Tracking the Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine (BRPM

On the early morning of Thursday 14^th the community of Chaneng located on the North of Rustenburg had an eventful beginning to their day where by mother of Chaneng village headman (Nthoto Setshoane) came into the Kgotla office and took the Kgotla stamp that is needed to authorize important documents such as proof of residents forcefully and told the office bearers to inform community members that the stamp will all documents will issued at the headman’s house only as per Royal Bafokeng Admin protocol, she then later came in and took four youth members who needed proof of residents to attach to c.v’s  that were to be submitted on the day at one of the local mines called Platinum Group Metal mine(Masseve), they left with her and she issued them invalid proof of residents, their c.v’s could not be submitted. She later came back and told both office bearers and police that “I hijacked the stamp”. Later on the day there was a community general meeting to address the issue of the report pending from her son(Bigboy Jacob Setshoane) , the community was frustrated by actions of the headman’s mother and decided to go peacefully and demand answers, they arrived and delivered the message to both the mother and his brother  and left. The 14^th was the opening day to the “going back to our root’’ youth camp, and its aim was to go back to our ancestors way of living and starting community development project of crop farming. Mine police encircled the group Marikana style with no  barbered wire and water cannons and started firing life ammunition to a group of innocent youth trying to make a living, they went down for cover but unfortunately 6 (2 males and 4 females) didn’t manage to go for cover as they were captured, beaten and took into courtesy by mine police not South African Police where as they were nowhere near close mine premises just on the walk path to their homes, mine police trespassed into the village and arrested community members. The community is unsettled by bullets shot and the arrested. The mood is very tense as mine police are all over the village restricting and limiting people’s movements around their own home place.