Former Namdia, DBN chairperson lands Chinese lithium consulting job

Politically connected businesswoman Tania Hangula has landed a consultancy job at a Chinese-owned lithium mining company which has faced allegations of corruption and illegal mining activities along the coast.

Hangula, president Hage Geingob’s former personal assistant, has served on key government boards, such as that of the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) and Namib Desert Diamonds (Namdia) for years.

Hangula has also faced a lawsuit in connection with receiving N$6,4 million which originated from the looted SME Bank. Despite her tainted past, Hangula continues to receive high-level deals.

This time, she was appointed as a consultant for the Chinese lithium mining company Xinfeng Enterprises, which has been lobbying the government to allow lithium mining.

Xinfeng Enterprises dominated the news last year after it emerged that the company paid N$50 million to obtain a licence which eventually enriched a clique of well-connected individuals, including Ralph Muyamba, the former technical assistant to minister of mines and energy Tom Alweendo.

Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy subsequently prohibited Xinfeng Investments from exporting lithium in October, pending the completion of an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

The ban was, however, lifted shortly thereafter, allowing the company to temporarily export lithium.

Xinfeng Investments has now roped Hangula in as a consultant.

Questions sent to Hangula via WhatsApp and email last Tuesday and Wednesday went unanswered.

Xinfeng spokesperson Aqisha Jooste confirmed Hangula’s appointment to The Namibian, but did not expand on her job description.

Hangula attended a lithium engagement meeting hosted by the mines ministry at Uis on 24 March.

Jooste said she represented Xinfeng at the meeting.

Xinfeng is at the centre of controversy in the Dâures constituency for mining on claims belonging to Long Fire Investments.

Representatives of Hangula and Xinfeng’s joint venture company, Long Fire Investments, attended the meeting, which was also attended by most of the exclusive prospecting licence (EPL) and claims holders.

Community activist Jimmy Areseb, who attended this meeting, wants to know why Hangula did not identify herself when Landless People’s Movement leader Bernadus Swartbooi said Xinfeng was not represented at the event.

“She only introduced herself as a consultant of Xinfeng and Long Fire after the meeting, and said she was sent to resolve the issues between Long Fire and the community,” Areseb says.

In February, a video circulated in which a staff member of Xinfeng is seen asking community members to leave his property.

For several years, Hangula has positioned herself near lucrative ventures.

She has also been associated with a fishing company.

In addition, she served as a consultant for the now-defunct SME Bank in 2012, where she was tasked with ‘fundraising’, as stated in her consulting contract, and received a monthly compensation of N$50 000.

Court documents indicate that Hangula obtained N$6,4 million from SME Bank.

Xinfeng wrote a letter to Alweendo last week, requesting the resumption of its lithium mining activities at Omaruru.

Pleading with the minister, the company said it has presented and put in place measures to ensure the development of a lithium processing plant in Namibia within the next 30 months – a first of its kind.

Xinfeng said its lithium plant can only materialise if mining operations at Omaruru commence in order to obtain the needed capital.

The company claims to have so far invested N$200 million, and that it has been overshadowed by “external events that are not being well guided by both parties, giving rise to a non-conducive environment for engagement to pursue closer relationships’’.

The company claims to have employed more than 200 Namibians, who would suffer a loss of income with operations halted.

Xinfeng also wants the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security to issue its skilled workers permits.