Cape Town - Anti-mining activists from the Right to Say No as well as People’s Dialogue campaigns gathered outside Parliament on Monday in protest against the annual Investing in African Mining Indaba, saying communities were being stripped of their land and resources for the enrichment of the few.
Africa is home to about 30% of the world’s mineral deposits, including the critical minerals needed in green technologies and renewable energy.
The mining indaba kicked off on Monday under the theme “Unlocking African Mining Investment: Stability, Security, and Supply”.
National organiser from the Right to Say No campaign, Matthews Hlabane, read out a statement outside Parliament, calling for the development of “sustainable peoples” alternatives.
“The purpose of the indaba is to serve as a platform for these companies to promote extractivism and to discuss how they will continue to thrive and profit in the mining sector while millions of people suffer the severe social and economic consequences of destructive mining and extractivism at large.
“The mining indaba is taking place at a time when southern Africa is experiencing a severe ecological crisis, and its people are disproportionately affected by rising temperatures and other climate-related hazards.
This is in addition to the extreme socio-economic inequalities that already exist and the lack of public infrastructure that could help mitigate the devastation caused by rampant extractivism,” he said.
The group said resistance to extractivism and anti-democratic regimes by activists was met with intimidation, persecution and, in some cases, the assassination of activists and leaders of social movements.
“The number of our comrades who have had their lives violently taken for resisting transnational corporations and anti-democratic regimes in our region is staggering.
In recent years, leaders of movements such as Abahlali baseMjondolo, Amadiba Crisis Committee and others have been assassinated.
Most recently, on January 21 of this year, our colleague and champion of freedom and democracy, Thulani Maseko, was brutally gunned down in the presence of his family and children in Swaziland. We cannot remain silent,” he said.
The mining indaba said a large part of its agenda was devoted to “discussion on the responsible mining of all minerals”, including those minerals aimed at “lower carbon forms of power generation”.
“Mining indaba is a platform for engagement and collaboration between all stakeholders in the industry, and we believe that every voice should be heard.
It has, for several years, been engaging with and sharing platforms with representatives of the Alternative Mining Indaba that runs in parallel with the mining indaba in an endeavour to better understand the concerns of mining community representatives and other NGOs.”
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy did not respond to requests for comment by deadline on Monday.
Cape Times