03 Nov 2013

Moshupa MP, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi has assured residents of Bikwe ward in Manyana that they will be assisted to acquire a sand mining license. 

Mr Masisi said this on October 31 during a meeting with the residents following their complaints about  a certain company which had been given sand mining rights along Bikwe River.  The residents complained that they were not consulted when the company, Thobo Young Holdings was issued with the license.

The other complaint was that as residents, their application, which they submitted in 2008 had not been considered owing to a supposed freeze on allocations. They wondered why they were not informed that the freeze had been lifted if that was the case when the company was issued the licence.  

In response Mr Masisi said the applicant being Bikwe Village Development Committee, would be assisted to get a sand mining licence.  He concurred that although Thobo Young Holdings had all the legal rights to mine sand in the river there was something amiss in the allocation process.

He therefore blamed stakeholders for failing to consult  residents when the freeze was effected and to inform them when it was lifted. Mr Masisi, also Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, explained that in Botswana, the distribution of resources and provision of services were provided on an equal base irrespective of tribal lines and the residents of Bikwe could not be sidelined just because they were Xhosa. 

He therefore advised the contractors to work hand in hand with the residents while their grievances were being attended to so that they could also be considered for sand mining in their area. Earlier on, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands and Housing, Mr Thato Raphaka explained that indeed Bikwe VDC applied in 2008 and the committee was advised to do an Environmental Impact Assessment but to no avail. 

He said Bikwe VDC re-appeared for the same matter in 2013. Unfortunately the procedure to allocate sand mining licenses had also changed because applicants were now required to have a prospecting license before physical allocation could be done. 

Mr Raphaka however, advised that the VDC could only be assisted if they formed a community trust which was a common practice across the country. He explained that Thobo Young Holdings was not mining the sand illegally as it was issued with a mining permit and evidence on record indicated that the company followed all the procedures to acquire such a license

Speaking at the same meeting, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources Mr Nchidzi Mmolawa explained to the residents that mining for domestic use did not require any license.

He further stated that he was still awaiting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report of Thobo Young Holdings to analyse it and come up with an informed decision. Manyana Village Chief Kgosi Kebinatshwene Mosielele explained that because Manyana Village already had a Community Trust and that Bikwe was an exten sion ward of Manyana village, there was nothing wrong in Bikwe using Manyana community trust to apply for land mining. 

For their part, residents requested for the suspension of all mining activities in their river with immediate effect and that an extensive inspection be conducted before a final decision is taken for further mining. 

They denied having been consulted by Thobo Young Holdings regarding the EIA while the owner of the Contractor Mr Justice Motswiri said he committed no offence as he followed the right procedure to be allocated the mining rights in the river.  A feedback regarding the matter will be given in due course.  Ends