Mining companies should listen to communities
Makgoo Victoria
Morapaneng Village is one of the villages that are affected by Twickenham platinum mine. The problems started after the mine closure in 2016 then from 2017 till now things are worse
Issues
*Mine reopening
Community took a decision to make a strike to go to mine to close the mine gate saying that the mine must reopen. Unfortunately the answer they got was that is not possible. After that they just called structure to let them know that they will be the training(preparation that will happen before mine re- opening). They are preparing to take people to do competent B in a form of Hudua( A way in which people’s Identity document is used. If yours is picked means iss a yes you can go for training and if is not then you are not going for training)
*Waste in the community
Waste in the community and in dongas of the village is soo bad that so terrible.
We are passing lot of bottles, diapers and sharp object like ceiling board, tins, glasses etc and mine turned a blind eye.
*Pothholes
The road that is used by mine vehicle and the community has lots of potholes, when we report to the mine they refer us to the municipality then municipality refer us back to the mine and this means that no one want to take responsibility.
*Illegal mining
There is a place where there is an illegal mining, some of our community members are using their yards to keep chrome after digging/mining it. They then sell it to other people where it is collected during the day where everyone can see. The chrome is collected by trucks and delivered to places where they only know. They work with people that we don’t know and not from our area.
*Safety and health
When this illegal mining happens, we as communities are unable to report because we are afraid. If they realize that we are the ones who have reported our lives. might be in danger. Since the chrome is kept in the yards it is also dangerous because it might contain dangerous particles/chemicals from underground. This pollutes the air and our soil. If is raining this also go to our rivers and is dangerous for our children who play during the day. Most of the women are mostly at home and not far from the chrome and their health might be affected.