A legal opinion has been prepared for the Centre for Environmental Rights by Kate Hofmeyr and Nick Ferreira on Class Actions in repsect of damages arising from mining activities.
Tailings Storage Facility
It has been noted, not without serious concern that the Project will result in: The loss of a wetlands system and that no mitigation methods can be realistically prescribed for this activity; The placement of the TSF within or next to wetland areas will impact on the underlying geohydrology of the system; The surface hydrological […]
Small victory in blighted mining landscape
Mariette Liefferink’s red high-heeled sandals sink into the watery earth. She totters to a mining pit overflowing with copper water that is stained like blood. That this is filled with partially treated acid mine drainage (AMD) is a small victory for the environmental activist.
Eco-unfriendly SA mine gets watered down sentence
In a first for SA, a mining company has pleaded guilty to breaking environmental laws while prospecting for coal in a protected wetland — in return for a relatively light penalty.
‘Sushi King’ Kenny Kunene probed for fraud
Allegations that former convicts Kenny Kunene and Gayton McKenzie defrauded poor Sowetan communities by persuading them to participate in a mining rights application for Central Rand Gold in Johannesburg are being investigated. However, there is widespread confusion over the status of the police investigation.
Govt vows to solve acid mine water crisis
The Department of Water Affairs says it is committed to solving the country’s acid mine water crisis. Farmers in Mpumalanga have issued a warning that polluted water could lead to food shortages. Now an upgraded treatment plant is to be opened in Gauteng but the government concedes more needs to be done.
Desalination added to mine water treatment
The Department of Water Affairs and civil society organisations have agreed that “some degree” of desalination should be added to the short-term plan for treating acid mine water threatening the water supply to the Witwatersrand
Sustainable Mining – Policy and Legislative Framework
For most of its history, the mining industry in South Africa has not been subjected to comprehensive environmental regulation. In recent years, however, this has changed significantly and the industry is now required to comply with a complex web of mining and environmental policy and legislation. This chapter outlines the most relevant legislation and policy […]
The Benchmark Institute Report
The persistent activism of Mariette Liefferink, the C.E.O. of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment has kept the media attention on the impact of uranium and gold mining on the Wonderfonteinspruit catchment area for a number of years.