Fight for Control of Mining Rights in the Okavango Intensifies

The Minister of Minerals Lefoko Moagi has responded sharply to a lawsuit by an international diamond and metal exploration company, notifying it of his intention to oppose the application. Moagi has placed before the Maun High Court numerous documents that he intends to use in support of his opposing application, one of them a letter addressed to the company 1 st June 2022. [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type="show" ihc_mb_who="1,3,2,4" ihc_mb_template="1" ] In the letter, Moagi states: “I wish to reiterate my willingness to consider a renewal application as long as the area applied for falls outside the Okavango Delta buffer zone.” The letter notes that the minister was “not amenable to the conditions attached to your resolution save for the one that requires that Gcwihaba be given a right of first refusal in the event government decides to allow exploration or mining within the buffer or core zone anything in future”. Emphasising the minister’s position, the letter states: “I wish to clarify that government has no intention of allowing those activities in the Okavango Delta any time in future.” It adds that the minister would be “willing to consider the renewal application for (a) prospecting licence provided Gcwihaba submits within 21 days from the date of this letter, a revised application for renewal of the prospecting licence in question, with boundary coordinates falling entirely outside the Okavango Delta core and buffer zone”. Another document that Moagi intends to rely on in his opposing application is a letter dated June 2022 written by the Director of Mines, Kenalemang Charles, to the company. “The request for Gcwihaba Resources’ held prospecting licences and the one in question to be renewed for a three-year period is not supported by law,” reads the letter. “It may be worth pointing out that the Department is not responsible for any delays in the carrying out of the programme of prospecting for any licence held by Gcwihaba as claimed by the company.” “Rather, Gcwihaba has been responsible for delays in the renewal of its prospecting licences due to the insistence of licences being granted over a World Heritage Site.” However, a supplementary affidavit deposed to by an administrator at Gcwihaba, Moagi Ntukununu, says on the face of things, it would appear that the parties were on the same page. But then Ntukununu also states: “It has come light that behind the scenes, the first respondent (Moagi), with the aid of the Director of the National Museum, embarked on a false information campaign to UNESCO by repeatedly submitting that the Applicant (Gcwihaba) had relinquished all its prospecting licences in the buffer zone and that there were existing prospecting and mining licences in the buffer zone.” He also says it became apparent that Moagi was operating under the false impression that prospecting licences were prohibited in the buffer zone. “There is nothing in international law or domestic law prohibiting prospecting or mining in the buffer zone,” Ntukununu asserts, adding that the company repeatedly explained, wrote and made presentations to the minister to demonstrate that prospecting and mining are permitted in the buffer zone. “Infact, the government has recognised this and attested to it in their filings with UNESCO and the issues have only arisen now with respect to the renewal one of its licences,” he says. “On receipt of the records, the applicant has been able to learn that the actions of the first respondent are influenced and dependent on the advice he receives from the Director of Mines.” Ntukununu contends that the Director of Mines has fed the Minister with misinformation about the licence. He says the company had confirmed itself to those licences on the western side of the panhandle of the Okavango Delta as it no longer holds licences on the eastern panhandle. In any event, he asserts, the current dispute with the minister relates to a licence which falls on the western side of the panhandle. “It is important to highlight that when the October 2018 licences were issued, they related to the western side of the panhandle and they continued to exist in the same area that the buffer zone encroached upon,” he says. “This on its own is prima facie evidence that the application did not at any point in time enter into an agreement to relinquish its rights to prospect within the buffer zone as per its prospecting licences.” [/ihc-hide-content]

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Fight for Control of Mining Rights in the Okavango Intensifies

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