Mining boom exposes conflict between government departments

The Mpumalanga Lake District Protection Group has launched a landmark bid to stop a proposed opencast coal mine in the Lake District in Mpumalanga in the east of the country. The application is being heard in the Pretoria High Court. The case is expected to highlight conflicts between the Departments of Minerals and Energy (DME) and Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT). Environmentalists and community members accuse authorities of irregularities in awarding licenses and of not taking environmental obligations seriously. In another example of the growing conflict, environmentalists have urged the government to reject an application by an Australian company for a titanium mine in Pondoland. ‘The process of decision-making with respect to mining developments potentially contravenes SA\'s commitments under the Convention of Biological Diversity,’ said Sustaining the Wild Coast spokesperson Val Payn. Full report in Business Report

Senior sangomas from Pondoland are opposed to the mining project, Mtentu sangoma Jabulani Mboyisa has said. The Herald reports that Mboyisa’s comments followed on an announcement by Pondoland communities that they had sent petitions to three government departments – the Eastern Cape Public Enterprises and Economic Affairs and Environment and Tourism departments and to the national Minerals and Energy Department – stating their objections to the mining. Full report in The Herald

But, optimism that the government will remain committed to the environment may well be misplaced, apropos of the mining of mineral sands in the Wild Coast area, notes Andre Standing, of the Institute for Security Studies. In the case of St Lucia, the government appeared to favour the environment over mining profits, but in the Pondoland instance ‘many industry experts feel the government is becoming more pro-mining and less interested in mitigating the environmental consequences,’ he is quoted as saying in a Cape Times report. Standing said the Wild Coast case should be understood against the background of the global mining industry having seen huge growth and record profits since 2002, fuelled by the Chinese economic boom. Full report in the Cape Times

This critical environmental issue is tackled in a Sunday Tribune report, which terms it something of a \'Jekyll and Hyde\' saga. On the one hand, the government is doing much to try to protect SA\'s unique environment through protective legislation and conservation actions; but, on the other hand, it is giving in to development, particularly mining schemes that aim to exploit its mineral rich resources. Fingers are consistently pointed at the DME for approving such activities and then not policing them properly, if at all. One of the key factors is that the DME is not governed by the laws of DEAT. Rather it is relatively free to grant mining rights where it sees fit, the reports notes. And, a recurring complaint from environmentalists is that it does not apply the ecologically protective powers given to it under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Act to force miners not to harm the environment or the wellbeing of a community. Full report in the Sunday Tribune