Roland Routh
Eveline de Klerk
Conservancies in the Khorixas area of the Kunene region lodged an urgent application on Monday in the High Court to stop the construction of a road there.
Ottilie Ndimulunde, who was awarded mining concessions in the area, intended to construct a road to get access to her mining concessions. However, the conservancies Doro !Nawas, Uibasen Twyfelfontein, #Aodaman Traditional Authority and Ultimate Safaris, lodged an urgent application in the High Court on 13 September 2024 to review and set aside the awarding of the mining concessions.
Despite a provisional interdict, Ndimulunde attempted to construct a road, which led to the current impasse. The applicants claim that mining activities in their conservancy areas will disturb wildlife, which they depend on for survival.
They stated that Namibia is unique in the sense that most of the wildlife is situated outside its national parks, and the areas in which the conservancies have been established are a significant habitat for black rhinos, which
are considered critically endangered. Only around
3 500 black rhinos exist globally, the conservancies argue, and Namibia is host to close to one-third of the global population. As such, sound conservation and management principles are key to Namibia’s success in the conservation of this iconic species.
They reiterated that the mining operations intended by the respondents pose a direct and imminent threat to the black rhinos in the conservancy areas.
The inevitable result of mining in the area would thus be the migration of the rhino, resulting in the loss of tourists, and ultimately their livelihoods.
Furthermore, they claim that the issuing of mining claims within a well-known rhino range area is a direct contradiction of the National Strategy on Wildlife Protection and Law-Enforcement. This flies directly in the face of government’s policy’s on no mining or prospecting activities in protected areas such as an area with a large concentration of black rhinos and other protected species, the applicants submitted.
They are asking the High Court to interdict and restrain Ndimulunde or any other person employed or acting under her direction from, in any manner whatsoever, using heavy machinery, including graders, excavators and tipper trucks, to construct a new road from D2612 in a westerly direction to the site of the mining camps or any new roads, roadworks or vehicular tracks on the Farms 535 Probeer and 527 Draaihoek in the Khorixas District. They further want the court to interdict and restrain Ndimulunde and others under her direction from conducting any mining activities. They also asked for costs on the scale of one instructed and one instructing counsel.
They are represented by Andrew Corbett SC, on instructions by Karin Klazen.
Ndimulunde, represented by Tinashe Chibwana on instructions of Appolos Shimakeleni, hit back by saying that none of the applicants have locus standi to institute the litigation. She stated that they have not made the necessary allegations that could be a basis to sustain the standing.
In any case, there is a decision by the Environmental Commissioner that the area where the mining is taking place and has been taking place since 1925 is not an environmentally-sensitive area.
She further said that her mining activities fall exclusively within the geographical area of the Sorris Sorris Conservancy, which is not part of the applicants. This does not make the applicants bona fide, as they have no rights over the area in which her mining operations fall. Ndimulunde added that Ultimate Safaris, which forms part of the applicants, does not benefit the community where the conservancies are situated, but the previously advantaged owners of the outfit and the rich tourists who can afford the outrageous prices charged by the outfit. “That is the reason why the representatives of the Sorris Sorris community agreed that the benefits that mining will provide to the community are more beneficial than the elitist arrangement in place,” she stated.
She added that she currently employs 20 persons, and intends to employ a further 150, who will be recruited from the community, in consultation with the conservancy and the traditional authority. She also intends to raise the salaries of the rangers to ensure that no poaching will take place within the mining area. She has already invested and secured financing for N$18 million, and will secure financing to the tune of N$55 million by the time the mine is fully-operational. Judge Orben Sibeya, who presided over the matter, reserved his judgement to 27 September. He issued orders that no mining activities or activities of any kind must be carried out at the mining sites, pending the judgement.
Authorities
Supporting affidavits presented in court state that chief Zacharias Seibeb of the Dâure Daman is in support of the mining activity.
He confirmed that the mine is in the jurisdiction of the Dâure Daman Traditional Authority, “and the authority has given a consent letter to Ottilie Ndimulunde, and has no objection to her mining activities in the area,” he said in his affidavit.
However, the #Aodaman Traditional Authority’s acting chief Christofine Claassen said their late chief Petrus Ukongo had granted consent for an environmental
impact assessment (EIA), but his consent did not cover actual mining activities.
“After Ukongo’s death, it became apparent that the mining operations were planned in
an area outside the authority’s jurisdiction, and contrary to the EIA’s scope. This led to a formal complaint against the mining activities that threaten local biodiversity, and contradict national wildlife protection policies. The authority thus supports the urgent application to halt these mining operations,” she said in her affidavit.
-edeklerk@nepc.com.na
-rrouth@nepc.com.na