Traditional leadership, community participation and mining development in South Africa: The case of Fuleni, Saint Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

In South Africa, proposals for mining are becoming increasingly situated in rural areas, with communities impacted negatively by local resource extraction due to environmental and social impacts. Unfortunately, traditional leadership structures have largely posed a barrier towards inclusion of local community concerns/decisions over mining development, with collusion between traditional leaders and mining companies. Although there has been some information surrounding traditional leaders approving mining developments on communal lands and with no local community participation, there has been limited case studies and academic discourse to examine the micro politics of the interaction between leaders, the mining corporations, government and local communities, including external traditional leadership forces outside the community influencing mining developments. This paper will focus on the rural community of Fuleni, Northern KwaZulu-Natal, which is being targeted for mining development by Ibutho Coal mining. It will also examine the role of the traditional leadership in engaging local community concerns against mining development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants (community and civil society organisations providing support to residents). Corruption between the local traditional leadership council and the mining company influenced the lack of inclusion of the local community concerns over mining development. Corruption was also found within the ward leadership council, the Ingonyama Trust Board and with the Zulu King, which therefore perpetuated local traditional leadership mining corruption. Additionally, whereas during apartheid the state used the traditional chiefs as ‘representative’ of the people to legitimise decisions made, the new democracy has seen a continuation of this practice, but with mining, conglomerates exercising more control over the government and traditional chiefs to ensure mining development