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A South African environmental activist who opposed the extension of a coal mine near her home was shot and killed in her home.
Fikile Ntshangase, 65, was involved in a legal dispute over the extension of an open pit mine operated by Tendele Coal near Somkhele, near the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi park, the oldest nature reserve in Africa.
Local police told The Guardian that four men entered Ntshangase’s home in Ophondweni, KwaZulu-Natal province, around 6.30pm on Thursday and shot her dead. A 13-year-old boy witnessed the murder and is assisting authorities with their investigation. No arrests have been made.
Tendele Coal condemned what it called a “senseless murder” and called for calm, in a joint statement with local leaders.
The coal mine had been the focus of a long legal dispute between the company, conservationists and some locals who are in favor of extending it for economic reasons.
Kirsten Youens, a lawyer for Ntshangase, said her client was a “courageous activist” against the mine’s expansion. Ntshangase was a prominent member of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organization.
“She was incredibly outspoken about truth and justice, and she had no qualms about calling people she felt were devious or false,” Youens said. “She did not compromise her ethics. Forever. As your attorney, I will miss your truth, your fire, and your courage. She didn’t deserve to die. We are devastated by his loss. “
He said that Ntshangase had recently said, “I cannot sell my people and if necessary I will die for my people.”
People near the mine have been subjected to threats of violence and intimidation in recent months, according to lawyers representing the communities. Families who have refused to be relocated from their ancestral lands have reportedly been shot.
A Global Witness report in July said that a record number of people around the world were killed for defending their land and the environment in 2019. The total was 212, almost 30% more than 164 the previous year.
