Miners in fight with giant firm over dump

In a David vs Goliath scenario, a group of illegal miners has lodged a complaint against diamond mining group Ekapa for illegal mining.

The Mining Affected Communities United in Action group claims that Ekapa, which is reprocessing De Beers diamond mine dumps near Kimberley, does not have permits and should be charged for illegal mining.

But Ekapa maintains it has been given permission by De Beers.

Ekapa is pitted in a legal battle in the Supreme Court of Appeal with over 800 informal miners to have them stopped from coming onto land where the mine dumps are.

The company won a High Court ruling to have the miners stopped from mining the dumps.

• WATCH: Illegal miners take on mining giant in what they call a battle between the ‘needy and the greedy’In a David vs Goliath scenario an informal miners association has taken on national diamond mining giant‚ Ekapa‚ in a fight for the protection of their rights.

It's this decision which the miners and human-rights advocacy group Action Aid are appealing.

They met the Northern Cape premier in Kimberley yesterday to try to find a solution to the problem.

Action Aid's Sifiso Dladla said the NGO was assisting the miners as part of a larger battle with the government to have informal mining decriminalised.

"The legalisation of informal mining has been shown to have huge financial benefits.

"All informal miners want is an opportunity to legally work without harassment. They have never had an issue with paying taxes."

• Zama zamas‚ backed by BLF‚ protest against 'illegal mine'Informal miners in Kimberley in the Northern Cape have protested against mining company Ekapa‚ which the miners claim has been operating without a permit.

"Our role here is to ensure the protection of these miners' rights. We are working with Macua on a national and provincial level, to bring their plight to the attention of the government.

"We want to ensure that their rights are included under the Mineral Petroleum Resources Development Act, which we want to see legalise artisanal mining."

Kholisile Dingiswayo, Macua national secretary, said informal miners in the area removed roughly R5-million worth of diamonds from dumps a month,

The group's lawyer, Johan Lorenzen, said while De Beers had the right to mine the dumps, Ekapa did not, because De Beers' rights had not yet been transferred to the company.

Ekapa spokesman Gert Klopper described the appeal as a last-gasp attempt to derail the eviction.

"We have confidence that the court's decision will be upheld."

- TMG Digital/TimesLIVE