The mining of mineral sands along the west coast of South Africa is part of green extractivism and sees a scramble for land along the West Coast having a major impact on fisher livelihoods and coastal ecosystems. In his report, Pedersen found that Tronox Inc. currently owns the rights to the river and shoreline in and around Doringbaai, a small town on the west coast of the Western Cape, where they are primarily mining mineral sands and rare earth minerals. New oil and gas exploration has also begun in the region. Consequently, fishing waters are being disrupted, primarily affecting small-scale fishers. During the day, the disruptions caused by machinery push marine life further away from the shore, forcing small-scale fishers to work at night without the guarantee of a catch. This not only affects local food security but also the ability of community members to generate an income, especially if they do not wish to work for the mining companies actively destroying these livelihoods.

Tronox, a mining conglomerate listed on the New York Stock Exchange, profited a staggering $441 million (over R8 billion) from the sale of zircon and pig iron extracted from their Namakwa Sands operations in 2021. Shockingly, in the same year, they contributed a mere R9.8 million back to these communities – a paltry 0.116% of their immense profits. These disturbing figures lay bare the vast disparity between the immense wealth generated through the extraction of community-owned resources and the minuscule returns seen by the very people whose lands and livelihoods are being exploited.

The Right to Say NO (R2SNO) and free, prior, and informed consent of communities should be a fundamental aspect of the decision-making process. Yet, while billions have been extracted from the West Coast, communities lack basic infrastructure and social services. Cloete emphasized that “one ambulance often serves three towns, and people are left waiting for a minimum of three hours.” He further shared that the municipality and local councillor, as well as the mining companies, refuse to meet with them about their concerns on the impacts it is having on their livelihoods, environment, and cultural practices as the mining has also exacerbated greater levels of crime and violence in the community.

We need to continue to advance the Right to Say No campaign for the protection and implementation of communities’ consent rights which brings together communities across South Africa such as coal affected communities in Mpumalanga to the Amadiba Crisis Committee in the Eastern Cape. The campaign brings together movements and communities impacted by various forms of extractivism from oil and gas exploration, green hydrogen, industrial fishing, and agriculture and mining. Building this campaign will help support their consent rights and active participation in determining what happens to their land and natural resources – how they are extracted and by whom, and how these developments will meaningfully benefit their communities.

As mining corporations and the State continue to perpetuate the dispossession and exploitation of these local communities in the pursuit of ever-greater profit margins, the urgent need for these impacted voices to be heard and heeded has never been clearer.

As communities that have been living on the land for centuries and witnessed dispossession due to the diamond and copper rush – communities are saying NO! They are deeply connected to the land and do not want to further lose their cultural identity that is deeply rooted to their ancestral land. We support the demand by VVVT Namakwaland a social movement in the Northern Cape who have recently launched a campaign to demand a moratorium on existing and new mining licenses and development projects until their communal land is transferred back to them.  

The rise of green extractivism is alarming and fails to address the developmental interests and needs of women and their communities across South Africa. The rapid intensification of new forms of extractivism throughout our country and along our coasts will only deepen the crisis confronting rural communities across South Africa whose lands will be grabbed and livelihoods destroyed with minimal or no compensation and benefit. Every week communities hear of new applications for prospecting – companies colluding with the State to make more empty promises. It is imperative that we build alternatives to the current extractive model of development.