Cases / Killings and repression of defenders · South Africa · 2020
Fikile Ntshangase murder and Somkhele coal 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.Fikile Ntshangase, killed 22 October 2020.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Fikile Ntshangase, who opposed the expansion of Tendele's Somkhele coal mine in KwaZulu-Natal, was killed in October 2020. The mine continued to operate.
None reportedPeople held accountable for the killing
As of 2022 per the source reviewed; no later update found.
As of 2022 per the source reviewed; no later update found.
Status As of 2022 per the source reviewed: no one held accountable for the killing; no later update found.
What?
An activist who opposed the expansion of the Somkhele coal mine was killed. Centre for Applied Legal Studies, University of the Witwatersrand
Where?
Ophondweni, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Centre for Applied Legal Studies, University of the Witwatersrand
When?
22 October 2020. Centre for Applied Legal Studies, University of the Witwatersrand
Who?
Gained
None on recordLost
- Fikile Ntshangase — Killed on 22 October 2020. Centre for Applied Legal Studies, University of the Witwatersrand
Harmed
None on recordWhy?
Not established in the sources reviewed; she opposed the mine expansion and refused to withdraw the court challenges. Centre for Applied Legal Studies, University of the Witwatersrand
How?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
Fikile Ntshangase was killed on 22 October 2020 in Ophondweni, KwaZulu-Natal.
She had opposed the expansion of Tendele's Somkhele coal mine. According to the source reviewed, she refused to sign an agreement withdrawing the court challenges to the expansion.
The mine continued operating.
- 2020Fikile Ntshangase killed on 22 October in Ophondweni, KwaZulu-Natal
How it looked
What was shown, beside what was recorded.
Shown
Recorded
- Fikile Ntshangase was killed on 22 October 2020 in Ophondweni, KwaZulu-Natal.
- She had opposed the expansion of Tendele's Somkhele coal mine and refused to sign an agreement withdrawing the court challenges.
- Somkhele is listed among the projects that continued.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
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.
Mine
Operating
Somkhele continued after the killing
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Record
- None on record The sources reviewed record that no one had been held accountable for the killing as of 2022; no later update was found.
Did the harm stop?
The mine continued to operate after the killing.
Who paid?
Not established in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers
Communities and civil society
- Joint statement on the killing of activist Fikile NtshangaseCentre for Applied Legal Studies, University of the Witwatersrand · 2020
Connected cases
Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
- Eskom advances tied to Tegeta coal mine purchase, South African inquiry finds South Africa · 2015–2016 Related matter
- Mineral Commodities v Reddell (Xolobeni/Tormin SLAPP) South Africa · 2017–2023 Related matter