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Still No Justice for Killing of South African Mining Activist

Investigate Fikile Ntshangase’s Murder and Hold Killers Responsible

One year ago Fikile Ntshangase, an environmental activist from South Africa, was gunned down in her home in Somkhele in KwaZulu-Natal province, after raising concerns about a coal mine in the area. No arrests have been made. Today, members of her…
Activists from mining communities protesting at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on August 24, 2018, KwaZulu-Natal © 2018 Rob Symons
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South Africa: Activists in Mining Areas Harassed

Community activists in mining areas face harassment, intimidation, and violence, the Centre for Environmental Rights, groundWork, Earthjustice, and Human Rights Watch said in a joint report released today. The attacks and harassment have created an…
News

Interview: The Dangers of Opposing Mining in South Africa

Left Destitute and Sick, Communities Defy Police Abuse and Threats to Assert their Rights

What changes for a community once a mine starts operating? Most mining in South Africa takes place in rural areas, where people live off the land and their livestock. Mining often forces people to leave the land they use for farming and grazing…
Coal mine in Somkhele viewed from Ocilwane village in Fuleni, KwaZulu-Natal. © 2018 Rob Symons
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South Africa’s Constitutional Court Protects Land Rights

Landmark Rulings Protect Women and Communities Affected by Mining Companies

South Africa’s highest court has delivered two landmark decisions protecting women’s rights to equality and land ownership, as well as the rights of communities living in mining areas. The latest ruling ensured that an older…
Xolobeni community members and environmental activists march and chant slogans in front of South Africa's Pretoria High Court, April 24, 2018.
News

Stop Zim's abusive diamond trade

You would think that, with its vibrant diamond trade, South Africa would be first in line to prevent the smuggling of diamonds from Zimbabwe. Instead, South Africa has played a more equivocal role with its neighbour. The result is that South Africa is at…
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Kimberley Process: Zimbabwe Action Mars Credibility

Diamond Monitoring Body’s Failure to Suspend Allows for Sale of “Blood Diamonds”

(Johannesburg) - The credibility of the world's "blood diamond" monitoring group has been damaged after its failure this week to suspend Zimbabwe despite overwhelming evidence of serious human rights abuses and smuggling in the Marange diamond fields in…
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The Kimberley Process and Zim: Last-chance Saloon?

Namibia hosts the Kimberley Process Intersessional Meeting in Windhoek starting tomorrow. Namibia's Deputy Mines Minister, Bernhard Esau, who chairs the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), has a problem on his hands:  protecting the integrity…