In the lush village of Umzumbe in southern KwaZulu-Natal, communities living near South Africa’s lithium mine say they are already feeling the negative impacts of the operation and have never been consulted about it. The situation highlights an ongoing conflict over land surrounding the country’s two main lithium mines, a mineral that is crucial to the energy and transport sectors.
The recent second Africa Critical Minerals Summit, held on 2-3 December in Johannesburg, highlighted the issue of lithium mining, a key component in the production of electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries for energy storage.
South Africa currently has two lithium mines listed in the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s list of active mines, quarries and mineral processing facilities for 2024. These are SA Lithium’s Umzumbe mining project in KwaZulu-Natal and Namli Exploration and Mining’s Norrabees mine just outside the small mission town of Steinkopf in the Northern Cape.
Norrabees, a relatively small operation still in its early stages of development, resumed operations in February 2024 to process the region’s available lithium reserves, left fallow in the 1960s when previous mining operations focused on tantalum, a corrosion-resistant metal used in electronics.
More than an hour’s drive from Norrabees is the now-closed Blesberg mine, which also mines lithium and tantalum. Operated by Southern African Lithium and Tantalum Mining (SALT), a subsidiary of Marula Mining, the mine has been granted a mining permit by the Ministry of Minerals for the development and open-pit mining of lithium, tantalum, niobium and feldspar ores until May 2026.
Concerns have been expressed by local communities and communal land associations regarding mining activities in the area. Land rights are a key issue, with landowners and communal land associations feeling excluded from discussions on land use.
Despite these tensions, some Steinkopf residents are enthusiastic about the economic opportunities that lithium mining could bring to their still undeveloped region. Local resident and entrepreneur Letitia Pandohe stresses the importance of close collaboration between the mines and communities to preserve the rich cultural heritage of the area and ensure the sustainable development of the area.
Stakeholder dialogue and participation are essential to ensure environmentally friendly mining development that benefits the entire local population. Lithium mines in South Africa cannot ignore the aspirations and needs of the communities around them, and an inclusive and transparent approach is necessary to ensure harmonious and mutually beneficial coexistence.