As demand for electric batteries surges, communities in the DR Congo face harsh consequences. Former cobalt miner Phillipe Masudi fights for responsible mining, seeking justice and a sustainable energy transition that protects local lives.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hot Katanga, located in southeastern DRC, is a region that inspires both hope and concern.
00:07Its vast reserves of critical minerals, which include cobalt, copper and lithium, are crucial
00:12to their energy transition and attracts companies from around the world.
00:16But Katanga's wealth often comes at the expense of local people.
00:22My biggest fear is that we as a population cannot benefit from our natural resources.
00:29The greed extends to the poorest communities, where mining remains the most viable source
00:34of income.
00:35Nowadays, children don't want to go to school.
00:38They want to work at the mines.
00:41Activists fighting exploitation in Hot Katanga are striving for improved educational opportunities
00:46for the region's youth.
00:49I'm now engaged to prevent children who are in places where minerals are exploited so
00:54that they will no longer have to suffer in the same way that I suffered.
01:00The government estimates that 20% of the cobalt exported from the DRC comes from Hot Katanga's
01:05artisanal miners.
01:07Approximately 110,000 regular artisanal miners work in the region, with numbers rising to
01:14about 150,000 seasonally.
01:17With few authorized artisanal mining sites, many miners enter illegal private concessions.
01:24The town of Fungurime, located about 270 km from Lubumbashi in Lualaba province, grapples
01:31with the harsh reality of illegal artisanal mining.
01:36This practice deeply affects the community and economy.
01:39Filipe Masudi, a former artisanal miner, guides us through the underground world of this clandestine
01:45activity.
01:47He fights for a better life for thousands of young miners and wants to protect them
01:51from exploitation.
01:52We are able to capture their daily lives with the help of a hidden camera, allowing us to
01:58meet miners directly in undisclosed locations.
02:04Is there any cobalt here?
02:06No, there is only copper here.
02:11How deep is the hole down there?
02:14It is too deep.
02:18How many people are inside the mine?
02:21Over there, I left 45 people down in the hole.
02:26The minerals extracted from these shafts fuel global greed.
02:29Despite their high market value, miners barely benefit.
02:33A full night of digging yields merely three 10 kg bags, while industries can produce tons
02:40of the same material in mere hours.
02:44Under Rwashi mining in Lubumbashi, mining activities generate significant profits for
02:49the multinationals, a stark contrast with the extreme poverty of local communities.
02:55Out of desperation for survival, children and their families break apart mining waste
02:59to extract cement components, endangering their health to make ends meet.
03:05Such is the case for these twin brothers.
03:09We are breaking stones here in Masugoshi to prepare for our school year and to buy clothes
03:14and notebooks.
03:15We've been here for two months.
03:17We'll start school later in the year.
03:20The whole family is gathered at this mining area.
03:23The twins are busy breaking up the stones while their aunt, who is nearby, collects
03:28the pieces to sift through them.
03:30This way, the process is both quick and efficient.
03:34The aunt explains to us the reasons that bring them here.
03:39My name is Miguel.
03:40I live in this neighborhood, Kawama, in this commune of Rwashi Mining.
03:46Here, I sift these stones to extract the finest elements for making mortar used in construction.
03:59A bag like this sells for 2,000 Congolese francs.
04:03In a day, we make 10 bags.
04:06It's really tiring, all this movement.
04:09My whole body is moving and it hurts.
04:11I do this because my husband is unemployed.
04:15Finding a job is very difficult in the DRC.
04:19Mining is a unique job which allows us to better meet the specific needs of our children.
04:26In Libumbashi's Rwashi Mining neighborhood, named after a major mining company, the contrast
04:31between wealth and poverty is striking.
04:35Residents here struggle daily just to survive.
04:38This community's circumstances illustrate how misery and opulence can co-exist, even
04:44in a region rich with resources.
04:47At this secret trading counter, the buyer fixes the price of all the minerals that transit
04:52through this place.
04:54We find a Chinese person who sets up his buying counter at the site and it's the same person
05:00who sets the price.
05:01He says the content is 4% and we'll pay like this, 5%.
05:05We pay like this, 6%.
05:07We pay like this.
05:09So they are the ones who impose the price.
05:13The miners must accept whatever price is offered.
05:19What truly moved me was the level of misery and suffering I saw in these young people's
05:24eyes.
05:30China remains overwhelmingly dominant in DRC's mining sector, with its firms owning
05:36over 70% of Congo's copper mines.
05:39Activists in the DRC have voiced concerns about China's heavy presence in the country,
05:45while locals remain at the bottom of the food chain.
05:48Beyond the financial exclusion of Congolese from the mineral boom, the environmental impacts
05:53are severe.
05:55In the same Fungurume region ravaged by industrial pollution, Benny Fuanda, an environmental
06:01enthusiast, feels powerless in the face of injustice.
06:06Together with Sylvie Manda, a civil society member and expert on women's issues in the
06:10mining sector, they set out to meet local communities to better understand the environmental
06:16challenges they face.
06:18We are in Manomapia, near Fungurume, and we are here to meet these mothers.
06:23You see them there, doing the laundry.
06:25They are out walking with their children, and we've come to tell them that this river
06:29is already polluted.
06:37The problem with Fungurume is the factory here.
06:45You see those white things, it's the acid, and this was a swamp river.
06:53The women here are using that polluted water.
06:58There was a big river here.
07:03Just a few years ago, the Manomapia river was the only source of water for the entire
07:07community.
07:08But intensive mining activities have polluted the water, making it unsafe to drink.
07:13With no alternatives, the communities are at the mercy of this contaminated water.
07:20My little brother, look at you jumping into this water.
07:25Please, do you know that this water is acidic and dangerous?
07:34We are already dead because of the acid.
07:36No, don't say that you're dead.
07:40Don't you have any other water sources here?
07:45No, there's no water here.
07:49So where are we supposed to wash our clothes and other things?
07:54The young people in this region face a grim choice.
07:58Poison themselves just to survive.
08:01With no access to clean water, their options are limited.
08:05As more parties join the fight for DRC's vast minerals, protecting the local men, women
08:11and children is a task Filipe and many others will continue to do.