The community of Maandagshoek is located approximately 30 kilometers west of the small town of Burgersfort in the south of Limpopo province. This area is part of what is historically known as Sekhukuneland and was also formally part of the apartheid homeland of Lebowakgomo. Several thousand people inhabit this community, the vast majority of who rely on small-scale farming or state grants to survive. In the early-1990s platinum was 'discovered' on land in the community and for the last ten years two large and extremely profitable mines, Modikwa and Tweefontein, have been in operation, despite the fact that there was no meaningful consultation with the community and most employees of the mines come from outside the community. As a result, relations between large sections of the community and the mines, which are jointly owned by Anglo-Platinum and African Rainbow Minerals, have been mostly hostile. In the last few years, other mining companies have been active in prospecting for further platinum deposits in the community. Unemployment is extremely high and the state of basic services in most of the community is deplorable. Like many rural areas with similar pasts, the community is formally governed by a district municipality (located in Burgersfort) but informally governed by traditional chieftainship authorities who consider the community's land to be held in collective 'trust'. The African National Congress (ANC) is dominant in the area but there is also the presence of smaller political 'players' such as the United Democratic Movement (UDM) and regional Limpopo-based parties.