Staff Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CHINESE-owned mining company, Xinfeng Mining, alongside its Namibian partner company, Long Fire Investments, have taken the Minister of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security and several police officers to court after having been locked out of its mining site in Uis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The urgent application brought before the High Court seeks two types of relief. In Part A, it seeks an order restoring to them the possession of the lithium beneficiation plant in Uis and the five containers at the site, from which they have been excluded since 10 September 2026 by locks placed by members of the Namibian Police Force. Xinfeng claims that the locking of the mine was done without any court order or any statutory authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Part B of the relief, Xinfeng is asking the High Court to issue a declaration that the warrant is invalid, and setting aside of every step taken under it, including any seizure, the release of every article seized or restrained, and an interdict against further interference, unless under a valid warrant, and costs of suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The warrant which led to the locking of the mining site included the seizure of mining trucks, to wit, a Howo 371 and 290 Dumper Trucks, Caterpillar Machines, Dozer Machines, Galion Machines, Compressor Machines, Quantum mini-bus, five drill Machines, and Tank Trucks, on suspicion of illegal mining activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xinfeng argued that the warrant was used beyond its terms, as it did not authorise the locking of the plant or containers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response, Head of the Specialised Investigation Division of the Namibian Police, Deputy Commissioner Bartholomeus de Klerk, said that he has conceded that the search warrant is defective due to incorrect sections being cited in the Criminal Procedure, some of which do not exist. De Klerk said that this points to a failure by the Magistrate to apply his or her mind properly to the subject matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDespite the review relief being conceded, the applicants are persisting in the interlocutory relief, which, in my respectful view, the applicants seek to weaponise to interfere with ongoing investigations of Nampol, the Mining Commission, and the Environmental Management Agency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
De Klerk said that the relief sought in Part B of the relief seeks to interdict and restrain the Police and the Minister of Home Affairs from interfering with Xinfeng’s possession of the mining plant, or their employees and representatives on site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that this would entail wide-ranging activities, such as taking into custody foreign nationals who do not possess the requisite employment permits but are employed by Xinfeng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
De Klerk said that during 2024, it came to the attention of the Namibian Police that Xinfeng and Long Fire Investments were conducting unlawful mining activities in Daures Constituency near Uis, Erongo Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that the two companies, being joint venture partners, have carried out extensive mining operations outside of the areas in respect of which the mining claims are registered. The Police opened a criminal investigation into such illegal mining activities, which is currently still active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that on 8 September 2026, the Police obtained an additional affidavit from the Mining Commissioner, setting out the extent of the illegal mining activities which were conducted by the applicants. De Klerk said that during August 2026, the Police discovered that the applicants were in the process of removing the assets situated at Long Fire Investments mining site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe information at our disposal is that some of the trucks were already moved to Nigeria. The applicant has also ceased all its mining activities. The only valuable assets on the site are the ore and the mining equipment,\u201d De Klerk said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that the Police acted bona fide when they locked up the site, considering that the equipment was bulky and could not immediately be removed from the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Picture for illustrative purposes only. Photo: Contributed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Staff Reporter CHINESE-owned mining company, Xinfeng Mining, alongside its Namibian partner company, Long Fire Investments, have taken the Minister of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security and several police officers to court after having been locked out of its mining site in Uis. The urgent application brought before the High Court seeks two types of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":401354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n