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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/i> Sibusiso Mqadi, the late chairperson of the Amadiba Crisis Committee, overlooking the Mtentu Estuary. (Photo:\u00a0Johan Lorenzen)<\/span><\/p>\n In a country where black people faced forced removal, the fact that Sbu was buried in such a beautiful location was no accident. Sbu now rests alongside ancestors who defended the soil where he is buried despite the onslaught of colonialism and apartheid.<\/p>\n Sbu used to speak powerfully about his ancestors\u2019 decision to protect their land that led to their joining the Mpondo Revolt<\/a> \u2013 one of the first successful acts of resistance against formalised apartheid.<\/p>\n As a youngster, he was told that his ancestors were presented with a choice: a pile of soil was placed on one side, money on the other \u2013 they were asked to choose.<\/p>\n They chose soil because, according to Sbu<\/a> who spoke eloquently in this short video, \u201cthe money is useless because we are going to eat the money and then the money will be gone and after that we don\u2019t have the land. And then they said no, we prefer the land, we choose the land, that\u2019s where the fight was started because the people were choosing the land and the government was saying no.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s where the fight was started.\u201d<\/p>\n A fight between a community with a vision and a racist government\u2019s decision to impose \u201cdevelopment\u201d on them.<\/p>\n But Sbu did not grow up fighting. He was born in 1985 into a community of stalwarts for the African National Congress. And soon, the racist government was replaced by their beloved ANC, which they voted for overwhelmingly.<\/p>\n His community felt great hope.<\/p>\n It seemed justified.<\/p>\n Services started to come to the area. The South African state partnered with the European Union to make significant investments in tourism and infrastructure in the area. Numerous jobs and income-earning opportunities were created through Amadiba Adventures, the award-winning tourism initiative in the area.<\/p>\n A defining feature of these projects was their emphasis on building on existing community initiatives based on consensus-building.<\/p>\n The land also allowed Sbu to grow into a formidable footballer for the Mtentu Hungry Lions, where his midfield prowess earned him the nickname \u201cTshwara Tshwara\u201d (because his style resembled that of Orlando Pirates\u2019 star Ben Motshwari).<\/p>\n So in childhood, the land his ancestors had preserved nourished Sbu and his family and his community.<\/p>\n Revolution betrayed<\/b><\/p>\n But the community\u2019s support for the ANC would soon be betrayed.<\/p>\n In the late 1990s plans were developed to strip the land from under Sbu and his community\u2019s feet to mine titanium \u2013 the infamous Xolobeni mining project. And a long dreamt-of highway through the area was redesigned to intersect almost perfectly on to the Xolobeni mine\u2019s proposed access roads.<\/p>\n Money was on offer. But Sbu did not take it. Instead, Sbu channelled his ancestors and chose the land. He joined the Amadiba Crisis Committee<\/a>\u2019s stand against the Xolobeni mining project<\/a> and Sanral\u2019s imposition of a toll road route to subsidise the mine.<\/p>\n The first time I met Sbu was my first trip to the area. He, and other members of the Hungry Lions, had been arrested as part of the SAPS\u2019s continued harassment of anti-mining activists. I remember the day well. Sbu didn\u2019t flinch. He didn\u2019t hesitate. He laughed off the harassment and got straight back to the work of defending his community.<\/p>\n Not long after, tragedy struck. Sikosiphe \u201cBazooka\u201d Radebe, the chairperson of the Amadiba Crisis Committee, was assassinated.<\/p>\n Sbu was forced to take the role of chairperson \u2013 a role many would say he was too young for.<\/p>\n He was expected to lead. And lead he did.<\/p>\n