Renthia Kaimbi
Mining claims holder Timoteus Mashuna has been spared from losing his Goantagab mining claims after the mine settled N$52 950 in legal costs sought by Ultimate Safaris.
The payment, which covered taxed costs and interest, stopped the deputy sheriff of Windhoek from auctioning off eight of Mashuna’s mining claims following a court-issued warrant.
The warrant, dated 22 October 2025, had authorised the deputy sheriff to attach and auction the claims registered under Mashuna’s name.
The execution proceedings followed a recent legal defeat for Ultimate Safaris, which had been ordered to pay Mashuna’s legal costs after its failed attempt to stop mining operations in the Sorris Sorris Conservancy.
Last month, the Windhoek High Court dismissed an urgent application by Ultimate Safaris and several conservancies seeking to halt blasting at Mashuna’s Goantagab Mine.
High Court judge Boas Usiku struck the case off the roll for lack of urgency and ordered the applicants to pay costs.
That ruling gave the mine permission to continue operations.
However, on 10 October 2025, High Court acting judge Reinhard Totemeyer issued an interdict stopping the use of heavy machinery at the mine.
Mashuna, through Appolos Shimakeleni Lawyers, has since appealed the ruling.
The ongoing legal fight has deepened the divide between conservation and mining interests in the Sorris Sorris Conservancy.
The area, known for its black rhino population and tourism potential, also contains valuable tin deposits.
Mashuna criticised Ultimate Safaris for engaging in actions he described as contradictory and unreasonable.
“This is ridiculous,” he said. “What were their intentions? To auction off the claims and then take the new claims holder to court like they did to me?”
He maintains that his operations are lawful and beneficial to the community, with the potential to create 150 to 250 jobs for locals.
He has accused Ultimate Safaris of having unlawful and abusive joint ventures with conservancies that bring little benefit to residents.
The conservancy itself is now facing internal turmoil. Members of the Sorris Sorris Conservancy management committee passed a vote of no confidence in their chairperson, Elia Muatumbulange-Manga.
He was accused of drafting an unauthorised letter claiming the conservancy wanted to oppose mining by changing its legal status in court.
The vice chairperson, Rhodella Eichas, confirmed the vote, saying Manga failed to present minutes from the February AGM that supposedly supported opposition to mining.
She added that the committee plans to hold an extraordinary meeting on 6 December 2025 to withdraw the conservancy from the Red Mountain Joint Management Agreement.
Traditional leader chief Sakarias Seibeb of the Dâure Daman Traditional Authority supports coexistence between tourism and mining.
He has accused Ultimate Safaris of blocking local development and threatened to evict the company from his communal area for operating Camp Doros without a leasehold.
Ultimate Safaris and conservation groups argue that mining threatens black rhino conservation and a planned N$100 million luxury lodge.
Mining advocates, however, say operations like Goantagab Mine bring real economic benefits.
Andrada Mining, which has an ore-supply agreement with Goantagab, reported spending N$505 million on Namibian suppliers and N$84 million on wages, royalties and community projects last year.
