Glenda Daniels
Two Northern Province rural communities are up in arms against mining giant Amplats and the Royal Bafokeng Administration.
The Ga-Pila are embroiled in a fight with Amplats over impending forced removals while the Bafokeng are engaged in mass action against the royal administration of King Leruo Molotlegi over retrenchments.
The Ga-Pila community has rejected a R5 000 a household offer from Anglo-Platinum mine to be moved off their land to a new village. They are demanding R100 000 in compensation, and are now trying to raise funds for legal action against the mine.
”The R5 000 compensation is laughable. The community will not relocate unless a compensation of R100 000 per household is paid, and unless certain issues between the mine and the community are resolved safety issues and community development for instance,” says Macdonald Pila from the Concerned Community Group representing the community.
There are also ”issues of outstanding payment from the company for injuries from blasting, households with boreholes, services rendered, inhumane treatment and a lack of respect for the community”, he says.
The community this week listed its grievances in a statement. These include a ”complete lack of community involvement in the shaping and construction of the new Sterkwater Village. There is no ethos of upliftment of rural communities, eradicating poverty, skills development, creation of job opportunities or the promotion of entrepreneurship from the company. The community feels that the arrangement is based on old-fashioned mindsets of spoon-feeding and alienation of communities. There is no economic empowerment involved,” they say.
The rural community feels that ”Amplats sees the community of Ga-Pila as a stumbling block in its mining growth and therefore wants to relocate the former speedily and in the most cost-effective manner”.
The community is also angry that the mine intends to make the move in ”bits and pieces”. If they are to be removed, they want to go together. They will also ”not relocate until every homeowner is satisfied with his or her new home”.
This week the Ga-Pila resolved to withdraw all cooperation with the mine, including labour and community contractors, until an agreement is reached.
The Ga-Pila intend continuing protest marches until their de- mands are met. According to their statement, there will be ”deliberate attempts to stall and make ungovernable the mining processes, and the relocation of the Ga-Pila community. It is also the resolution of the community that the construction of Sterkwater Village will be brought to a halt in the event of a lack of cooperation from the side of Amplats.”
Amplats representative Mike Mtakati says the company is surprised by the hostile attitude that the community is adopting.
”No one is being forcibly removed. The company has spent in excess of R135-million to relocate the community. We have built them 770 new houses, we will move about 4 500 of them, but this was decided after negotiations with the community. This is why we are so taken aback by their marches.
”The houses have electricity and are built near tarred roads and clinics. We decided to give them R5 000 to buy new furniture for their houses.”
Mtakati says that most of the community attended an opening ceremony of the new village recently.
The Bafokeng of Phokeng near Rustenburg marched last Sunday in protest against 800 retrenchments. They say they are losing jobs to non-Bafokeng. But the royal administration denies it is retrenching anyone, rather it is merely ”separating core from non-core functions”.
”There has been no consultation over the restructuring process of the Royal Bafokeng Administration. They are outsourcing and giving jobs to outsiders such as Motswanas. Workers have just received letters informing us of retrenchments.
”So we went on strike last month. Many workers from cleaning, security, gardening and transport have already lost their jobs. About 800 workers are being affected by this process. We are also waiting for the king to build houses, but when tendering for building takes place, the contracts are going to outsiders,” a retrenched worker said. He could not be named, he said, for fear of intimidation.
But public relations executive of the Royal Bafokeng Administration Herbert Mngadi denies this is happening. He says: ”It’s absolute nonsense that we are retrenching. We are just separating core from non-core functions and we are outsourcing. This is not going to affect the workers.
”We are not getting rid of the Bafokeng from their jobs. In any case, it’s against the Labour Relations Act to just give jobs to one group when unemployment is so rife everywhere; it becomes racist. We have employed one white person. I don’t know if that is what is upsetting them. It’s all a matter of skills and delivery.
”Yes, some will lose their jobs but not because of restructuring, because of outsourcing. There is restructuring everywhere, even in the government and unemployment is facing everyone, not just the people of Phokeng. They will have to adapt to the new companies.”