Natural Justice are deeply concerned following a press statement released by the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) yesterday, 24 April 2023, which indicates that seven women from the Sigidi Village, including ACC activist, Nonhle Mbuthuma, were physically assaulted after confronting illegal land clearing.
According to their statement, the women were protesting against land clearing that was being done by a local principal of a school, who claimed that he had “bought” the land from a sub-headman in the area, who is his brother. When the women refused to move out of the way of a machine hired by the principal to clear the land, “a group of men arrived armed with knobkerries. They attacked the unarmed women. Seven women were injured. They were treated at Gamalakhe hospital on Saturday evening and Sunday....”
According to the ACC, many people have come to the area seeking to buy parcels of land due to the development of the N2 highway, which will pass through the area. The ACC statement states that: “The megaproject attracts rich and connected people. All villages on the coast are pushing [out] trespassers several times per month. Rich people want cheap and large sites on the coast. They undermine customary law with bottles of brandy. They push for communal land to be privatised and become “My Property”.”
Natural Justice condemns any violence against land and environmental defenders, and further condemns the disregard for the right of communities to exercise Free, Prior and Informed Consent, as well as customary norms, of all communities. We further condemn the N2 project, which is being built on an environmental and culturally significant part of South Africa, against the wishes of the community.
Developers of large-scale infrastructure projects continue to violate the human rights of communities, cause irreversible harm to the environment, and in many cases, contribute to the climate change crisis – and these violations will continue until the communal rights of communities are respected and land and environmental defenders are protected.
Section 2(1) of the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights provides that no person may be deprived of any informal right to land without his or her consent. Section 2(4) of the same Act also provides that a decision to dispose of any such right to land shall be guided by the principle of a decision only taken by the majority of the holders of such an informal land right.
Not only have the actions taken violated these rights, but also constitutionally guaranteed rights to free expression and assembly, and the right not to be treated in a cruel, inhuman and degrading manner. Natural Justice calls on relevant authorities to act swiftly and to protect communities in Sigidi Village and affirm the national commitment to ending violence against women.