Chaos erupts after community denied access at AGM meeting
No one could have predicted the chaos which took place at the annual general meeting of Leole Comumunity Trust recently.
The recent annual general meeting (AGM) of the Leole Community Trust ended in chaos after one community was allegedly not allowed to be part of the meeting. The meeting was held at the Mopani Camp in the Kruger National Park (KNP) and ended when the police were called to maintain order. This comes after a group identifying themselves as the Makhushane Community claimed to have been refused entrance to the meeting. Edwin Malatji, the chairperson of Ba-Phalaborwa Concerned Residents, was part of the group that was not allowed access.
According to Laban Malatji, the trust administrator, the Leole Community Trust is a 10% shareholder of the Palabora Mining Company (PMC) and works with five communities in Phalaborwa, Majeje, Maseke, Makhushane, Mashishimale, and Selwane. The trust is involved in development projects in these communities. According to Edwin, when he and his entourage were refused access to the AGM, they kept Laban hostage with the hopes that they will be allowed in.
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However, the meeting went ahead without them, and the police had to be called in to maintain order. Edwin believes he was not allowed to attend because the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality’s mayor, Merriam Malatji, was also in the meeting, and that she told them to go ahead without them. Edwin has announced publicly that he wants the mayor to step down from her position.
Laban told the Herald that no one was denied access to the meeting, they only wanted the Makhushane Council to get their house in order first. “We found out that there were two groups from Makhushane, the first group of which Edwin was part of, arrived early while another group was still on their way. “We wanted them to first organise themselves,” Laban explained.
Edwin believes he was prevented access to the meeting to silence him as he is vocal about corruption in the region. The manager in the office of the mayor, Ndlozi Nkanyani, said that the mayor did not have any influence whatsoever in the meeting as she was also invited like everyone else and that she did not have a say in who was invited or not.
