Amid Mine Job crisis – But Timing and Past Failures Raise Concerns
CCN Editor – George April
HOPEFIELD:- Saldanha Bay Municipality has called residents to a public meeting on the 2027/28 Integrated Development Plan and Budget this Thursday, 17 September, at the Thusong Centre from 17:00 to 19:00.
Kropz is restructuring its Elandsfontein operations, halting phosphate rock production. Contractor Trollope has already indicated that around 238 jobs could be lost by the end of November, the majority from Hopefield. At the same time, petitions continue to circulate about the large Phelan green hydrogen and eSAF project, with many residents still without clear answers on local jobs, water, land impact and community benefits.
Yet the municipality is once again holding the engagement at a time that effectively excludes most working people. The 17:00 start remains also a long-standing complaint. The majority of Hopefield residents are still at work or travelling home at that hour. Ordinary community meetings in the town have for years started from 18:00 precisely because of this reality.
Saldanha Bay Municipality continues to ignore it.
This is not an isolated problem. At the previous budget meeting the municipal sound system failed large sections of the hall. Residents seated in the back could not clearly follow the discussions.
CCN confirmed this on the night: two women sitting next to the media in the third and second-last row stated clearly that they could not hear properly. More than 30 people in the rear of the hall were affected. The municipal official addressing the meeting was standing in the same area where the problem was reported.
These repeated failures: inconvenient timing and inadequate facilities, mean that the people most affected by job losses and major new developments are systematically disadvantaged when formal decisions are being prepared.
Despite these obstacles, Thursday’s meeting remains one of the few official opportunities for Hopefield residents to place their concerns on the municipal record.
Residents who can attend are being urged to raise, among other issues:
- The immediate impact of the Elandsfontein job losses and the lack of clarity for affected families
- Binding local employment and community benefit commitments for projects such as the Phelan development
- The need for proper written agreements before construction starts, not after
- A realistic meeting time and functional sound system so ordinary working residents can actually participate
The meeting is on Thursday, 17 September at the Thusong Centre, Hopefield, from 17:00 to 19:00.
Those unable to attend because of work are advised to submit written inputs through official municipal channels and to insist that future public engagements be scheduled at times when working people can be present.
Continued failure to do so will only reinforce the view that Hopefield’s voice is being managed rather than heard.
