â–  Joe Dreyer & Billy Sibuyi
In what could only be described as absolute lawlessness, Phalaborwa town and the surrounding settlements were held hostage by a group calling themselves the Ba-Phalaborwa Community Forum (BCF).

The group had previously (on the 26th of February) caused havoc on the premises of the Palabora Copper mine (PMC) when they stormed the entrance gates and set fire to the guardhouse and several offices. This was because of disagreements between the group and mine management regarding the appointment of a new contractor at Shaft 2.

The BCF were concerned about the employment practices of the new contractor and demanded that local employment be sourced as per prior understandings between themselves and the mine management.

Following that riot, 14 of the BCF members including its leadership, were arrested and charged with public violence. They appeared in the Phalaborwa Magistrate court and were released on R500 bail each after the magistrate stated that there was no evidence that the suspects would commit other offences. The damage caused by their actions was estimated at roughly R5 million. They are scheduled to appear in court again on the 30th of April.

On Thursday last week, on the 8th of April, violence once again erupted as the BCF mobilized their members and subsequently blocked off every route into and out of Phalaborwa town by placing trees, large boulders and burning tyres over the roads. The R40 and R71 main routes were completely inaccessible and this brought the economy of the area to a grinding halt.

Members of the community were allegedly unhappy about resolutions reached between PMC, Foskor, Traditional Authorities of Ba-Phalaborwa Communities, and the Mayor Merriam Malatji, whereby it was decided that CV’s and business profiles should be submitted online. This resolution angered the members of the BCF as this were decided without their participation at the meetings.

During the week-long stand-off, motorists who needed to travel to other parts from Phalaborwa were forced to use a 300 kilometre detour through the Kruger National Park, or if they had a doctor’s appointment in Tzaneen or Polokwane, they were required to provide proof of this visit to random members guarding the blockades.

Upon presentation of the required proof, they were permitted to pass and the members would remove a portion of the barricade and let the vehicles pass. In one instance there was an accident reported just a kilometer from one of the blockades and ambulance personnel were reportedly not allowed to pass.

Members of the Phalaborwa CPF took up their positions at the various blockades and were eventually joined by the police and Public Order Policing (POP) units who arrived in a SAPS Nyala and started removing the barricades. It is reported that rubber bullets were fired to disperse the rioters who took shelter in the surrounding bushes from where they pelted stones at passing motorists.

The rioters threw rocks and debris at police and CPF members and fired stones at them from ketties. The CPF and police drove the rioters back who would regroup and return in waves to face the law enforcers who would drive them back again. This continued for five days before a meeting was scheduled.

In that meeting between Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET), Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality (BPM), National Union of Mine Workers (NUM), Palabora Mining Company (PMC), Foskor, Traditional Authorities, and the Ba-Phalaborwa Community Forum (BCF), which was held on Tuesday evening the 13th of April, it was agreed that these stakeholders needed to have an urgent team building exercise and restoration workshop to ensure a mutually beneficial relationship is nurtured.

It was also agreed that there should be compliance to the mine health and safety act for the leadership of the BCF to access the mine premises, and that the Community Liaison Officers would be redeployed by today, the 16th of April.

According to reports received by Bulletin, the BCF leadership will also be trained on the Social and Labour Plan which details the aspirations of the Mining Charter, and upon restoration of the relationship between the mines and the BCF, they will have monthly meetings to ensure information flow on a continuous basis.

According to the mines, preference will be given to Ba-Phalaborwa locals for all vacancies, subject to them meeting the requirements, and BCF will also form part of the interview processes as observers for internal entry level- and major contract entry level vacancies. A resolution that all identified business opportunities for locals will be advertised on local platforms and on the internet was also made.

It was also agreed upon that in cases where there were community issues, the BCF would take responsibility and engage with the concerned communities or individuals directly and report back to the mines on all community issues monthly.

By the time of going to print it was confirmed that the police had arrested seven people including a 53-year old SANDF member on charges of public violence. First to be arrested were two suspects, Peter Malatji (50) and Mavis Malatji (35), who were apprehended on Monday the 12th of April.

They appeared in the Namakgale Magistrate court on Wednesday during which the woman collapsed soon after they were remanded in custody. She was rushed to hospital where she was admitted under police guard. Both will again appear in the same court on the 20th of April. More arrests are expected.

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