Environmental justice activists have spoken out against coal and iron ore mining in South Africa, telling a recent human rights hearing that the industry violently undermines the country’s promised energy transition. They also noted the continued threats, displacements, and murders faced by community organizers who resist land grabs by mining companies.
He fifth Popular Hearing of Human Rights DefendersHeld at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg on 22 October, it was convened by Life After Coal, a joint campaign by local NGOs Earthlife Africa, groundWork and the Environmental Rights Centre.
Israel Nkosi, of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation, told the hearing how he and other activists campaigning against the Tendele coal mine in KwaZulu-Natal province had been forced into hiding after gunmen opened fire on their homes at night.
“A woman activist was intimidated. We had to help her relocate out of the area. The violence will never end where there are mines in the area,” Nkosi said.
Reverend Mbhekiseni Mavuso, a community activist against the planned Melmoth iron ore mine, also in KwaZulu-Natal, told how he survived an assassination attempt in March 2024 by gunmen who killed fellow activist Mbhekiseni Dladla.
“The hitmen showed us a list in 2011 in which they had been given R75,000. [about $4,300] kill us,” Mavuso said. “Since then we never had peace. I was shot in broad daylight. We are simply waiting to die at any moment because no one protects us. “Our parents live by prayer, praying for our lives.”
the government Partnership Plan for the Just Energy Transition notes that the country will abandon coal, currently the country’s main source of electricity, and invest in renewable energy, while supporting workers and communities that depend on coal mines. At the same time, the government has extended the operational life of several coal-fired power plants, delaying their closure until 2030. It has also permitted State power company Eskom will exceed greenhouse gas emissions limits at eight of its coal-fired power plants.
As South Africa’s dependence on coal and the legacy of coal mining persists, so does the exploitation of communities, activists at the hearing said.
Lawyer Louisa Zondo, one of the jurors at the hearing, said the testimony showed there were no consequences for “criminality of any kind.” He said mining companies, police, local governments and traditional leaders were complicit in “violating people’s rights”.
“Mental health and well-being are centrally affected. Rights are violated with impunity in the attempt to steal people’s land for profit,” Zondo said.
Environmental sociologist Llewellyn Leonard of the University of South Africa told Mongabay that a credible and just transition could only occur once communities damaged by extractive industries received reparations and mines were held accountable.
The Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources had not responded to Mongabay’s questions at the time of publication.
This article originally appeared in mongbay.
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