Tunatazama (We are Watching)

Building a network of communities in Southern Africa living near mines
The minerals below our earth are a source of great wealth but for the people of our region it is the cause of great suffering and destruction. Government leaders say that mining will grow, our economy will develop and there will be end to poverty. But from our experience we know that our economies have grown weaker, people are poorer and the wealth of mining is the cause of wars and political conflict in our countries. Mining creates huge profits for big corporations and powerful individuals in our countries. Communities living near mines lose their land water and cattle. Traditional community life is disrupted. Mining destroys the environment, pollutes the air, water and soil. Our very planet is at risk due to excessive mining.

This is a complex problem to solve and cannot be done in a day. Those who benefit from mining will resist change even with violence.
People living near mines are forced to go on living with mines around them. But they are not passive, they struggle, they survive in spite of the hardship. Many local organisations have emerged supported by the work of progressive NGO’s, churches and international solidarity organisations. They are developing knowledge, innovative strategies, creative methods, tools and techniques of engaging the big corporations. But most of these organisation struggle in isolation. Their work is not known. Their experiences and the new ideas they create are not shared. Their voices are not heard.

The project introduced here aims to break this isolation and silence and create a platform and network that will support communities to talk with each other.

This project has been initiated by SARWA and the Bench Marks Foundation in 2016. Organisations from 7 countries helped shape the programme of activities.

Organisations participating so far have been: 
Lesotho:  Maluti Community Development Forum (MCDF). 
Mozambique: Associacao dos oleiros de Moatize (AAAJC) Tete. 
South Africa: Sekhukhune Combined Mining Affected Communities (SCMAC) Limpopo, ,Bua Mining Communities, Rustenburg, Community Monitors Mpumalanga, South Africa . 
Zimbabwe; Save Odzi Community Network Trust (SOCNET), Marange Development Trust (MDT) , ZELA.
Zambia. Centre for Environmental Justice, EITA 
Tanzania Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)


History of Tunatazama Activities

2016
The first phase of the project was implemented between September 2016 and February 2017. This phase included 7 Southern African countries: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Lesotho, Tanzania and the DRC
In this workshop activists from the different countries presented their work to other activists, reflected on the challenges they faced, debated organising strategies, methods, tools and tactics.
The report from this workshop is documented and published in a book and a set of video interviews which is available on the project website
https://communitymonitors.net/category/we-are-activists/
The participants in this workshop presented their work in the Alternative Mining Indaba 2017

Key reflections:
The key reflections emerging from this first workshop include
– There is a remarkable similarity in the impacts of mining on the community life and the environment across countries.
– The differences among communities, relate to different legal and political conditions and different approaches to implementing (or non-implementation) the law, policies and rules by government officials.
– While these differences have led to different strategic approaches between local communities, there is lot in common among communities in the organisational methods, tools and tactics they use.

Proposals
The participants confirmed that there is a basis for building a regional information and idea sharing network.
They made the following proposals:
– Create an information and communication platform using the internet and social media
– Explore different approaches to education across countries, such as exchange visits and internet based seminars
– Conduct and publish an annual review on the work, experiences and innovations of local community organisation in mining areas.


2017
The following Activities have been implemented in Phase 2 (July – November 2017)

­Internet information system
We set up an internet /social media based platform and a system that would actively link as many local activists and organisations in on going sharing of information.
We assisted countries in southern Africa set up WhatsApp groups and linked this a weblog

Training
We ran training workshop in several countries to support  local activists develop skills to document events and activities and post these on the WhatsApp group and blogs. Do this in collaboration with country NGO’s

International workshop
We held a  workshop with representatives from all participating countries to review and develop a 2018 strategy and plan.

Annual Publication
We are in the process of publishing an annual summary of events and happenings across the region.
 

2018
We have launched a regional and global campaign to give support to the community of Ruashi in Lubumbashi DRC  to stop mine blasting which has lead to the death of a child resident.
We will continue training and expanding the WhatsApp to blog network
We will hold an international workshop towards the end of the year.

A platform, network and system to link local community activists within the country, across the region and globally
 Using this network, community activists will keep each other informed on their experiences. This will help communities to learn from each other as well as give each other support.

Step 1: Observe and document problems and events in local communities.
The activists will document any problem they observe arising from mining as well as any event such as a meeting or protest action that takes place in their community.
They will use a smart phone to take photographs, make a video or a voice note
They will write a short note that gives the following information:
– What happened
– When did it happen
– Where did it happen
– Who was involved
– Why did it happen (what was the cause)?
They may add any other comment.
The action of observing and documenting will assist to stay aware, reflect and analyse problems and actions.

Step 2: Share Reports on a WhatsApp group
Each country or area will set up a WhatsApp group. The activist will post her report on this group.
This sharing of reports will assist the activists learn from each other and as well as give each other support.

Step 3. Publish reports on a Website blog
A website has been set up with blogs for each country and area in the region. The address of this website is:  https://communitymonitors.net/
The post from the WhatsApp chat group will be reposted by an appointed website administrator on to a blog  for each country.
The website will then enable the local communities to share their stories and reports across the reigon and the world.

Step 4: Review posts on Smart Phone App
All posts reposted on the website will appear on an App. The local activist can download this app on a smart phone from the Play Store on an android phone

Step 5:  Making a community newsletter
All the writings and pictures created by the local activists can be easily downloaded from the website blog. These posts can be put in a newsletter for distribution in the local community among organisations and leaders.

Step 6: Continued Action
When a community observes, documents and speaks out about their problems, they have taken the first action towards change. From this first action, they are in a position to engage  in further action with mining corporation and government authorities towards resolving their problems.

This website and the activities are a joint project of several organisations in Southern Africa.

These include:
The Bench Marks Foundation – South Africa
Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW) – Southern Africa
Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) – Zimbabwe
Centre for Environment Justice (CEJ) – Zambia
Associação de Apoio e Assistência Jurídica às Comunidades (AAAJC) – Mozambique
Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), Tanzania
Maluti Community Development Forum – Lesotho


The activities of this project are managed by the Bench Marks Foundation on behalf of regional organisations.

This website is a space for community activists living near mines in southern Africa to share information, resources and experiences. Read more about the project and its history.

The countries currently participating in this project are: Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique and Tanzania.
Activists in each country document problems they experience and events they participate in and share this on a WhatsApp group. These posts are then shared on this site in the respective country blogs. Each country, in addition, maintains their own country blog.

Additionally, Activists can view the posts on a mobile app called “Action Voices” which can be downloaded on an Android phone from the Google Play store.

Communitymonitors.net is made possible with assistance from the following funders:

6th Floor, Khotso House,
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South Africa
2017