POSTCARDS FROM XOLOBENI
Xolobeni is a cluster of rural communities on the eastern coast of South Africa. Most households are self-sufficient; living off the land and fishing in the sea, occasionally travelling 2 hours to the closest shops to buy sugar, oil and other basic provisions.
They have been fighting against proposed titanium dune mining for nearly 20 years as the mineral rich land of the Wild Coast is seen as an opportunity for international mining companies to profit, with only the resistance of local residents standing in their way. For more than a decade, Australia’s Mineral Resources Limited has persisted with their application to mine the area, despite repeated opposition from the community.
Should mining proceed it will displace hundreds of people from their ancestral land, cut off their access to the sea, pollute surrounding villages, grazing lands and water sources; and destroy grassland, estuarine and marine ecosystems. It will necessitate the relocation of ancestral graves, and in this way sever the Amadiba people from their cultural roots.
On the 23rd April 2018 the Amadiba Crisis Committee took the Department of Mineral Resources to court, requesting that the court rules that no license to mine the are can be granted without the community’s consent.
On the 22nd November 2018 the Gauteng High Court ruled that the Department of Mineral Resources must obtain full consent from the community before a mining license is issued.
In The Media: The Guardian | Daily Maverick | It’s Nice That
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The writing of these postcards was facilitated by the photographer and two members of the community. In the event that the subject was unable to write, the postcard was dictated to the photographer or a member of the family or wider community. Quotes have been corrected in the captions where necessary.
This project was kindly funded by the South African Development Fund.
Thanks to Holly Shepherd, Anso Thom, Sibusiso Mqadi, Siyabonga Ndovela, Margie Pretorius, Nonhle Mbuthuma, Carly Earl, Johan Lorenzen, and everyone at the Amadiba Crisis Committee and the Alternative Information and Development Centre in Cape Town.