The residents of Mmasebudule village, about 70km north of Zeerust in the North West, are frustrated by illegal chrome mining that started in September 2024 and continues to this day.
The furious villagers have accused their traditional leader, Kgosi Kwena Mangope, of conniving with the illegal mining bosses who are looting their chrome.
Mangope, the son of late Bophuthatswana homeland leader Lucas Mangope, is also the current ActionSA NW chairperson. Mmasebudule falls within the ambit of the Bahurutshe Boo-Manyane, which Mangope inherited from his father. Its headquarters are in Motswedi village.
One of the community activists, who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation, accused Mangope of enabling illegal mining.
“Kgosi Mangope is protecting these people. He is aware of the group that started illegal mining last year, hence [we say] he is protecting them. We do not need the police to stop these zama zamas; we can do it, but we need the buy-in of the traditional leadership,” the source said.
Mangope dismissed this claim and said he had been working with authorities.
“You know, little knowledge is very dangerous. If only those people could see the work I am doing to bring normalcy to Mmasebudule. I have been on the neck of the SAPS and the Hawks demanding that they act against illegal mining,” he said.
“Even if you could bring all the illegal miners before me, I won’t even point at any of them and say I know them. I do not know them. We called a community meeting in September 2024, where we called out the illegal miners. We are also worried about the illegal mining because it does not benefit the community at all,” he added.
Despite having three mining companies that have been operating with the community’s consent since the late 1950s, more youth are unemployed.
We are slowly losing hope because the situation is worsening daily. More illegal miners are coming to take over our mineral resources, and the government is not doing anything. People’s land has been taken by force
— Chief Sethibe Tiro, local headman
Residents complained about the lack of tarred roads and about the dust created by the many trucks that transport the chrome.
The land, which was previously used for subsistence farming to cultivate crops and graze livestock, has been turned into man-made holes by illegal miners searching for chrome. Not all plots of land were given with consent to the illegal miners.
Local headman Chief Sethibe Tiro said: “We are slowly losing hope because the situation is worsening daily. More illegal miners are coming to take over our mineral resources, and the government is not doing anything. People’s land has been taken by force.”
“There are those who have sold their land, but those people seem not to understand that this is communal land which belongs to the Boo-Manyane. It is not privately owned, therefore no-one has the right to sell our land, hence we do not have a title deed,” Tiro added.
Illegal mining has also become a source of conflict, as some residents have given their land rights to those who are mining the land. Other villagers are against the operation of the illegal mining.
There is no fencing on the illegal mining operations, which places the lives of both animals and people at risk. When they are done with the hole, no-one is coming to close it off, the concerned residents told TimesLIVE Premium.
From a distance, excavators can be seen moving around, while trucks make their way in and out of the village.
The diggers are young. A Zimbabwean national, who did not want to give his name because he is an illegal immigrant, said: “I am only here to earn a living. We are not here to cause trouble for anyone.”
The livestock owners have relocated their livestock to nearby farms, fearing their cattle might fall into the open holes.
Olebile Molefe, 41, a community activist, told TimesLIVE Premium that the traditional leadership was not doing enough to halt the operation of the illegal mining in their community.
“We have not received any form of support or blessing from our traditional leaders when we attempted to stop the ongoing illegal mining on our land. We are losing this battle because fewer residents decided to allow their land to be mined in return for money, while others are renting accommodation to the illegal miners,” Molefe said.
NW police spokesperson Brig Sabata Mokgwabone said police are aware of the illegal mining activities in the village and other parts of the province.
Mining analyst David van Wyk said the illegal mining should be stopped.
“It is destructive criminal syndicates that run the chrome operations. It represents plunder pure and simple. It has serious health, environmental and social implications for communities,” van Wyk said.
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