Fikile Ntshangase

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Fikile Ntshangase was a South African environmental activist. She was a leading member of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (MCEJO), which advocates and is taking legal action against the proposed expansion of an open-cast coal mine operated by Tendele Coal Mining (Pty) Ltd, near Somkhele, situated near Hluhluwe–iMfolozi park, the oldest nature reserve in Africa.[1] Ntshangase was shot repeatedly and killed by three gunmen in her home on 22 October 2020.[2]

Environmental activism[]

Environmental work[]

Ntshangase was opposed in a legal dispute to the expansion of an opencast coal mine operated by Tendele Coal Mining near Somkhele, in the KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, near her home in Ophondweni. She was a leading member of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation,[2] MCEJO, which has fought expansion of the mine near the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve,[3] the oldest nature reserve in Africa,[2] since 2017.

Rising tensions and murder[]

The local community had been split regarding the mine's expansion, leading to rising tensions. Some had been campaigning to preserve their rural livelihoods and the environment, but other community members needed work from the mine and supported expansion.[3] In April of 2020, 19 bullets were shot at the home of another anti-mining activist, Tholakele Mthethwa.[3] The community has traditionally depended on herding and agriculture,[3] but the Tendele coal mine and the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi game park are currently the biggest employers.[1]

Ntshangase had reportedly declined to sign an agreement with Tendele Coal Mining Ltd to withdraw court cases against the company, refusing the company's bribe. She reportedly said, “I refused to sign. I cannot sell out my people. And if need be, I will die for my people.”[4]

Locals near the mine had been subject to intimidation and threats of violence in the months prior to Ntshangase's murder. Families who refused to be relocate from their ancestral lands were reportedly shot at. At around 6:30pm on 22 October 2020, according to local police, three men entered Ntshangase’s home in Ophondweni, KwaZulu-Natal and shot her dead a few meters away from her thirteen-year-old grandson and two of his friends (at ages eight and ten). She was 63 years old and had been cutting onions for dinner at the time.[3]

Ntshangase’s death was part of a rising trend of murdered environmental activists, as a record number were killed around the world in both 2019 and 2020, according to Global Witness reports.[2][5]

International response[]

Ntshangase's death has been condemned as murder by multiple environmental and humanitarian organizations. For example, on October 27, 2020, environmental organization Groundwork sent a letter to various South African authorities requesting an immediate investigation into her death, which was supported by international network of environmental organizations Friends of the Earth.[4] The Human Rights Watch has written a similar article.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "South African activist killed as contentious coal mine seeks to expand". Mongabay Environmental News. 28 October 2020. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Greenfield, Patrick (23 October 2020). "South African environmental activist shot dead in her home". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e Koko, Khaya (7 November 2020). "How we braved danger to honour Fikile Ntshangase". Mail & Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Condemnation of the assassination of Mama Fikile Ntshangase in South Africa". Friends of the Earth International. 6 November 2020. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  5. ^ Marshall, Claire (13 September 2021). "Record number of environmental activists murdered". BBC News. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Letter to the South Africa Department of Police in support of a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into the recent killing of environmental activist Mama Fikile Ntshangase". Human Rights Watch. 2 November 2020. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.

External links[]

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