Dusty shine:
new raw material needs of the EU;
The Injustices of South Africa
“Lithium and rare earths will soon be more important than oil and gas. Our need for rare earths alone will increase fivefold by 2030. And that is a good sign. It shows the pace at which our European Green Deal is moving forward.”
— Ursula von der Leyen
Railway line from the port in Saldanha to the Sishen Mine
How is iron ore mined and what role does South Africa play?
As a raw material for steel production, iron ore is mined in open pit mining. With a share of almost 38 percent, South Africa is the most important iron ore exporter for Germany. South Africa is the seventh largest producer in the world. In South Africa, iron ore is mainly mined in Northern Cape in the Sishen, Kolomela and Khumani mines. The mining area is connected to the port of Saldanha by a train route of more than 800 kilometres. A 342 wagon long freight train brings the ore to the port to be exported from there to the world.
What is iron ore used for?
Iron ore is needed in numerous applications, but plays an important role in Germany, especially in mechanical engineering, construction and the automotive industry. (E) cars consist of a considerable proportion of steel, which is mainly used in the body, but also in the chassis and battery housing as well as in the cathode of lithium-iron-phosphate batteries. In 2019, 26 percent of the processed steel flowed into the automotive industry.
What are the consequences of iron ore mining in South Africa?
A report by Action Aid South Africa and MACUA/WAMUA examined the impact of mining on various mining communities in South Africa. These include Maremane, close to the Kolomela Mine, the second largest iron ore mine in South Africa. During the investigations, it became clear that the population, similar to the port of Saldanha, suffers from the enormous dust pollution. This is mainly a consequence of mining and transporting the ore on unpaved roads.
In the Kolomela Mine, in addition to drilling, the conventional open pit process also blasts and transports the ore extracted from the mine to the nearby processing plant. There, the ore is broken and sifted and then brought to the port via the Sishen-Saldanha railway line. Particularly the resulting dust developments lead to considerable health problems for the population. In addition, the population is affected by various diseases resulting from the lack of access to water, electricity and housing.
How is manganese mined and what role does South Africa play?
Manganese is mainly mined in open pit or underground mining as ore. South Africa is the most important producing country with 33 percent of global production. Two thirds of all manganese mines and a large part of the reserves are located in the so-called Kalahari manganese field, which extends over 425 km2 in northern South Africa (Northern Cape). It is the largest manganese ore deposit in the world. With the new classification of the EU, manganese is now one of the Strategic Raw Materials (SRM), as it is of particular importance for European industry. Planned, so-called strategic projects of the EU could therefore also affect the manganese fields in South Africa in the future.
What is manganese used for?
The most important application area for manganese is the steel industry with over 90 percent. Manganese is also an important component of the cathode of nickel-manganese cobalt or lithium-manganese batteries. Due to its specific chemical properties, manganese can improve the range and safety of an electric car.
What are the consequences of manganese mining in South Africa?
One of the biggest challenges in the mining and further processing of manganese is the enormous health hazard, which mainly emanates from black manganese dust. The small particles can get directly into the lungs and bloodstream through breathing. The smaller the manganese particles and the longer the exposure to manganese, the higher the risk that they will be absorbed by the body and suffer from manganeseism, a disease similar to Parkinson's disease. This chronic manganese poisoning leads to various neurological disorders, such as nerve and muscle damage, paralysis, speech and memory disorders as well as mental impairments. Especially workers in manganese mining, processing, transport and residents along the manganese rivers are exposed to the high risk of manganeseism in the absence of safety precautions.
In an analysis by Action Aid, MACUA/WAMUA and SOMO in 2021, the authors concluded that manganese mining in the Kalahari manganese field leads to water shortages and pollution of water, air and soil. As a result, local communities suffer from enormous health problems. Children and women in particular are affected by the effects of manganese extraction – be it through health damage such as reduced growth and lung diseases or the taking over of care work in the care of those affected.
A metal of consequence for women and communities in South Africa.
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ActionAid
Whose Benefit and Whose Burden?
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ActionAid
Use of steel by industrial sector
Use of steel by industrial sector
The legacy of racist spatial policy in South Africa: Social inequalities along commodity flows
While workers and residents along the iron ore and manganese rivers face enormous risks and demand justice, mining companies continue to produce for the global market. And find buyers.
Also in Germany.
Despite the end of apartheid, there are still enormous inequalities within South Africa, which mainly result from the fact that the profits from mining and the commodity trade continue to benefit not mainly the majority society, but the elites of the country and foreign actors.
An example of the historical continuities of racist spatial policy can be observed in the gold mining region one hour east of Johannesburg. Right next to the residential buildings in Khutsong, in the municipality of Merafong, holes open as deep as power poles.
On August 16, 2012, a strike by workers from the Marikana platinum mine was bloodily ended by the South African police and security staff of the mining company. 34 people were murdered by the police and at least 78 others were injured. The workers of the mine had abandoned their work to demand a living wage, better housing conditions and a fair distribution of raw material revenues.
The Marikana massacre is not limited to South Africa. It is embedded in global commodity trading and responsibility networks. Germany also plays a role in this. At that time, the German company BASF was one of the main customers of the British company Lonmin and continues to purchase South African platinum. by Sibanye Stillwater.
Under the boiling January sun I now stand on a hill and look at the industrial facilities of the platinum factory, a wide field and the informal settlement of Nkaneng.
At over 30 degrees, the piercing siren of the numerous power cables above me sounds even more crushing. It's not just any hill or field, it's the bloody scene of August 16, 2012. The bloody scene of the Marikana massacre.
I'm not alone on the hill. Thato and Lizeka are standing next to me.
They are part of the “Sinethemba Marikana Women’s Collective”. A self-organized grassroots group that came together after the massacre to provide a certain income to the women of Marikana through sewing and handicrafts.
The living conditions are very bad. That hasn't changed. And that's even though we live right next to the mines. But it doesn't matter. It just doesn't do anything. Please listen to the needs of the miners, because they are the ones who feel the pain of working underground. We ask you to let the minerals of South Africa benefit the South Africans.
- Sinethemba Marikana Womens Collective
Marikana Today and the Role of Germany
What Thato, Lizeka and Thumeka report is also reflected in the study by Asanda-Jonas Benya and Crispen Chinguno. They had interviewed numerous people in Marikana and found that working and living conditions, which were one of the reasons for the strikes in 2012, had improved only marginally and in some cases even worsened more than a decade later.
Since there is almost no metallic mining in Germany, PGMs are imported on a large scale from abroad. With regard to platinum, South Africa is the second most important exporter for Germany. In total, more than three quarters of the platinum produced in South Africa is exported. BASF, based in Germany, has been one of the largest buyers of South African platinum for years. Despite devastating and ongoing human rights violations in PGM mining, such as the Marikana massacre, its production in South Africa has increased significantly in recent years. Compared to the previous year, the three largest mining companies Sibanye Stillwater, Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum lost more than ten percent more.
With the announcement of the CRMA, South Africa was also designated as a potential strategic partner of the EU due to its significant role in the production of PGM.
I looked at their company profile, read BASF's annual reports, and saw what they wrote on their Marikana website, where they themselves present it as a best practice example for German industry, where they claim to be committed to clean supply chains. But the conditions in Marikana speak a different language. You are witnessing a different reality. The people there tell me that Sibanye Stillwater involves them even less than Lonmin, gives them even less say, gives them even less ability to act. If it, BASF, acts as if it is committed to clean supply chains, then it is also committed to these people.
– Niren Tolsi
All of our dust:
Without a change in raw materials, no justice for civil society worldwide.
Civil society in South Africa calls for voice and clarity
Not far from the conference, anti-mining activists from the Right to Say No and People’s Dialogue campaigns gather and hold signs to express their displeasure about the conference.
The purpose of the Indaba is to give companies a stage to promote extractivism and discuss how the mining sector can continue to flourish and benefit from it, while millions of people are suffering from the serious social and economic consequences of destructive mining and extractivism in general.
Matthew Hlabane (Right to Say No)
Whose energy transition will it be?
Who will benefit from this?
Who designs them?
Who decides for whom and for what the energy is needed?
How can we ensure that communities are at the heart of debate and further implementation?
How do we ensure that communities have access to energy?
What will be different than in the last decades of the exploitation of raw materials?
What role do the countries of the Global North play in respecting the rights of communities and the environment?
How are the old crimes, such as the Marikana massacre, dealt with?
When and how will those who wait for justice come to justice?
What happens to the communities that currently live on coal mining?
How do you ensure that you are involved in the transformation?
What is actually critical:
Lack of consumption reduction and EU ownership
In the discussions with South African civil society, which are confronted with the various negative effects along the raw material flows, from mining to further processing to transport, or which are actively committed to a just transformation in South Africa, it is repeatedly emphasized:
