The community seeks advice against unlawful mining activities in their village.

Margret Molomo

Members of Kopano residing Ga Kgubudi Mosesetjane village complain about Ivanplats use of force and violence towards a protest resisting the mine’s land grab and illegal mining activities at land that the community control in terms of communal customary land tenure rights read with IPILRA.

On the 30 May 2014 granting of Mining Rights expressly excluded residential areas and land reserved in terms of any legislation including the Interim Protection of Informal Land Right Act(IPILRA) OF 1996. On the 4th March 2016 Ivanplats invoked  resettlement 31 residential structures from the area and in 2017 installed a fence to enclose the servitude area as site preparation activities. While application was still being processed, ivanplats commenced site clearance and fencing of the area extending from discharge point of v drain site preparation activities for construction of Masodi pipeline and expansion of footprint of the v drain prior to  submitting an application on 21 October 2021. In May 2023,Ivanplats commenced construction of Masodi pipeline which connects  to the line applied for on 21 October 2021 to avoid consequences.

Ivanplats claimed that the pipeline was approved in 2014 yet in 2014 it was only for bulk supply on clean water from Flag Boshielo Dam and not effluent treated wastewater.  Currently Ivanplats mine is constructing the V drain,storage tailing dam,right inside the three villages without consultation. The community constituting members of Kopano who are illegally deprived of the informal individual use rights and communal land tenure rights seek advice on intended application in terms section 24G pertaining to the unlawful commencement and continuation with the construction of the V drain pipeline. It is noted that ivanplats mine is even conducting blasting activities in breach of the 500m buffer zone.