Uproar as South African Community Opposes Proposed Road Project
A meeting to hear the views of a rural Eastern Cape community about a planned toll road through their area deteriorated into a battle between some residents and police, who resorted to using stun grenades, writes Lungi Langa for Daily Maverick.
Plans to better link the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces via a toll road along the N2 that runs through the Wild Coast continue to sow division among the community of a rural Amadiba village. The provincial government says it is consulting, but others believe it is not making an effort to hear all of those affected.
The meeting came after a long battle between Sanral and some in the community over the construction of the road, which some fear is simply a cover to establish titanium mining into the area. The proposed N2 Toll Road will cut through the Sigidi community.
The toll road project comes after a protracted land rights saga between Xolobeni residents and mining companies. In 2002, rare minerals were discovered on the Xolobeni coast. Mineral Sand Resources (MSR), a subsidiary of Australian company Mineral Commodities Ltd, applied to mine them.
InFocus
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A three-part series by GroundUp examines the plight of the Wild Coast region in the Eastern Cape, where community members have been battling for years against industrial projects that threaten the region's environment and community members' land rights.
The proposed N2 Toll Road, which would cut through the Sigidi community, has caused division. Fanele Ndovela of Xholobeni Youth for Sustainable Development supports the project because it will unlock new opportunities for
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Members of the Amadiba Crisis Committee hold a meeting at the exact site where a bridge for SANRAL’s N2 Toll Road is planned (file photo).
