Protesters demand jobs at Umzumbe mine
In the early hours of last Monday they took it to the streets where they demanded to meet with the heads of the mine.
The community of Fairview Mission protested by blocking the road to the Highbury Lithium Mine in Umzumbe with sand and burning tyres last Monday morning. Their reason being that many young people have not been given jobs after the mine started operations in 2023.
Slindile Mbhele, a community member, said that people from outside the area are hired.
They demanded to meet with the heads of the mine.
“Today we have closed the road from 03:00 because we want them to explain to us when will they meet our demands. We also ask them to give skills to our youth, so that they can be employed by the mine.”
Mbhele believes that the land belongs to the community and that they should also benefit from the mining activity.
Fairview Youth Development committee member, Nokubonga Hlophe, said that they (the mine) have spoken about training some youth from the community, but nothing positive has come out of it.
“We applied for a community march but it was denied, we then decided to gather here.”
The mine’s Chief Development Officer, Ian Harebottle, said despite the regional unemployment exceeding 50%, the mine has created over 800 permanent direct and indirect jobs, with more than 80% of employees stemming from within the Ugu District, mostly within 25km of the mine.
“Additional jobs in transport, catering and supply services, to name just a few, further support the local economy. To ensure fair employment distribution, an Employment Evaluation Committee (EEC), comprising elected members from Wards 13, 14, 15, and KwaHlongwa, oversees the hiring processes.”
Harebottle added that when he addressed the protesters, he updated them on the company’s regular engagements with the three current community structures, namely, the Transformation Committee (landowners), the Youth Development Committee (YDC, representing youth and employment interests), and SANCO (representing regional interests).
He added that he informed the group of four short-term positions currently available, with one group of four to be selected from each represented region. Community leaders were urged to submit candidate names promptly.
According to the community, they have given the mine 14 days to come back to them about their demands.
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