A Limpopo High Court bid by explosives company Enaex Africa to stop alleged intimidation and threats at its Steelpoort operations has inadvertently opened a rare window into the frustrations of local community structures who say they are being excluded from economic opportunities in the mining value chain.
In urgent ex parte court papers filed in the Polokwane High Court on April 23, Enaex accuses the Steelpoort Business Chambers Community Forum (SBCC), local businessmen and unnamed individuals of trespassing, intimidation, threatening employees and attempting to force the company to award contracts and jobs. ‘Ex parte’ means the respondents were not initially before the court to tell their side of the story.
But buried inside the same affidavits is a parallel story – one of growing anger among local business structures, who claim promises of “community inclusion” never materialised while outside service providers allegedly continued operating freely.
Enaex produces and distributes a wide variety of explosives and value-added solutions, providing all the products required to execute the entire blasting process, including several types of bulk emulsions, cartridge emulsions, boosters and conventional and electronic detonators, among others. These products are used in blasting for opencast and underground mining operations, quarries and civil construction.”
Fight for transport and supplier opportunities
The dispute with community members stems from months of engagements between Enaex and community-linked business structures over transport and supplier opportunities linked to Enaex Winterveld, an explosives and blasting operation in the Steelpoort area.
According to Enaex’s founding affidavit, Afrimecs Mining Services began approaching the company in May 2025, seeking opportunities to provide services.
The company says discussions later escalated into threats and unlawful conduct after no opportunities materialised.
Enaex alleged that on April 15, 2026 a group of 11 men “bypassed both the main Enaex gate security and secondary security personnel responsible for induction and breathalyser procedures”.
Threats to employees
The affidavit states the group “aggressively forced entry onto the premises” and later threatened employees.
According to the papers, some individuals allegedly warned employees that “these men know where the employees stay”.
The company further alleged that the group vowed to return if their demands were not met.
Yet while Enaex paints the matter as one of intimidation and unlawful pressure, attached correspondence reveals mounting frustration from local business forums over what they regard as exclusion from economic participation around the operation.
In one email cited in the papers, SBCC complained that Enaex communications “do not reflect the reality on the ground”.
The forum claimed there was “a clear perception that certain interests are being prioritised at the expense of local inclusion”.
The community structure further complained that trucks linked to outside operators “continue to operate daily between Rustenburg and Steelpoort on their roads”.
In another striking passage, the forum insisted Enaex had previously committed itself to “work with and include the local community in its operations and value chain”.
Company avoids in-person meeting
The dispute appears to have worsened after Enaex cancelled an in-person meeting with community representatives over security concerns.
Court papers show the forum wanted a physical meeting involving “15 delegates wishing to engage in person”.
But Enaex management later decided that “no in-person meeting could be held, for fear of a breach of the security and safety of Enaex and its employees”.
That cancellation appears to have intensified tensions.
Fears of chaos
According to the affidavit, SBCC representatives later arrived at Enaex offices demanding engagement and allegedly warning that they would “begin to shut down Enaex’s operations in Steelpoort” if they did not receive answers.
Enaex says the situation left it fearing “chaos, violence and continued unlawful stoppages” at its operations.
The company argued that it had no effective alternative remedy because SAPS had allegedly been reluctant to intervene without a court order.
The court application seeks an urgent interdict preventing the respondents from trespassing, blockading entrances, interfering with operations, threatening staff or making commercial demands at Enaex’s facilities.
The papers also authorise SAPS to investigate alleged breaches and effect arrests where necessary.
Beyond the legal fight lies a deeper socio-economic fault line increasingly visible across mining communities in South Africa. While corporations frame such disputes as unlawful intimidation and extortion, community structures often see themselves as locked out of the economic activity taking place in their own areas.
- Enaex Africa filed a Limpopo High Court bid to stop alleged intimidation and threats by local community groups at its Steelpoort operations, accusing the Steelpoort Business Chambers Community Forum (SBCC) and others of trespassing and coercion.
- The court papers reveal frustrations from local community structures claiming exclusion from promised economic opportunities in the mining value chain, especially in transport and supplier contracts.
- Enaex alleges a group forcibly entered its premises, threatened employees, and warned of future violent actions if demands were unmet, while community forums complain about prioritization of external contractors over local businesses.
- Tensions escalated after Enaex canceled an in-person meeting with community representatives due to security concerns, intensifying calls for engagement and threats of operational shutdowns by the forum.
- The court application seeks an urgent interdict to prevent unlawful interference, authorizing police involvement, highlighting broader socio-economic conflicts in South African mining communities over local inclusion and opportunity sharing.
