Renthia Kaimbi
A petition from the Sorris Sorris community calling for the coexistence of mining and tourism has been overshadowed by a new internal dispute within the conservancy.
Members of the Sorris Sorris Conservancy management committee have disowned a letter they say was unauthorised and falsely reversed the conservancy’s legal stance overnight.
This comes as community members, under the Dâure Daman Traditional Authority, handed over a petition to the parliamentary standing committee on agriculture, environment and natural resources at Parliament in Windhoek on Thursday.
The petition expressed the community’s “deep dismay” at outside entities using the courts without consultation and called on the government to protect local interests “from being neglected for the sake of big money corporations.”
Community representative Gwyneth Garoes, who presented the petition, said residents have long been excluded from tourism opportunities in the area.
She argued that mining would help create jobs and stimulate local economies in Khorixas and Uis.
“If this is granted by the court (today), it is going to become the backbone of our community. It will take many young skilled and unskilled people off the street and empower many others through contract work,” she said.
Shortly after the petition was delivered, a letter dated 10 October 2025 and signed by Conservancy chairperson Manga Eliamu Atumbulange-Manga surfaced.
The letter, seen by the Windhoek Observer, claimed that the conservancy’s annual general meeting in February 2025 had resolved to change its legal status from respondent to applicant in the ongoing High Court case, effectively aligning with those opposing mining activities.
The move was immediately rejected by other committee members, including vice chair Rhodella Eichas, who called the letter unauthorised.
Eichas, who co-signed the petition, said the committee supports mining and coexistence.
“This is a community-based organisation guided by the law, and what the chairman did is abuse of power. We meet on a monthly basis, often without him, and only pass resolutions agreed upon by a quorum. We coexist with elephants and can surely coexist with rhinos. We distance ourselves from the letter completely and will meet again on the 15th. Our current stance is for the chairman to withdraw that letter, because his actions have hurt the community,” she said.
The disagreement highlights deep divisions within the conservancy’s leadership, with the chairperson appearing to stand against committee members aligned with the community and chief Zacharias Seibeb.
Seibeb has already announced plans to withdraw the Sorris Sorris Conservancy from the Red Mountain Joint Management Area (JMA), a tourism agreement involving the Doro !Nawas and Uibasen Twyfelfontein conservancies.
He has repeatedly said he does not recognise the JMA, describing it as an “illegal entity” rejected by the Kunene Communal Land Board.
The community petition argues that Ultimate Safaris and its JMA partners “have no legal standing in the Dâure Daman Traditional area where the mines are in operation.”
It says around 200 young people could be employed in mining, while tourism companies import most of their staff, offering “no tangible benefits for the locals.”
The petition also states that the area in question has always been a mining zone where small-scale operations have coexisted with wildlife.
It accuses tourism operators of rejecting all attempts by miners to engage in dialogue.
The disputed letter from the conservancy chairperson directly challenges both the community’s position and the stance of the traditional authority. It has created confusion about the conservancy’s official position as the legal dispute continues.
Efforts by the Windhoek Observer to reach Atumbulange-Manga for comment were unsuccessful.
