The jurisdictional area of the Dâure Daman Traditional Authority, especially the Dâures in the Erongo region and its surroundings, is endowed with minerals, natural resources, and abundant wildlife. 

This natural wealth, if properly managed and harnessed, can provide exceptional opportunities for local communities and significantly benefit neighbouring towns and the national economy in the long run.

However, a disheartening trend has emerged whereby opportunities intended to benefit the wider community and support infrastructure development are being undermined by contrasting and counterproductive business interests. 

As a Traditional Authority, we remain committed to empowering our people and firmly believe that mining and tourism can co-exist for the mutual benefit of all.

Unfortunately, there are individuals with self-serving business interests who oppose this belief.

A case in point is the current controversy surrounding the ǀGôanta≠Gâb Mine — loosely referred to as Goantagab, meaning “whirlpool” in local legend, where children are said to have once disappeared. 

For the Dâure Daman people, small-scale mining is as natural and essential as cultivating and harvesting are for communities in the north. 

Owing to the mineral wealth of our area, young men and women venture into the mountains to collect semi-precious gemstones and minerals, which they sell locally to make an honest living.

The Goantagab Mine has a long history. In the 1940s, Anglo American owned operational claims there, with wildlife thriving alongside mining activities. 

In the late 1970s until around 1985, Gold Fields held claims and carried out active mining operations while rhinos and elephants populated the area. 

During this time, two small-scale miners owned several claims, again co-existing with wildlife. There were about 1,500 small miners and employees in the area, all living alongside the environment in balance.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism had game guards and nature conservationists stationed in the area to provide protection services, ensuring both environmental and wildlife conservation  and this system worked. 

Some long-serving and now-retired civil servants from the Ministries of Industry, Mines and Energy can still attest to these facts.

After independence, a white miner operated the ǀGôanta≠Gâb Mine amid thriving wildlife and tourism activities within the conservancies and the Joint Management Area managed with Ultimate Safaris.

Yet, the moment a black Namibian recently obtained mining rights and began operations, the same activity was suddenly labelled a “threat to wildlife”, by the very same people who once co-existed peacefully with a white miner. 

This is nothing short of economic racism, a term recently used by a Member of Parliament.

Furthermore, it is evident that the Sorris-Sorris, Uibasen, and Doro !Nawas Conservancies entered into a tripartite agreement known as the Joint Management Area (JMA). 

This agreement has major flaws and was found by the Competition Commission to be anti-competitive; it was also rejected by the Land Board.

The joint venture grants Ultimate Safaris exclusive land rights to operate over 23,000 hectares for a period of 25 years, renewable. 

The withdrawal and cancellation clauses are heavily one-sided, making it virtually impossible for conservancies to exit the agreement. 

The tourism operator has already built infrastructure and bars access to the area, even though no formal leasehold has been obtained.

This creation of exclusive zones, restricting local and alternative business ventures, effectively allows foreign tour operators to establish private enclaves in an independent Namibia, for the comfort of their visitors.

To make matters worse, Ultimate Safaris, under the guise of the conservancies, has taken the government and the mining company to court in an attempt to halt mining activities.

Demographic realities show that tourism and conservancy activities since the 1920s have not improved the living conditions of the local people. 

We have seen tourism operators making exorbitant profits and then leaving the area. 

Many young people across all three conservancies remain unemployed.

In contrast, the Goantagab Mine has the potential to create around 300 jobs with better wages, while Ultimate Safaris currently employs about 35 people, reportedly with meagre salaries.

The operation of the mine would therefore bring significant socio-economic upliftment to the local population. 

The Dâure Daman Traditional Authority does not oppose either mining or tourism but rather, we advocate for both to co-exist through proper management and planning, for the greater benefit of our people.

Luring unsuspecting communities into dubious, exclusive agreements is counterproductive and goes against the objectives of Namibia’s 8th Administration, which prioritises job creation and inclusive economic growth.

All investments that create employment and contribute to the socio-economic well-being of communities on communal land should be allowed to coexist, regardless of whether they operate in the same or different industries, provided that appropriate administrative and environmental safeguards are in place.

We further propose that the current Joint Management Agreement be invalidated and cancelled to make way for inclusive and sustainable development.

In hindsight, we must remember that “we cannot use the same methods and expect different results. 

Tourism and conservation have long existed in the area, yet people’s living conditions have not improved.  

Allowing tourism to coexist with mining could finally yield better results for our people.”

*Marin Matsuib is a retired teacher, writer, and freelance training consultant. He is an alumnus of the Academy of Tertiary Education (now UNAM), currently serves as the national coordinator of the Namibian Education Coalition, and is the spokesperson of the Dâure Daman Traditional Authority.