An online petition to stop a subsidiary of an Indian mining company from setting up an iron ore mine at Ntembeni near Melmoth in the north of the province notched almost 5,000 signatures a few hours after it was started on Thursday.
The petition is run on Change.org and was started by the Entembeni Crisis Forum, which was formed to oppose the mining activities in the lush agricultural area.
The crisis forum is made up of residents, traditional leaders, and local commercial farmers.
It came a day after the community blockaded the R66 demanding that local officials of Jindal Mining KZN leave their area with immediate effect.
In the petition, the crisis forum claims that Jindal understated the number of households that would have to be moved by stating 300 when, in actual fact, 3,000 would have to be moved.
It claimed that a similar number of graves will have to be moved.
“In relation to the point above, that means over 3000 graves will be exhumed and moved - we have seen this in areas such as Somkhele ... where graves were exhumed and the dead buried in unmarked graves. “This not only tampers with our spiritual identity but is also a gross disrespect for humanity and our connection to the land.”
Furthermore, it is claimed that mining will disrupt agricultural activities in the area and strain the water supply.
“As a forum, we have opposed their plans from the beginning, when they first attempted to worm their way around the mandatory consultation process, by trying to obtain permission to mine on our land from everyone but our community.
“Makhasaneni (eNtembeni), in Melmoth, is placed on unending lush fields of green and is known for being a key producer of fruit and nuts like bananas, avocados, citrus fruit, and macadamia nuts in South Africa. The pictures on this petition do not come close to doing our beautiful home justice,” the forum said while motivating for signatures.
Moreover, the forum said Jindal, like all mining projects, is waving the promise of development at us in exchange for the land that produces food, saying that is bait.
It listed all the existing examples of mining towns around the country that are poverty-stricken; living in inhumane conditions because of the negative impact of mining, such as living in cracked homes, breathing polluted air, and drinking polluted water.
“Goerdertrouw Dam (Phobane) - the main dam from which we get water - serves five municipalities, which, at present, only get water once a week as we battle water shortages. Adding a mine to the equation will make the community unlivable because we will have no water - knowing how much water is used by mines per minute.”
Jindal did not respond when asked about the allegations made by the forum against it.
sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za
IOL Politics