The rail lines that have been built on the land that the community says it was moved from. Picture: Bhekikaya Mabaso (ANA)
Johannesburg - Suddenly, thanks to the Sunday Independent reporting, the community of Sporong village could finally find a much-needed boost in the David versus Goliath battle over dispossessed land.
Last week, the publication reported on the story of the North West community that has been up in arms with Anglo American mine after they were forced to leave their village in the platinum belt outside of Rustenburg to make space for mining operations.
The CRL Rights Commission, in its capacity as the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, is one of the Chapter 9 Institutions established by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and also given effect by the Act of Parliament, Act 19 of 2002.
These legislative documents give a mandate to the organisation to promote respect for and further the protection of the rights of cultural, religious and linguistic communities.
The commission’s spokesperson, Mpiyakhe Mkholo, said: “The commission also has the mandate to promote the rights of communities to develop their historically diminished or diminishing heritage.”
Some of the commission’s successful cases include the Medupi Power Station in Limpopo, where community members of Ga-Mothiba and Ga-Mojapelo communities alleged that Eskom had built the power station on what was once the communities’ burial grounds.
The commission mediated the case, and the remains were subsequently reburied at a mutually approved place by the community and the company. Another case involved a local community in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, where the community alleged that several farmers in the area used land once as a cemetery for farming purposes.
The commission had to intervene and resolve the matter involving the two parties. “Apart from the Medupi and Piet Retief, we had other cases from Groblersdal, Ethekwini Municipality and the Northern Cape. These are a few prominent cases the commission has had. In the the Groblersdal case, there were allegations that about 79 human remains were exhumed and kept in a container. However, with the commission’s intervention, the bodies will be reburied in April 2023,” Mkholo said.
In its bid to assist Sporong’s dwellers in fighting the mining giant for their land, Mkholo advised them to file a formal complaint with the commission.
“During the engagement with the representatives of the affected community, the commission has requested them to lodge a formal complaint so that the matter can be further investigated. The applicable documents have been sent to them to facilitate that process. Accordingly, that investigation will also determine the nature, possible or further interventions which may need to be undertaken,” Mkholo said.
Moreover, Mkholo said, recommendations on the community’s recourse could only be brought forward once the commission concluded its investigations.
“The initial engagement with the community representative does point to the challenge and concerns related to community graves which is a matter of religious and cultural importance to the affected community,” he said.
Regarding the duration of the entire process, Mkholo highlighted that it all would depend on the nature of the complaint and the extent of the investigations to be undertaken.
Sporong community leader Dan Lesojane said Mkholo provided him with all the forms needed to file the complaint. However, he only managed to send them back to the commission on Wednesday after meeting with other community members to give them an update on the matter.
Lesojane said the community had opened multiple cases with their local police station, but some of these cases were still pending, while others were not even registered. However, he was hopeful that their grievances would be addressed with the commission's assistance and that the community’s voice would be heard.
“Right now, we feel we have all the strength and support we need as the community to fight this battle because of the CRL Rights Commission’s involvement. I think this would motivate the community not to give up on our fight when we go to court to challenge the mine,” added Lesojane.
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