu-Natal, the SA Lithium mine has change into a nightmare for the communities adjoining to it who say they’re already experiencing the adverse results of the operation and have been by no means consulted about it.
Talking on behalf of the KwaHlongwa Tribal Authority in Umzumbe, native resident Melizwe Khawula informed Oxpeckers that representatives from the mine visited the tribal authority to introduce themselves early in 2024 after that they had already began prospecting and bulk sampling actions and so they promised to return to seek the advice of with the broader neighborhood.
Sindisiwe Cele, a resident of Nkehlamandla village which has about 40 homesteads made up of a blended inhabitants of younger and previous with principally unemployed youth, reiterated that their aspect of the Umzumbe space was not consulted previous to any work starting on the mining web site.
“We first noticed an inflow of automobiles and vans earlier than they began with any digging and clearing out of the world, then that was adopted by rumours that there was a mine coming and we have been all asking amongst ourselves what mineral they have been mining.
“We have now solely heard via the grapevine that the mineral they’re mining may additionally be obtainable the place we’re and that the mine may probably begin getting nearer to our homes, however until at the present time nobody has engaged us,” stated Cele.
“What we would like the mine to do is to ship folks to come back speak to us about what’s going on and in addition contemplate that we must always get some compensation even whether it is via employment alternatives as a result of we’re affected by the impacts of blasting which causes our properties to crack in addition to noise and dirt air pollution,” she stated.
This investigation is a part of the Oxpeckers #PowerTracker investigative collection titled ‘The human price of vitality in Africa’. Video manufacturing was finished by Oxpeckers affiliate Dianah Chiyangwa and Suleiman M. Lawal