CAPE TOWN - Delegates from mining communities will on Wednesday march to the Mining Indaba in Cape Town to deliver a memorandum to mining companies and government about their plight following three days of deliberations at their Alternative Mining Indaba, which aims to present the voice of people impacted by mining activities.
The activists are members of civil society, faith-based organisations, mining-affected and impacted community members, academics and other stakeholders seeking justice in mining and the extractives industry.
They have been gathered in Cape Town since Monday for an annual three-day Alternative Mining Indaba (AMI). The AMI presents an alternative voice, the community voice, to that of corporates who meet yearly during the Mining Indaba.
The AMI hopes that would result in a continent that extracts minerals sustainably and distributes natural resources revenues equitably through effective advocacy, enhanced transparency and accountability in the governance of natural resources.
Last year, AMI activists successfully petitioned the Mining Indaba after years of lobbying and managed to put the issue of trust deficit between companies, government and communities back on the agenda of Indaba.