#StandWithAmadiba

We are shocked and outraged to learn of the brutal murder of the chairperson of Amadiba Crisis Committee, Sikhosiphi Bazooka Rhadebe.

As chair of the ACC, Bazooka Rhadebe was helping lead the struggle of Amadiba residents on the Wild Coast in opposing open-cast titanium mining by the Australian mining company MRC.

According to Amadiba Crisis Committee: “The hitmen came in a white Polo with a rotating blue lamp on the roof. Two men knocked at the door saying they were police. Mr Rhadebe was shot with 8 bullets in the head.”

This is not the first case of intimidation or violence against those who have opposed mining in the area.

Our hearts go out to Bazooka's family and community.

The assassination of Bazooka is a painful reminder that there is an existing pattern of criminal attacks on civil society formations, especially those in townships, informal settlements and rural areas. For years, poor people’s movements in different parts of the country have experienced regular harassment, intimidation, detention and violence against their members. It is worst felt when the media are far away and the victims are poor, black or rural, and when major industries stand to make billions in profit.

We cannot afford to remain silent in the face of any of these attacks. Every one of them is an attack on democracy itself.

To the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), South Africa:

We stand in solidarity with the Sikosiphi ‘Bazooka’ Rhadebe’s family and the Eastern Cape community.

We strongly condemn the assassination of comrade ‘Bazooka’ and as part of the civil society movement we are calling on the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) to intervene and stop the mining right application process by the Australian-owned mining company MRC and its local subsidiary TEM from accessing the titanium rich Xolobeni coastal dunes.

The civil society movement is still horrified at the killing of a fellow comrade. There are no words that can express our shock and outrage at the brutal murder of South African activist Sikosiphi Bazooka Rhadebe, chairperson of the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC).

We urge the authorities in South Africa to conduct a swift and thorough investigation of the murder and prosecute those found responsible. The South African government must ensure that activists, particularly those contesting the commodification of natural resources in townships, informal settlements and rural areas can object to injustices without fear of violence.  The government and minerals resource department needs to ensure the protection of anti mining activists and communities.

Rhadebe was shot eight times, including in the head, outside his house in Lurholweni township. He was a part of a network of grassroot organizing groups opposing plans to mine titanium in Xolobeni, in the Eastern Cape. Community members fear that establishing the mine will lead to the removal of people from their ancestral land and the destruction of their livelihoods.

Rhadebe, a community leader spearheading the opposition’s campaign was one of a number of leaders that was threatened by unknown aggressor’s and received no support from local police.

This killing follows the recent murder of Honduran environmental activist and head of the indigenous rights group COPINH (the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras) leaves the international community deeply troubled by these brazen attacks.

These incidents show that authorities cannot secure the protection of civil society organizers who want to protect the environment. We are enraged by these senseless murders and are stepping up international pressure against the impunity and violence of large scale mining businesses and the complicity of governments.

Yours Sincerely,

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