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Tendele Coal Mining sends in the bulldozers in rural KZN before crucial high court interdict ruling

Tendele Coal Mining sends in the bulldozers in rural KZN before crucial high court interdict ruling
Mcejo corresponence to Tendele. (Screenshot: Supplied)
Tony Carnie
By Tony Carnie
23 May 2023
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Residents allege Tendele is acting unlawfully and appears to be breaching the spirit of previous undertakings to hold off on any ‘mining or related activities’ until a court case has been resolved.

Barely two weeks before a crucial court case that could decide the future of the Tendele Coal Mining company, a bulldozer and other heavy earthmoving machinery have started to break ground on a hotly contested patch of community land in rural KwaZulu-Natal which the company hopes to mine for anthracite.

However, several residents — who stand to be evicted from their ancestral homes to make way for Tendele’s three proposed new mining pits close to the town of Mtubatuba — are set to launch a second urgent high court interdict on Wednesday, May 24, unless the company provides a cast-iron assurance that it will halt any mining or earthmoving activity (including access roads) immediately.

The residents, under the flag of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (Mcejo), allege Tendele is acting unlawfully and appeared to be breaching the spirit of previous undertakings to hold off on any “mining or related activities” until the Pietermaritzburg High Court makes a final ruling on Mcejo’s first interdict application against Tendele.

Mcejo’s first urgent interdict was lodged in court on March 6 and was due to be heard on April 4. However, following subsequent legal interventions by Tendele, the Mpukunyoni Traditional Council and two trade unions representing former mine workers, the case was pushed forward to May 18 and then June 9.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XGk3wDzwvo

In a series of affidavits lodged with the court, representatives of the Petmin-controlled coal mining company have asserted that the company’s very future is at risk unless it can start mining immediately. 

This was because Tendele was already heavily indebted to its financiers — including Standard Bank, Nedbank and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) — and stood to be liquidated before year-end unless the legal uncertainties around its mining could be resolved speedily.

According to Tendele, its current banking debts exceed R367-million and preference share debts top R1-billion.

The uncertainty around Tendele’s ability to extend mining operations around Mtubatuba and the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve has been brought into sharp focus by a series of recent court cases — most notably in a ruling last year in which Pretoria High Court Judge Noluntu Bam likened Tendele’s behaviour to that of an “unbridled horse” that showed little or no regard for mining and environmental laws. 

Tendele Coal Mining sends in the bulldozers in rural KZN before crucial high court interdict ruling Barely two weeks before a crucial court case that could decide the future of the Tendele Coal Mining company, a bulldozer and other heavy earthmoving machinery have started to break ground on a hotly contested patch of community land in rural KwaZulu-Natal. (Image: Supplied)


Attorney steps in


Late on Tuesday, after being provided with photographs and video footage of earthmoving activities near Emalahleni village, Mcejo’s attorney Kirsten Youens wrote to Tendele’s attorneys (Malan Scholes) urging Tendele to pull out the bulldozers until the high court made a final ruling about whether Tendele’s mining plans are legal. 

Youens — who personally evacuated and relocated a local resident during the Covid lockdown after his life was allegedly threatened because of his opposition to the Tendele mining plan — said in her letter that the coal company had previously agreed to refrain from any mining-related activity until the court interdict was resolved. 

“Unfortunately, it seems your client has opted to commence with mining and mining-related activities prior to the hearing of the interdict.” 

Mcejo attorney Kirsten Youens. (Photo: Supplied)



She alleges Tendele was now acting unlawfully as a new access route being ploughed at Emalahleni had not been authorised in terms of environmental impact assessment regulations. The bulldozer sighted on May 13 was also operating in a water course, with no apparent authorisation. 

Mcejo corresponence to Tendele. (Screenshot: Supplied)



In further correspondence to Tendele’s legal team late on Tuesday, Youens said she had been instructed to launch a further urgent court interdict against Tendele unless the company received an assurance by 10am on May 24 that the equipment would be removed. 

Neither Petmin’s chief executive, Jan du Preez, senior Tendele manager Nathi Kunene, or Tendele legal representative Lia Bolz responded to Daily Maverick’s email queries sent at 4.44pm on Tuesday. Du Preez did not answer a subsequent phone call or WhatsApp message.

However, in previous letters to Mcejo, Tendele’s lawyers indicated that the company was still determined to build a “small access road” near Emalahleni village about 500m from one of its proposed mining pits and to “upgrade” a section of provincial road, subject to approvals from the Department of Transport. DM
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