Since 2006, people in Xolobeni have waged a struggle over plans for heavy minerals mining, reports Shona Aylward in this three part series first published by South Coast Herald.
Sowing dissent: Pondoland pain over mining
While the North Gauteng High Court has ruled that mining cannot go ahead without the full and proper consent of residents of the area, South Africa’s minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe, is challenging the order. He argues that transferring authority over licensing in the mining sector from the state to communities will have potentially chaotic consequences.
This well-tended vegetable garden of a Wild Coast ‘home stay’ forms part of a growing network of hiking trails and associated eco-tourism enterprises
‘Mining Xolobeni like putting jackal with the goats’
Stiff opposition to mining plans from residents, including youth, could save the natural splendour, traditional values and lifestyles in the Pondoland
The ties that bind: Land and loyalty
Award winning hiking guide, Sinegugu Zukulu remains determined to “show the world and educate politicians, that in Pondoland, we know what we want”
Reporter Shona Aylward interviews Sinegugu Zukulu during a recent seven day hiking trail through Pondoland.
This series of stories arose from Roving Reporters Wild Swim expedition organised in association with the 8 Mile Club to promote marine conservation and eco-tourism as part of a broader bid to save a 22km stretch of Wild Coast earmarked for heavy minerals mining.
Filmmaker Gordon Greaves at work in producing a documentary on Pondoland that will premiere at the forthcoming Conservation Symposium in Howick early November
