Reho town council demands millions for copper mine

Thirteen years after a company occupied a copper mine outside Rehoboth, the town council has still not received the money the company allegedly owes for occupation, water and lights. The Rehoboth town council is now suing Africa Huaxia Mining (Pty) Ltd for millions of dollars for the occupation of the Swartmodder copper mine outside the town since February 2010.

For the occupation and possession of the mine from the latter date until April last year, the town council is asking N$3.2 million - calculated at N$22 000 per month - alternatively until the date Africa Huaxia Mining vacates the site. The unpaid bill for electricity use on the premises amounts to approximately N$8.6 million for the period from 9 June 2011 to January 2018. Interest of 20% per annum until the date of final payment is also charged on the above amounts.

However, the legal representative that the town council initially appointed has withdrawn from the case due to non-payment. A new legal representative has since been appointed by the state attorney's office.

According to an affidavit by the town council, he is, among other things, the registered owner of the mine.

According to this statement, in June 2011, with the council's consent - subject to a later completion of a lease agreement - Africa Huaxia Mining took over the ownership, control and occupation of the premises with the aim of extracting copper. The agreement was that the company would pay a "reasonable amount" for the occupation of the premises, as well as the water and power bill.

Part of the statement is a handwritten note signed in this regard on 9 June 2011 by Melvin Beukes and Ivan Swartz as representatives of the town council.

Legal representation

However, according to the town council, since 2010 they and the company have not been able to come to an agreement on a reasonable amount for the use of the premises. The town council says several demands for vacating the premises and the payment of the outstanding amounts have fallen on deaf ears. According to the town council, the company is busy enriching itself to the detriment of the council. The town council's initial legal representative, Ileni Gebhardt, withdrew because the council did not have the money to pay her or settle her previous accounts.

A request was then made to the government attorney's office to further represent the council in their case against Africa Huaxia Mining. The case was handed over to Ndamonao Ilovu, who instructed Gebhardt to continue representing the council and said the government attorney's office would pay for her services and also settle past debts to her.

However, Gebhardt did not want to proceed until 70% of the outstanding account was settled. Consequently, Hafeni Hamunyela of Andreas - Hamunyela Legal Practitioners was instructed to represent the town council henceforth. The change of legal representatives and the eventual appointment of a new person led to the town council missing a court appearance for case management and making them guilty of not complying with a court order.

The case was adjourned for a decision in this regard, with Africa Huaxia Mining asking the town council to cover the costs of their legal representatives for the day they did not show up at court.