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Tafelkop residents demanding employment at Blue Ridge platinum mine
Community members in and around Tafelkop area outside Groblersdal, in Limpopo, marched to and submitted a memorandum at a local mine. Residents are demanding employment at Blue Ridge Platinum Mine.
Since 2011, the mine has been under care and maintenance but is now being run by a new company, Mantengu Mining.
Mantengu mining bought the mine in 2024. The Ministry of Minerals and Petroleum Resources approved the transaction and the mining right were formally transferred to Mantengu Mining on the 1st of August 2025.
Under close police monitoring the Tafelkop communities led a peaceful march to the Blue Ridge platinum mine. The protesters are demanding the re-opening of the mine and employment.
The mine stopped its operation after it was placed under care and maintenance in 2011.
Former employees Sifiso Chokwe and Victor Magampa say it’s difficult to support their families since the mine was placed under care and maintenance.
“It’s a problem because the mine has been closed down. The entire community is suffering, we are jobless, we don’t know where to work, and we are struggling to make ends meet. What we want to see now is for the mine to be reopened so that everyone can come and work here. I feel ashamed because my children are suffering since I am not working. It’s not just me, everyone who worked here and the whole community are affected. I am feeling ashamed,” says Chokwe and Magampa.
A local qualified engineer also expressed disappointment that his skills and qualifications are not being utilized. This prevents Phathutshedzo Mambalanganyi of contributing towards the development of his community.
[ICYMI] Minister Gwede Mantashe warns that if US President Trump cuts funding to South Africa, the country should stop supplying the US with minerals. Speaking at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, he stresses that Africa’s wealth must benefit its people. He also notes a decline in… pic.twitter.com/YdEZgjVpYZ
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“It was affecting us a lot because we take our expertise somewhere so that we can implementing them here because running a mine is not an easy thing but one thing that we saw the mine was running. There is also a deposit like tailings, rocks and everything, so our plan is ever the mine is not opening they must allow us to treat the tailings so that we can take the money and re- invest it into reopening the mine, there is a lot of things we can do here,” says Mambalanganyi.
Residents like Phophi Masheloene and Paulette Rangata believe the reopening of the mine could provide employment for young people.
“The youth, in particular, have been badly impacted because the unemployment rate is very high, and most of us are graduates but still at home. What we would like to see is the reopening of the mine, along with the introduction of learnership programs and skills development so that young people can benefit from it. I believe things will change if the mine reopens. At the end of the day, our sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers used to work here. Now we are affected. If the mine buyers say they don’t have the money, how did they buy the mine? Clearly, they want to make a profit from the tailings here, so why can’t they also ensure that while selling the tailings, they employ around 1 000 people,” say the residents.
During the march, community member read the memorandum and gave Mantengu seven days to respond.
“The community has waited more than 14 years from the reopening of this mine, any further delay without a credible plan for resumption of underground operations is unacceptable and unsustainable,” says community leader, Daniel Mabilo.
In a closed meeting, Mantengu Mining authorities said they do not have sufficient capital to employ workers.
