Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Killings and repression of defenders · South Africa · 2016–2023

Bazooka Rhadebe murder and Xolobeni mine (South Africa)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
People
  • 1 people died.
    Rhadebe, killed 22 March 2016 (HRD Memorial).
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 insufficient · 2 not measured · 2 disputed · 2 unclear See the gaps

Sikhosiphi "Bazooka" Rhadebe, chair of the Amadiba Crisis Committee, was shot dead in March 2016 after opposing a titanium-sands mine at Xolobeni. No arrests had been reported by 2018, and the investigation was later reported to have been abandoned.

NoneArrests for the killing of Rhadebe, as reported in 2018 and 2023
A civil-society report two years after the killing and a 2023 press report both describe an investigation that produced no arrests.

Status As of the latest dates in the sources reviewed (November 2023): no arrests reported in the killing; defamation claims partly settled on confidential terms; status of the remaining claims and of the Xolobeni mining application not found.

What?
The chair of a community committee opposed to a titanium-sands mine was shot dead; no arrests were reported, and the company later sued six critics for defamation. HRD Memorial
Where?
Xolobeni, Mbizana, Eastern Cape, South Africa; related court proceedings in the Western Cape High Court, Pretoria High Court and the Constitutional Court. HRD Memorial
When?
Killing on 22 March 2016; defamation suit from 2017; Pretoria ruling 22 November 2018; SLAPP rulings 2021 and 2022; partial settlement November 2023. Daily Maverick
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Sikhosiphi "Bazooka" Rhadebe and his family — He was killed on 22 March 2016, aged 52, in front of his 17-year-old son. HRD Memorial
  • Six activists and lawyers sued by MRC — Faced defamation claims of about R14.25m until a partial settlement in November 2023. Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Rhadebe chaired the Amadiba Crisis Committee, which opposed the Xolobeni titanium-sands project of TEM, majority owned by Mineral Commodities Ltd. The motive for the killing was not established in the record. HRD Memorial
How?
Two men who said they were police shot him eight times at his home; a prior 'death list' naming three committee members had been reported by Rhadebe to a friend by phone. HRD Memorial
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Sikhosiphi "Bazooka" Rhadebe chaired the Amadiba Crisis Committee, a community body opposed to a titanium-sands mining project at Xolobeni, Mbizana, in South Africa's Eastern Cape. The project was run by TEM, which was majority owned (56%) by the Australian company Mineral Commodities Ltd (MRC).

Rhadebe was killed on 22 March 2016 in the evening, in front of his home, aged 52. According to the HRD Memorial record, two men who said they were police shot him eight times in front of his 17-year-old son. Less than two hours earlier he had phoned a friend, Nonhle Mbuthuma, to say there was a "death list" carrying his name, hers and that of the committee's deputy chair, Mzamo Dlamini. MRC said it had no connection with the killing.

Two years later, in March 2018, no one had been arrested. A civil-society report cited by GroundUp said the investigation had been sabotaged from within the police and that Dlamini had never been interviewed. In 2023 the investigative outlet amaBhungane reported an unsigned note from a general of the Hawks, the police's priority-crimes unit, that appeared to justify abandoning the investigation.

In 2017 MRC, a subsidiary and a company director, Mark Caruso, sued six activists and lawyers for defamation for a total of about R14.25m (US$759,802): Dlamini, Cormac Cullinan, Reddell, John Clarke, Davies and Davine Cloete. Cloete is described as a community activist critical of MRC's Tormin mine. In 2021 the Western Cape High Court accepted that a SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) defence could be raised and gave the defendants leave to amend their pleas; in 2022 the Constitutional Court recognised the defence in law. In November 2023 the parties partly settled on confidential terms, and the status of the remaining claims was not found.

On 22 November 2018 the High Court in Pretoria ruled in Baleni and Others v Minister of Mineral Resources and Others that community consent is required before a mining right is granted. In July 2016 MRC had announced that it would sell its stake in the Xolobeni project to a company called Keysha; the research could not confirm that the sale closed. The current status of the Xolobeni mining application was not found.

  1. 201622 March: Rhadebe shot dead at his home in Xolobeni, Mbizana; July: MRC announces it will sell its Xolobeni stake to Keysha (closing not confirmed)
  2. 2017MRC, a subsidiary and a director sue six critics for about R14.25m
  3. 2018March: no arrests two years on, civil-society report says investigation was sabotaged from within the police; 22 November: Pretoria High Court rules community consent is required for a mining right (Baleni)
  4. 2021Western Cape High Court accepts SLAPP as a viable defence ([2021] ZAWCHC 22)
  5. 2022Constitutional Court recognises the SLAPP defence ([2022] ZACC 37)
  6. 2023amaBhungane reports an unsigned Hawks note appearing to justify abandoning the investigation; November: partial confidential settlement of the defamation claims

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“a SLAPP suit defence ensures that courts can protect their own integrity by guarding over the use of their processes”

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Why did the murder investigation produce no arrests?
Communities and civil society
Civil-society report cited by GroundUp (March 2018)

The investigation was sabotaged from within the police and Dlamini had never been interviewed.

GroundUp
Press and investigations
amaBhungane (2023)

An unsigned note from a Hawks general appeared to justify abandoning the investigation.

amaBhungane
Were MRC's defamation suits against six critics a legitimate claim or an abuse of court process?
Company or project
Mineral Commodities Ltd, its subsidiary and director Mark Caruso

Brought defamation claims totalling about R14.25m against six activists and lawyers.

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University
Courts
Western Cape High Court (2021)

Accepted SLAPP as a viable defence, fitting within the common-law doctrine of abuse of process, and gave the defendants leave to amend their pleas.

Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University
Courts
Constitutional Court (2022)

Recognised the SLAPP defence in law: it ensures that courts can protect their own integrity by guarding over the use of their processes.

Southern African Legal Information Institute (SAFLII)

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • MRC said it had no connection with Rhadebe's killing.
    Mineral Commodities Ltd, as recorded by HRD Memorial and Yale e360
  • MRC announced that it would sell its stake in the Xolobeni project to Keysha.
    Mineral Commodities Ltd, July 2016 · Mining Weekly

Recorded

  • Rhadebe was killed on 22 March 2016 at his home, shot eight times, aged 52.
    HRD Memorial
  • No arrests had been made two years after the killing (GroundUp, March 2018).
    GroundUp
  • In 2023 amaBhungane reported an unsigned note from a Hawks general that appeared to justify abandoning the investigation.
    amaBhungane
  • On 22 November 2018 the High Court in Pretoria ruled that community consent is required before a mining right is granted.
    Polity
  • The Western Cape High Court (2021) and the Constitutional Court (2022) accepted the SLAPP defence in MRC's defamation suit against six critics.
    Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University
  • In November 2023 MRC's R1m claim against Dlamini and R500k claim against Cullinan were partly settled; terms confidential.
    Daily Maverick

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: ZAR · Window: 2017–2023. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • mineral-commodities (2016–2017): Said it had no connection with Rhadebe's killing.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2016-03–No defendant left
    Murder investigation: Sikhosiphi "Bazooka" Rhadebe
    South African police investigation (Hawks involvement reported) · Criminal · State → Unknown perpetrators

    No arrests had been reported two years after the killing; in 2023 amaBhungane reported an unsigned note from a Hawks general that appeared to justify abandoning the investigation. GroundUp

  2. 2017–2022-11Outcome not on recordZAR m 14.25m Defamation damages claimed (about US$759,802)
    Mineral Commodities Ltd and Mineral Sands Resources v Reddell and others (defamation / SLAPP defence)
    Western Cape High Court ([2021] ZAWCHC 22); Constitutional Court ([2022] ZACC 37) · Civil · Mineral Commodities Ltd, Mineral Sands Resources and director Mark Caruso → Six activists and lawyers: Dlamini, Cullinan, Reddell, Clarke, Davies, Cloete

    The Western Cape High Court (Deputy Judge President Goliath) accepted SLAPP as a viable defence in 2021 and gave the defendants leave to amend their pleas; the Constitutional Court recognised the defence in 2022. In November 2023 MRC's R1m claim against Dlamini and R500k claim against Cullinan were partly settled on confidential terms. The status of the remaining claims was not found. Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University

  3. 2018-11-22Claimant won
    Baleni and Others v Minister of Mineral Resources and Others
    High Court, Pretoria · Administrative · Baleni and 128 others (129 applicants) → Minister of Mineral Resources and others

    The High Court ruled that community consent is required before a mining right is granted. Polity

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Arrests for the killing
None reported
No arrests two years on (GroundUp, 2018); a 2023 press report describes an abandoned probe
Community consent for a mining right
Required
Pretoria High Court, 22 November 2018 (Baleni)
Xolobeni mining application
Status not found
Current status was not found in the sources reviewed

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Court ruling existsDeaths reportedNo independent ecological evaluationKey earnings undisclosed

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.

Court

  • Unclear Mineral Commodities Ltd and Mineral Sands Resources v Reddell and others (defamation / SLAPP defence): outcome not on record.

Accounts

  • Disputed Why did the murder investigation produce no arrests?
  • Disputed Were MRC's defamation suits against six critics a legitimate claim or an abuse of court process?

Record

  • None on record No arrest has been reported in the killing of Rhadebe; the research found no arrest after the March 2018 report.
  • Insufficient The terms of the November 2023 partial settlement are confidential; the status of the remaining claims was not found.
  • Unclear Whether MRC's announced 2016 sale of its Xolobeni stake to Keysha closed was not confirmed.
  • None on record The current status of the Xolobeni mining application was not found.
  • None on record No prosecution in the Rhadebe case was found after the dates noted in the sources reviewed.
  • Not measured No independent ecological evaluation of the planned Xolobeni mine was found in the sources reviewed.

Did the harm stop?

The Xolobeni mine was not recorded as built or cancelled in the sources reviewed; the Pretoria High Court ruled in November 2018 that community consent is required before a mining right is granted.

Who paid?

Rhadebe's family and the Amadiba community lost a committee chair; the six defendants carried the defamation claims of about R14.25m for years before the partial settlement.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators✓ Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

Courts

Press and investigations

  3. MRC to sell Xolobeni stake
    Mining Weekly · 2016-07-18

Communities and civil society

Researchers

  1. Mineral Commodities v Reddell and others: SLAPP defence accepted
    Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University · n.d.

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Law and courts

Constitutional Court
The highest court for questions of constitutional rights in a country.
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