Report on illegal lithium mining at Uis completed

Parliamentary standing committee chair Tjekero Tweya on Wednesday said the report on alleged illegal lithium mining in the Erongo region is ready and will be presented in parliament within the next week.

Since 2022, community members from Uis, Okombahe and Omatjete in the Dâures constituency have raised concerns about alleged illegal lithium mining, and have petitioned for the removal of Sagaria Seibeb, chief of the Dâure Daman Traditional Authority.

In April 2024, former Landless People’s Movement parliamentarian Henny Seibeb tabled a motion in the National Assembly, calling for a ban on lithium mining in the area. Subsequently, the parliamentary standing committee on natural resources conducted an investigation and compiled a report on the matter.

At the time, community members had claimed the Chinese-owned Xinfeng Mine was exporting resources in an exploitative manner, and that the company failed to carry out an environmental impact assessment. As a result, the community said they were being kept in the dark about how the alleged mining activities would benefit them.

Community activist Jimmy //Areseb at the time demanded a halt to all activities at the mine until the matter was resolved, saying the community would take unspecified action against the company if operations continued.

“[Xinfeng] omitted important negotiations that would have given the community the platform to request direct benefits such as investment in infrastructural development, sponsorships and donations to farmers and small miners, bursaries to local best-performing science pupils and shares for the conservancy they destroyed,” said //Areseb.

At present, community members at Uis have vowed to occupy the premises of the Dâure Daman Traditional Authority until Seibeb’s chieftainship is removed.

Spokesperson Cornelia Atjiwara says the community is concerned, alleging that Seibeb and other leadership benefit from natural resource extraction while the community at large is left in poverty.

Atjiwara says the community demands that the chief be removed from office so they can elect a leader of their choice.

“Our main concern is the lack of progress at Uis since the chief’s coronation in 2018. The settlement has seen no infrastructural or economic development, making us dissatisfied with the chief’s leadership and governance,” says Atjiwara.

Seibeb has denied claims of secrecy, nepotism and self-enrichment. “I do not do projects for myself, it is for the people.

So why should I do these things in secret? These people [community members] come to our offices and receive help with consent letters and claim forms, but then turn around and say this office is useless.”

The parliamentary standing committee’s investigation included interviews with the Dâure Daman Traditional Authority, Dâures constituency councillors, community members, as well as the ministries of mines and energy, environment and tourism, and urban and rural development.

The report is expected to explore the legality of mining operations, the value of the lithium deposit in the area, the lack of trust expressed by community members, and the calls to remove Seibeb.

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