‘We give the mine 7 days’

HUNDREDS of people gathered at Marula Platinum Mine to hand over a memorandum of demands to mine management last week.

The protestors said they were fed up with the mine allegedly sidelining local labour by hiring outsiders and not doing anything to develop local communities.

Among the protestors were taxi drivers from the Druta taxi association, members of the local business forum, the Masedi Development Agency and the Marula Community Development Trust.

According to the memorandum, the mine’s social labour plan overlooked local people’s needs and enriched only the local magoshi (traditional leaders).

They also accused the mine of not practising affirmative action and of not offering recruitment, learnerships, bursaries and other development opportunities to local workers.

“We want at least 75% of the mine’s workforce to be local workers.

“At this stage it stands at only 20%,” said a representative of the protestors, Solly Mphogo, who is also the chairperson of the Masedi Development Agency.

The mine was further accused of communicating only with the traditional leaders and neglecting the community organisations and representatives that were elected by the villagers.

“Those chiefs are enjoying lavish lifestyles and are seen driving expensive cars while their people are suffering.

“The mine sidelined members of the trust in order to deal with the magoshi,” one protestor said.

Protestors also claimed that, in 2000, the surrounding villages including Manyaka, Mashishi Seuwe, Magabaneng, Kgwete and Diphale, each elected one person from their communities to serve as a link between them and the mine.

Moses Mosoma, chairperson of the Marula Development Trust, said these people had served only their own interests and not those of their communities.

“They were only supposed to be at the helm for three years, but are still there today,” Mosoma said.

Protestors said poor service delivery was their most burning concern.

“We don’t have water or roads and we are starving while certain people are eating the money that was supposed to uplift us,” a protestor explained.

The mine was given seven working days to respond to the memorandum.

At the time of going to print CV had not received any comment from the mine on the matter.