NEWS ANALYSIS: Community protests challenge chiefs’ authority in former homelands
Tribal leaders are at the heart of the conflict between platinum producers and disillusioned communities, whose protests could shut some operations down
A new power struggle is unfolding in SA’s old homelands between global mining giants, traditional leaders and an impoverished rural populace. Parts of an industry long used to labour unrest are now contending with community protests that have cut production of the country’s largest mineral export earner, platinum, and may shut some operations down altogether. At the heart of the conflict are tribal leaders who have royal titles and feudal-style control over the homelands. Tribal leaders are also key allies of President Jacob Zuma, whose political base has become increasingly rural, and the ANC has drafted a law that would cement their control. But with protests spreading across the former homelands, the communities, mining companies and some within the ANC itself are moving to change what they see as an anachronistic system. The traditional leaders have acted as intermediaries with companies that have discovered chrome and coal as well as platinum in the former homelands and hope to...
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