QUARRY MINE SAGA: FARM OWNER MOVES OUT AFTER DEATH THREATS

MBABANE – The owner of the farm which was ‘invaded’ by soldiers last year in March, now spends minimal time in the country following threats to his life.

Mandla Mkhaliphi is the proprietor of Portion 3, Farm 982, which was at the centre of controversy following that soldiers were deployed therein. The soldiers were deployed at the farm when it had ceased operations following that its commercial licence to mine quarry had expired in 2018. When the soldiers were deployed, it was said to be an effort to stop illegal mining at the farm. Mkhaliphi was part of the management of Ligoga Quarries. Yesterday, he informed this publication that following the invasion of the farm by the army, his business stopped operations. In fact, he said the directors of Ligoga Quarries were forced out of business. Actually, Mkhaliphi stated that he had been informed that his quarry mine was supposedly operating. This, he disputed, and said was a misrepresentation of the truth. He said the allegations were calculated at pushing an evil agenda by some people, and were misleading to the public and all concerned.

Operations

“The fact of the matter is that Ligoga Quarries has nothing to do with the operations currently underway at Sicunusa, previously Ligoga Quarry site. Our company was deliberately and successfully frustrated to finally be out of business so as to give advantage to some advantaged people. Our licence renewal could not see the light of the day with the licensing authority for reasons unknown to us to date,” he said. Mkhaliphi said their commercial mining licence, which was obtained in 2013, expired in 2018. He said they applied for the renewal of the licence before its lapse in 2018; however, there was no response from the Minerals Management Board. He said their last application for the renewal of the licence was in February 2021. Mkhaliphi said what was still shocking to him was that at some point, they received a letter stopping them from operating what was referred to as a project quarry. This, he said, was shocking and novel to him as they had never applied for a project quarry. The businessman said there was a difference between a project quarry and a commercial quarry licence. He explained that project quarry meant that government could make a study and hire a company to crush the rock and process the rock for a specific project, while in commercial quarry; an individual could obtain a licence and crush the rock for sale.

Construction

As such, he said his company supplied many clients inclusive of Kukhanya Construction, when it was still at the helm of the construction of the Gege – Sicunusa Public Road. A statement by the Board of Directors and Management said: “Since the expiry of the licence and its renewal application lodged, Mkhaliphi has continuously received threats.” Mkhaliphi confirmed the threats and said they were the reason he had relocated with his family, as he also sought to pursue other business interests elsewhere, and as a result he moved in and out of the country. He said the threats to his life were constant and he had reported them to the police and various instances. “I reported the threats at Gege and Mankayane police stations at varying intervals,” he said. Meanwhile, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that Mkhaliphi had reported threats to the police.

According to Mkhaliphi, a new company has been leased the farm which was operated by Ligoga Quarries. He said they leased the farm following their frustration in the quest to renew their commercial licence. He said Ligoga Quarries was sensitive to the development of the country and decided not to be viewed as a stumbling block to development which was about to take place. “Ligoga Quarries decided to terminate their lease from the farm as they accumulated rentals which they were not certain they could afford. Instead, they referred the issue of the farm to me (Mkhaliphi); hence, they decided to suspend for a while the application of a renewal to give way to the new player,” he said.

Mkhaliphi mentioned that this resulted in him reaching an agreement to lease out the farm following the frustration of not accessing the licence renewal. He said this decision was solely taken for the development of the country and Sicunusa in particular. Despite this sacrifice, he said they were not fully happy about the decision as he was adamant that they (Ligoga Quarries) were forced out of business. “Let it be known by all that Ligoga Quarries is no longer in business as (the quarry mine) was the only business it had with no subsidiaries.”

Minerals

The farm in question forms part of a quarry. A quarry is a place where rocks, sand, or minerals are extracted from the surface of the earth. It is also defined as an open-pit mine, because it is open to the earth’s surface.  The most common purpose of quarries is to extract stone for building materials. In an interview last Friday, Mkhaliphi confirmed ownership of the farm.
Meanwhile, a questionnaire was sent to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy Communications Officer, Sikelela Khoza. He requested to consult his principals and revert today.
Khoza was asked the period that an entity had to take when seeking to renew its mining licence and what did the entity, currently mining the quarry at Sicunusa, do that made it speedily receive the mining licence unlike Ligoga Quarries.

He was further asked what was different with Ligoga Quarries such that it had to wait for a period in excess of three years to get a response or be awarded same. Lastly, Khoza was sought for comment on whether government would seek to purchase the farm so that it could be listed as a mining site which any company could seek to lease for the purposes of mining given that the mine was within a private farm.

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