PRESS ALERT: WESTERN CAPE CIVIL SOCIETY TO PROTEST AGAINST MINING IN XOLOBENI

On Wednesday, 25 May Western Cape civil society groups and social movements will march to oppose attempts by the Australian owned Mineral Commodities Limited (MRC) to mine the titanium related minerals lying beneath the Xolobeni communal land. The march will also call on the South African government to respect the community’s wishes against extractive development, government is proposing. If this mine goes ahead the community will lose their land and livelihood. The legacy of mining in South Africa is littered with environmental destruction, pollution, entrenched poverty for workers and the surrounding communities, severe health impacts and the spread of diseases.  The key beneficiaries are investors and shareholders not the community.

The march will be in solidarity with the Amadiba Crisis Committee who, for the past 10 years, have been fighting to protect their communal land. It will coincide with the MRC shareholders’ meeting in Perth, Australia, where Australian civil society will also be protesting.

The march, titled #HandoffAmadiba, will start at 11h30 at the Department of Minerals Resources (Atterbury House, Lower Burg Street, Cape Town City Centre) to the South African Parliament where memorandums will be delivered to the Parliamentary Committees on Mineral Resources and the South African Police Services.

Submitted by: Dominic Brown; ; 084 01 333 90

For the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) Contact:

Nonhle Mbuthuma +27 763592982; Mzamo Dlamini +27 721940949.