The mining industry’s exploitation of the West Coast

Photo: Sascha Specker, Transhex Mine Doringbaai, 2022

Small explosions, smoking machinery, some rusty barrels in the background: not the set of a Western movie but business as usual in the mining industry along South Africa’s coast.

In 2020, the big-wave surfer turned activist Mike Schlebach drove up the coast to surf a solitary break just north of the Olifants River and was met by a big sign informing him that he was denied access to the beach, and that trespassers would be prosecuted: ‘WARNING. MINING AREA.’ The Australian mining company Mineral Sands Resources (MSR) was digging up the beach of his childhood surf break to extract heavy minerals such as zircon, ilmenite, rutile, magnetite and garnet.

‘There is very little benefit that accrues to the communities as mining permits are to the communities as mining permits are issued by the department of minerals without the free prior and informed consent of the local communities,’ says Gaob Martinus Fredericks, leader of the Nama (!Aman //Aes) people. He adds: ‘When these companies complete their mining, they leave the communities destitute with irreparable damage to the environment.’ For centuries, the largest group of the indigenous Khoikhoi people have lived in the area stretching from the Orange River in Namibia all the way south to the mouth of the Berg River, including the Atlantic Seaboard in the west and the Breede River Valley up to Worcester in the southeast. Most of these areas are sparsely populated and feature high volumes of heavy minerals and diamonds. Once the deposits are depleted, the small towns are abandoned, evoking images of lifeless Martian dystopias.

The article was published in Jack Journal Vol. 7 in 2024. Special thanks to Su Birch (editor).

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