“There is no war in Amadiba.”
The Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC), an anti-mining civic group in the Mpondoland area, has chastised premier Oscar Mabuyane for trying to bring in soldiers to safeguard multibillion-rand state infrastructure projects in the area, among them the R20bn N2 Wild Coast Toll Road and the R4.05bn Mtentu Bridge.
Instead, they have labelled Mabuyane’s decision as nothing but a “ruse” to protect the self-interests of politicians who were hoping to score big contracts in the projects.
They now want President Cyril Ramaphosa and defence and military veterans minister Angie Motshekga to visit the communities affected by the projects, including the Msikaba bridge,near Lusikisiki, before deciding on the deployment.
The ACC was formed in 2007 by Xolobeni villagers to fight the mining of titanium-rich sand dunes along the Wild Coast.
Xolobeni falls under the Amadiba administrative area, which also includes KwaJama village, one of the areas affected by the Mtentu Bridge.
“There is no war in Amadiba,” ACC spokesperson Nonhle Mbuthuma said.
“But there are questions to be answered. The talk of deploying soldiers has made [us] very anxious.
“There are projects where we do not see eye to eye with the government because they were imposed on us by Sanral.
“It was the same when they brought in mining in Xolobeni. We were threatened that the military will be brought in just like they are doing now.”
She was responding to a call in August by Mabuyane for the deployment of the army to deal with construction mafia.
His calls came amid increased reported incidents of extortion in the province.
“We are not surprised,” Mbuthuma said.
“It has been in the cooking since 2021, and in 2022 then transport minister Fikile Mbalula floated the idea during an interview with the SABC.
“Now it is packaged as part of a campaign against extortion money and business forums, using crimes committed in Mthatha and elsewhere.”
She said the attempts to co-opt the military were to drown out voices from unhappy communities affected by the projects.
The route planned for the toll road would destroy critical biodiversity which was important to sustaining many people’s livelihoods, she said.
ACC had suggested an alternate route for the toll road, but Mbuthuma said Sanral did not even want to listen.
Communities such as KwaJama were concerned about ancestral graves, but that also had not been addressed by Sanral.
The majority of the people employed in the Mtentu project were not from around the area.
“The only looming disaster over the Mtentu Bridge is the disastrous behaviour of Sanral, which refuses to listen to rational arguments, refuses to come to meetings and refuses to answer community letters,” Mbuthuma said.
“ACC is not stopping the project, it is suggesting changes to it.
“Neither is the Jama community, they are directly affected. They are raising a number of issues.
“Nor are local business organisations stopping the project, they demand the local Dangeni quarry to be used for the project.”
She said contrary to Mabuyane’s comments about extortionists demanding money in the Mtentu project, none of the people in the Madiba area had demanded protection fees.
Provincial government spokesperson Khuselwa Rantjie said: “It is important to note that the scourge of extortion has far-reaching consequences, affecting not only businesses but also households across the province.
“In response to the escalating cases of crime and extortion, premier Mabuyane called for additional resources to intervene and combat this menace.”
She said the Eastern Cape had so far received the deployment of multidisciplinary teams to investigate the cases and to bring those linked to them to justice.
“The request for military deployment is not targeting any pressure group opposed to elements of development in the province as they have a right to raise their views.
“Equally, the government cannot negate its responsibility to bring about development and safeguard the interest of the state and citizens.
“The call extends beyond the Mtentu Bridge construction to all affected projects, aiming to protect the fiscus and ensure timely completion of projects.”
Sanral declined to comment on the accusations by the ACC and instead referred questions to Mabuyane’s office.
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