[miningmx.com] — IN A new twist after the Constitutional Court ruled to set aside prospecting rights awarded to Genorah Resources because the mining firm did not consult sufficiently with the community on whose land the rights extended, a second community has claimed the court was misled over the property rights of the land in question.
The court on November 30 ruled in favour of the Bengwenyama-Ya-Maswati to set aside prospecting rights granted to Genorah on the farms Nooitverwacht and Eerstegeluk in Limpopo.
In a statement released on Monday,the Roka-Phasha Tribal Authority claimed it was the rightful owners of the Eerstegeluk farm, excluding a small residential area held by the Greater Tubatse Municipality.
“The surface rights reside solely under the ownership of this community,’ the statement read. “We believe the Constitutional Court was misled over the surface rights on the farm Eerstegeluk, as a result of which the court made erroneous statements of fact, which we will seek to have corrected.’
A statement of fact contained in Judge J Froneman’s judgment read Genorah was awarded prospecting rights over five properties in September 2006, including Eerstegeluk and Nooitverwacht, on which members of the Bengwenyama-Ya-Maswati reside.
“The community (the Bengwenyama-Ya-Maswati) has enjoyed uninterrupted occupation of Nooitverwacht for more than a century,’ it read. “It was dispossessed of Eerstegeluk in 1945, but has successfully lodged a land claim for its formal restoration to the community. Despite some earlier skirmishes, it is now accepted that the community holds both properties (the farms) as owner for the purposes of the application of the act.’
The statement by the Roka-Phasha said the court was led to believe that a land claim in respect of Eerstegeluk had been granted to the Bengwenyama-Ya-Maswazi.
“The fact is that the land claim by the Bengwenyama-Ya-Maswazi in respect of Eerstegeluk has not yet even been adjudicated, let alone granted. The surface rights to Eerstegeluk have belonged to the Roka Phasha community for nearly 100 years and still do.’
Ian Shapiro of law firm Eversheds, who represented the Bengwenyama-Ya-Maswazi at the Constitutional Court, was not immediately available for comment.
Spokesperson for the Roka-Phasha Anda Ngani said the community’s Kgosi Phasha was in talks with legal representatives to “write a letter to the Judge President’.
NKWE PROSPECTS
Should the Roka-Phasha’s claims hold true, Australia-listed Nkwe Platinum might be given some relief in terms of security of title over key prospecting rights.
Genorah reversed all its rights pertaining to five farms, including Nooitverwacht and Eerstegeluk, into Nkwe in return for a 60% interest in the firm in 2007.
The Roka-Phasha are seemingly favourably inclined to Genorah and Nkwe’s involvement on the farm.
“We have established a relationship with Genorah Resources over the past four years and they have shown unwavering support for our community and displayed an interest in improving the quality of life of our community,’ the statement read.
However, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and Anglo Platinum have also taken the award of prospecting rights to Genorah of the other three farms on review with the department of mineral resources, an ARM spokesperson told Miningmx earlier this month.
ARM and Anglo Platinum have argued that these farms are contiguous with ARM and Anglo Platinum’s Modikwa project, and form the natural deep-level extensions to the operations of that mine.
Nkwe has since suspended the trading of its shares on Australia’s stock exchange, pending an announcement on the claims.
