Mantashe to host meeting with Xolobeni stakeholders in effort to find solution

SOUTH Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) said it would host a meeting with Amadiba Crisis Committee which was formed to protest against planned mining at Xolobeni where mineral sands are known to exist.

“The engagement forms part of the Minister’s on-going frank and open discussions with all stakeholders in an effort to find a sustainable solution to the challenges related to potential mining in Xolobeni,” the DMR said in a statement.

“We will continue to engage all people in Xolobeni and hear their views and together find the solutions that will sustainably benefit all citizens,” said mines minister, Gwede Mantashe in a statement.

Mantashe said in August that he intended to stop the progress of a mining application for Xolobeni.

Citing a government gazette published on August 3, BusinessLive said Mantashe would not only freeze progress on an existing mining application from Transworld Energy & Mineral Resources — an Australian company seeking to mine titanium along the Wild Coast — but will also block any new applications from being lodged.

The moratorium was in response to “… the social and political climate at Xolobeni”, and the “… significant social disintegration and highly volatile nature of the current situation in the area,” said BusinessLive citing Mantashe in the gazette.