Fight against mining for our children - Africa's Amadiba community  

          Xolobeni, the idyllic home to South Africa's Amadiba community, sits on top of huge reserves of titanium ore, a lightweight and strong valuable metal used in everything from computers to aeroplanes.

Transworld Energy Mineral (TEM), a subsidiary of Australian mining company MRC, has been trying since 2007, to obtain a license to mine the region's deposits from the government's Department of Mineral Resources.

The project, if it went ahead, would affect swathes of farmland on a coastal strip of about 22km (13.7 miles), and 600 people would have to move, according to an estimate by the community's lawyers.

The tensions over mining have made this part of the country uncharacteristically hostile to outsiders. They have said,  an acceptable relocation plan has not been proposed.

Ms Mbuthuma is the chairperson of the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC), which was formed in 2007 to co-ordinate fight against the proposed mine.

She stepped into the role when fellow activist and long-time friend Sikhosiphi Rhadebe, was killed two years ago after being shot eight-times in his home by men posing as police officers.

It is believed he was killed because of his fierce opposition to the mining plans, but the police are still investigating the case and no arrests have been made.

At least 10 other people, who had opposed the mining plan, have died in the last few years under mysterious circumstances, including poisoning, according to local media.

There are suspicions that some locals who stand to benefit from mining are behind the violence but this has never been proved.

Ms Mbuthuma has had a few brushes with death herself and avoids staying in one place for too long.

"I'm not afraid about my life. I'm not even protecting myself, I'm protecting the struggle... that's why I'm even changing places," she told, defiance burning behind her tired eyes.

The ACC, supported by the local tribal council, argued in court that mining would bring 

disastrous consequences to the region, including destroying the environment and creating a community that could not look after itself.

The Amadiba community was one of more than 100 applicants in a court case against South Africa's mining authority, saying that they must give their consent before a mining license is granted.

Last month, in a room filled with lawyers and a handful of villagers who had travelled overnight in a minibus to learn their fate, the High Court in the capital, Pretoria, heard the community's pleas and agreed with them.

Judge Annali Basson , in her ruling, said their fears about the consequences of mining were well founded.

Her judgement highlighted how communities in mining areas often suffered from airborne diseases, lost their grazing land and were often forced to move. The environment was also damaged, she noted.

The government still supports the mining project.  The Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe insists,  it would be good for development and could help boost the country's struggling economy.

But,  for now the High Court ruling spells a victory for the people of Xolobeni.

To answer the call for economic development, the Amadiba community want the authorities to focus on building up eco-tourism and conservation. In other words something that would not, in their view, damage their land.

In her ruling, Judge Basson cited a case in South Africa's highest court, the Constitutional Court, which described the link between the land and African communities and called it "their most treasured possession".

 Nokwakha Mboyisa said. "Some people think rural life means you are poor. We are not poor," "We are dependent on ourselves here, we don't want to become a basket case and depend on the government to take care of us. As long as we have our land we can look after ourselves,"

 Busisiwe Mbangi agreed. "This is the life we want, They must leave us alone to live the life our forefathers lived. We are happy this way."

The community is not concerned with the riches that lay beneath the earth as for them the value of their land cannot be quantified. Their struggle is about identity and a sense of belonging. Things they say,  money cannot buy.

Many had walked for miles to be there. Ms Mbuthuma, flanked by traditional rulers and elderly men, said  "This is a fight for the future of our children. We cannot sell out their legacy at the promise of making easy money. If we lose our land we lose the only thing our forefathers left us with." 

                                                                             Courtesy  BBC's reporater Pumza Fihlani.