The Daure Daman Traditional Authority struggled to answer questions by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources regarding illegal lithium mining at Uis.

The committee was not satisfied with the answers given by the traditional leaders and threatened to subpoena the Daure Daman Traditional Authority to reveal the truth under oath.

In a heated session at Uis, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources, Tjekero Tweya, read out a consent letter issued by the traditional authority to Xingfeng Investment to explore lithium at Uis.

However, the company allegedly ended up mining lithium.

"This traditional authority knows what the difference between exploration and mining is, but in this case, unanimously, you say you did not know that these more than 80 trucks that were running every day, although everybody saw it as mining, to you it was still exploration. That is your belief? Prepare yourself that you must face those questions and those statistics you will have to give in front of the whole of Namibia under oath, and if it is found to be otherwise, consider your position; you have been given a chance."

"When you see 80 trucks loaded, transporting goods every day from your area to Walvis Bay, you tell us that you still believe it was exploration and that they were still doing research to determine the type, quality, and quantity of the ore. That is an improbability that even a standard 2-year-old cannot believe. With 80 trucks transporting goods every day up and down, and the Traditional Authority that is able to speak and articulate issues with this competency telling a parliamentary committee that no, we thought and we believe that they were still in exploration state, it's improbable for us to believe," said Bernadus Swartbooi, a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources.

"When they ask for consent, we give it, and it was for exploration purposes, but when they start with actual mining, we don't come back to them to say, 'Guys, you must stop because you just asked for exploration', that we failed, but now in the process we learn, and in the future we will not make that mistake," said Enteneria Tjiveze, Traditional Councillor from the Daure Daman Traditional Authority.

"The only person who writes the letters out about this exploration and the EPLs or whatever it is is the chief, and I think it could be best before you go and make any decisions about what we talk about to call us and invite us for more clarity. We don't have any powers; we don't have any rights to write these letters," said Johannes Gariseb, also of the Daure Daman Traditional Authority.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee indicated that the Daure Daman Traditional Authority has not been helpful in answering questions about Xingfeng Investment allegedly mining lithium illegally at Uis. The authority has been given another chance to present evidence on Wednesday afternoon.