Latest news with #SabeloMnguni
Eyewitness News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
MACUA: State continues to prioritise business over people
JOHANNESBURG - As the 13th anniversary of the Marikana Massacre draws closer, some mining communities believe that government has not done enough to protect them from businesses. On 16 August 2012, police in the North West killed 34 Lonmin miners who were striking for better wages. On Wednesday, civil lobby group, Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA), held a march in Pretoria to commemorate the event. ALSO READ: • Civil lobby group MACUA criticised for targeting illegal miners not buyers of illicit materials • Calls are growing for the legalisation of artisanal mining by communities around mining towns • Some mining communities believe current legislation excludes them from being consulted on mining activities As part of its march, MACUA submitted its objection to the Draft Minerals Resources Development Bill. It said that the bill, in its current form, did not fully address the issue of consultation between communities and mining companies. Thirteen years later, the group's Sabelo Mnguni said that the state continued to prioritise business over people. "Marikana happens in different forms. We are being killed where we live because we live in contaminated land. We drink contaminated water, our houses are cracking and the environment in cracking, so Marikana is everyday." The group said that an investigation must be held into the Stilfontein tragedy, where 78 suspected zama zama's died earlier this year.
Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
Civil lobby group MACUA criticised for targeting illegal miners not buyers of illicit materials
JOHANNESBURG - Civil lobby group Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA) has been criticised for only targeting illegal miners and not the buyers of illicit minerals. On Wednesday, the group marched to the offices of the Department of Mineral Resources in five different provinces. Part of their demands to the government is the formalisation of artisanal and small-scale farming. MACUA criticised Operation Vala Umgodi as inhumane. Operation Vala Umgodi is a police strategy to deal with illegal mining by closing the access to the mines and forcing the illegal miners out. However, MACUA's Sabelo Mnguni said police must take into account that the majority of illegal miners are desperate, unemployed young people. 'The concern that we are having is we are only seeing the zama zama's or the workers, those who are underground or undocumented. We haven't seen any arrests in the supply chain itself. We want it to cut across, including the kingpins.' Police have previously mentioned they have a multi-disciplinary approach to illegal mining, with the Hawks responsible for catching the buyers of illicit minerals.
Eyewitness News
3 days ago
- Business
- Eyewitness News
Calls are growing for the legalisation of artisanal mining by communities around mining towns
JOHANNESBURG - There are growing calls for the legalisation of artisanal mining by communities living in and around mining towns. On Wednesday, civil group Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA) held a coordinated march across five provinces to the Department of Mineral Resources' offices. They submitted their inputs to the draft Mineral Resources Development Bill. Among other things, the draft Mineral Resources Development Bill aims to formalise artisanal and small-scale mining through a licensing regime. MACUA believes formalising artisanal mining will assist many people living near mining towns. The group's Sabelo Mnguni said, "When it comes to mining, once mining ceases to operate, we are left without an economy, and the only economy in the community is mining, whether formal or informal. So in the absence of formal employment, the informal economy becomes the order of the day, which includes mining, and informal mining becomes the order of the day.' Mnguni said the formalisation of artisanal mining will also assist in dealing with illegal mining and its accompanied dangers.
Eyewitness News
15-06-2025
- Eyewitness News
MACUA calls for justice and closure for families of illegal miners who died at Stilfontein
JOHANNESBURG - The Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA) is calling for justice and closure for the families of illegal miners who died during Operation Vala Umgodi in Stilfontein, North West. The organisation, along with religious and traditional leaders, held a cleansing ceremony at shafts 10 and 11 of the Buffelsfontein mine this week, where dozens of miners perished. Since August last year, over 1,000 illegal miners surfaced from underground, while others died, reportedly from dehydration and starvation. READ: 3 more illegal miners resurface at abandoned Stilfontein mine MACUA's Sabelo Mnguni said that many of the deceased were buried without the community's involvement. "Some of them were not retrieved, some of them were buried through state funerals where even the community is not participating."
