Conservancies, tour operator sought to attach mining claims over unpaid legal costs

The Windhoek High Court had granted Sorris Sorris, Doro !Nawas and Uibasen Twyfelfontein conservancies, along with tour operator Ultimate Safaris, an order authorising the seizure of mining claims belonging to local prospector Timoteus Mashuna.Mashuna holds mining claims within the conservancies in the Kunene region, home to a population of endangered black rhinos.The three conservancies, along with Ultimate Safaris, are opposing any mining activities in the area.The court order sought to recover N$52 950.08 in legal costs, plus interest at 20% per annum from 3 April 2025, as well as any further costs incurred during the attachment process.According to court documents, the action follows a 2024 judgment in favour of the conservancies and Ultimate Safaris, which collectively act as the execution creditors.The order, issued on 22 October, directed the deputy sheriff for Windhoek to attach and execute Mashuna’s rights and interests in eight mining claims – numbered 72300 to 72402 – registered with the mines ministry.Mashuna, however, settled the amount before the deputy sheriff could act. 'Deeper truth'Mashuna told Namibian Sun on Wednesday that the conservancies were not behind the action, claiming that Ultimate Safaris is “driving and sponsoring the whole thing”.“They claim to be against mining in the area, yet to recover their supposed costs, they want to seize and auction off my mining claims," he said.Mashuna additionally claimed that the matter is not about mining but race, an allegation the tour operator has strenuously denied. “To me, this exposes a deeper truth I’ve always spoken about since the beginning of this case. White people have been mining in that area long before and after independence, even up to 2019, and nobody ever raised an issue. But now that a black man is mining there, suddenly it’s a problem," he charged.He added that Sorris Sorris, Doro !Nawas and Uibasen “do not even have custodianship over the land” where he is mining.“The conservancies have been put at the forefront to make it look like they’re the ones fighting me. The truth is, the person listed as the last applicant is actually the main one driving the case," he alleged."It’s a very sinister strategy; they make themselves appear as just one of many applicants when, in fact, they are the real force behind it,” he added. “And it’s partly because they know they are operating in that area illegally, without proper local authority or compliance with standards. If Ultimate Safaris weren’t operating there, I could have continued my mining without any opposition,” he suggested.Clashing narratives Ultimate Safaris managing director Tristan Cowley said the claims were to be attached as security to guarantee the settlement of costs since the deputy sheriff was unable to identify any other assets belonging to Mashuna, nor even a confirmed residential address, which he said is absent from all court filings."There is no interest whatsoever in the mining claims. The only concern is that the cost orders are duly settled. The first of these has now been paid, and as a result, no attachment has proceeded,” he confirmed.He added: “There’s an attempt here to drive a narrative that is simply incorrect and misleading. Court efforts in the review application are to have the mining claims cancelled and the designation of the area as a conservancy conservation area upheld. Court documents will confirm this. Those [claims] were not attached to be auctioned off; they were attached to force compliance with a court order."Cowley said while some have sought to frame this matter along racial lines, it is, in fact, a legal issue involving two – now three – communal conservancies defending their statutory rights.“None of the parties involved have any interest in mining in the area concerned, which was formally designated for conservation by the conservancies and the Ministry of Environment," he noted."We have successfully demonstrated in court that mining at the proposed scale could have a negative impact on local rhino populations, as has happened in similar areas, upon which tourism and community livelihoods depend. This is now all pending the ongoing review application in the High Court.”Legal procedureCowley noted that “regarding the cost orders, both Mr Mashuna and Ms Ndimulunde have outstanding court cost orders against them. As the deputy sheriff is obliged to act on available assets when such orders remain unsettled, the attachments were a matter of legal procedure, not choice."He said once Mashuna settled his legal costs, "as of last night, and we assume after someone at the Ministry of Mines alerted him to the intention of the deputy sheriff, the need for any further attachment fell away."Find common groundEarlier this month, Daure Daman Traditional Authority chief Zacharias Seibeb threatened to evict Ultimate Safaris from his communal area if the company continues to oppose mining projects.Seibeb also warned that he would request the environment and tourism ministry to relocate three black rhinos from his jurisdiction to Etosha Pan if it meant creating 300 jobs for his community.In a letter dated 30 September and addressed to Cowley, Seibeb called for dialogue with miners to find common ground between tourism and mining.“If Ultimate Safaris and all others are not willing to coexist with mining, I will request the environment ministry to relocate these alleged three black rhinos to Etosha Pan in the interest of generating 300 jobs for my people," he said."These rhinos are not inhabitants of my communal area. The ministry introduced them, and they can be relocated elsewhere,” he wrote.Ultimate Safaris said the Daure Daman received nearly N$3 million last year, arguing that ongoing court proceedings render any fresh meetings with Seibeb meaningless.nikanor@nmh-hub.com.na

Conservancies, tour operator sought to attach mining claims over unpaid legal costs

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-31

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Conservancies, tour operator sought to attach mining claims over unpaid legal costs

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-31

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