ActionSA North West provincial chairperson and traditional leader Kgosi Kwena Mangope is at the centre of a dispute over mining royalties involving close family members and residents of Mmasebudule near Zeerust.
Residents and family members have accused Mangope of colluding with mining companies to extract chrome from residential plots in the village without their consent or any benefit to the landowners.
Mangope took over as leader of the Bahurutshe Boo Manyane traditional authority from his father, former Bophuthatswana bantustan leader Lucas Mangope in 2017.
The underdeveloped village of over 300 families is marked by open trenches from open mine blasting carried out on land owned by different families.
“Mining companies are looting here and using our farms; our livestock no longer have
access to grazing land,” said resident Phantlhane Stuurman.
“We’ve heard that the quality of the chrome ore beneath our soil is one of the most important aspects in influencing buyers to prefer the chrome deposit on our land,” he said.
In September 2015, 12 families were allegedly hoodwinked into signing an agreement with Marico Chrome, which commenced mining activities in the area in the early 1900s. The 2015 agreement allowed Marico Chrome to work on tribal trust land in exchange for a once-off payment of R20, 000 per family.
However, some residents like Mamosimane Molapisi, 64, refused to sign the deal.
“I asked if the money would be provided to me every month, and they responded it would be once only. I couldn’t let our farm go for just R20 000. Now a mining company has rushed onto our family plot and started digging without consulting us. I have tried to contact tribal authorities but have received no response.”
Various small-scale mining companies have since descended on the village, mining illegally on plots owned by families that did not sign the agreement.
The latest company [NAME???] began operations in July, and residents say all they see is a stream of trucks carrying raw chrome deposits.
Mining operations in the area began in the early 1900s when the Marico Chrome mine knocked on the door of the Bahurutshe Boo Manyane tribal authority’s door.
Now residents allege Kwena Mangope, who is the current kgosi of the Bahurutshe Boo Manyane, is colluding with the mining companies.
According to documents seen by Sunday World, the Marico mine, before liquidation, promised to pay the traditional authority R175,000 in monthly leasing costs as royalties.
However, there is little to demonstrate that the R20 per tonne that the tribal leadership requested from the mining company benefited the residents.
A Mangope family member told Sunday World that after exhausting all permitted mining grounds, Marico Chrome, along with three other small-scale miners, approached the ailing former Bantustan leader Lucas Mangope for further mining prospects. Lucas Mangope died in 2018.
“He (Mangope) had realised that the R175, 000 monthly payment to the tribal authority was insufficient in light of the amount of chrome produced.
“During that time, he (Mangope) was making strides in renegotiating the terms because the chrome of Marico was depleting and they wanted to go to other farms.”
He said the mine management, after Mangope refused, went to his son Kwena and convinced him to talk to his father about their proposal.
“They didn’t speak for more than 15 years. Kwena came and tried to convince Mangope but he refused because at first he was shocked that Kwena now was getting into tribal business whilst he has been absent,” said an anonymous family member.
He said this was when Kwena started the Bahurutshe Concerned Group. He said his father had stolen funds and that he did not want the upliftment of youth in the Mmasebudule area.
“The transactions were also halted after people took the mine to court, demanding to know why they weren’t paying royalties, only to learn that the mine was paying Kwena, who took on this role in 2017 when former premier Supra Mahumapelo gave him the acting
certificate as chief before his father passed on,” he said.
Another relative, Piki Mangope, said for more than eight to nine years, the community has not seen financials.
“The community’s TLBs (tractor-loader backhoes) and other machinery were auctioned off. A TLB that is almost R1-million was auctioned off for R200, 000. And to date nobody is saying anything,” said Piki Mangope.
When approached for comment on the allegations, Kgosi Kwena Mangope poured cold water over the accusations.
“If they say I have stolen money, let them call the Hawks. This is private land. They have raised the same concerns with me saying they want to remove me. I am not going to allow everyone to do as they please. They (plot owners) received R20, 000 each without
including the tribal authority. Now their children want to say that is their parents’ land. It is no longer their parent’s land,” he said.
North West Treasury spokesperson Lesedi Makhubela said they had recently embarked on roadshows to provide all traditional authorities in the province with financial reports about their respective accounts spanning from 1994 to March 2023.
Makhubela said in total, 96 financial reports were handed over in April and May 2024, including the information relating to Bahurutshe Boo Manyane.
“The traditional authorities have been allowed to familiarise and scrutinise the contents of their accounts, and this is an ongoing exercise,” said Makhubela.
