Durban - Ten years on and the impoverished community of KwaMbonambi near Richards Bay is still waiting for a R30million compensation fund payout to improve their living conditions and infrastructure in the area.
Richards Bay Minerals is ready and waiting to make the payout in respect of mining on ancestral land which belongs to the local Mbuyazi clan, but a leadership dispute among clan members has brought goodwill gestures to a grinding halt.
The company, which is owned by Rio Tinto, has been mining ilmenite, rutile and zircon from the beach sand in the area for over four decades.
The impasse rages on regardless despite appeals from the community to the clan to resolve their differences so that the company can release the much-needed funds.
Squabbling began in 2007, two years after the death of the then leader Inkosi Mtholeni Mbuyazi.
Sibusiso Mbuyazi was officially installed as Inkosi in 2007, but the family made a U-turn and presented Sibusiso’s half-brother Mkhanyiseni Mbonambi as the legitimate Inkosi.
The decision gave rise to legal wrangling within the family which is yet to be resolved a decade later. After his death the widow of Inkosi Mbuyazi, Sithembile challenged Mbonambi’s ascension to the top of the clan and the dispute is being heard by the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Current KZN Premier Willies Mchunu, in an attempt to quell tensions, appointed Martin Mbuyazi as an administrator.
Mbuyazi was not prepared to comment on the family’s matters but lashed out at the media and claimed that journalists had shown bias when reporting on the matter. However, he invited the Sunday Tribune to attend a traditional council meeting this week to get a first-hand account.
Another contentious issue the family must also handle is who will ultimately control the clan’s land claim share, which has an estimated value of R70m.
When the Sunday Tribune visited the area this week, locals did not want to be photographed out of fear of repercussions.
A resident, Thulasizwe Mzimela, said: “It’s been a long-running dispute. I think it’s time the leadership resolved the matter so that we can move forward with our lives.”
Mzimela said the community desperately needed the funding to improve their living conditions.
“We want to see our community develop like that of neighbouring clans who have received payouts from Richards Bay Minerals,” said Mzimela, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years.
He hinted locals might take to the streets again if the matter is not resolved urgently.
Community members staged a series of protest action earlier this year with the intention of ending the family feud.
Another resident, Thulasizwe Hlongwane, said the community was bearing the brunt of the infighting.
“This is totally wrong,” said Hlongwane.
A community leader, who relinquished his position previously, believing his life was in danger, described the clan leadership dispute as “dangerous”.
“Don’t look at this matter on the surface, there are deeper dynamics at play here,” he added.
Hlongwane claimed that “some people have vowed to kill for the different factions”.
At the time of going to print Richard Bays Minerals had not responded to queries.