It’s a case of green versus red in Mpumalanga. Efforts to fast-track economic development by exploiting the province’s rich mineral resources, particularly coal, are riding roughshod over some of the country’s most significant ecosystems.
At the heart of the battle is the former Department of Minerals and Energy and, as landowners and environmentalists in the region see it, its indiscriminate awarding of prospecting and mining rights in the area — something the department flatly denies.
Coal is central to the confrontation. It is not just a sought-after export commodity, it is key to Eskom’s continued power generation. The province is home to 11 coal-fired power plants, three of which have been recommissioned by the power utility following the power shortages that swept the country early last year. Despite a slump in global demand for South Africa’s commodities, continuing demand from Eskom means coal remains a lucrative business proposition. Eskom consumes about 10-million tons of coal a month.
Nearly a third of the province faces prospecting or mining rights applications, according to a discussion document compiled in September last year by the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (Wessa). In addition, the mining and prospecting applications cover 32.8% of land classified as ”irreplaceable”, 45.4% of land classified as ”highly significant” and 36.5% of land classified as ”important and necessary” in the Mpumalanga Biodiversity Conservation Plan. The sheer scale of applications, as well as operations, in the region threatens its biodiversity and in some instances could prove a threat to water security in South Africa.
Bheki Khumalo, spokesperson for the former department, says in the past two years about 1 500 applications have been made in the area, something the department ”expected”. He says it sees the interest from mining as positive for economic development, which is a government priority.
But the department is concerned with the cost to the environment and is committed to working with all stakeholders, including communities and other departments, when it comes to reviewing applications for mining prospecting and mining rights, he says.
The Wessa report points out that the former department of minerals and energy issued mining rights on eight of the 11 major provincial nature reserves, on a prospective world heritage site, on several conservation areas under the former Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and on private nature reserves. This is despite laws intended to protect the environment, including the National Environmental Management Act (Nema) and the Protected Areas Act.
An example of these hotly contested issues is a legal case pitting land owners and environmental NGOs as applicants against the department of minerals and energy and diversified miner Delta Mining Consolidated (DMC), as reported in the Mail & Guardian two weeks ago.
DMC was granted prospecting rights on 20 000ha of land in the province. Seeking to have these rights reviewed, the applicants argue that the department awarded the rights on the basis of three critically weak and inaccurate environmental management plans (EMP) submitted by the DMC that do not reflect the significant sensitivity of the area. They argue due consultation with affected parties was not conducted.
DMC denies this. Barnard Swanepoel, DMC’s chairperson, told the M&G two independent scoping studies of the area were undertaken and the land in question was not identified as irreplaceable. Its activities would not affect the area’s wetlands.
But in a response to the M&G article, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says the area has the highest biodiversity in Mpumalanga, is crucial for water production and food security and is home to a variety of rare and threatened plant and animal species, such as wattled crane. WWF says an independent consultant compiled only one of the three EMPs, while the mining company did the other two itself.
The area is also important because of its wetlands, the WWF says. They are crucial for the hydrological integrity of one of South Africa’s important water-producing areas — comprising the headwaters of three major river systems: the Pongola, Usutu and Vaal.
According to Christo Reeders, the attorney acting for the NGOs and landowners, the department has provided neither proof of consultation with interested parties nor a complete record of its decision-making in awarding the prospecting rights, despite a court order to that effect in January.
The department did not respond to the M&G‘s questions about why it had not been able to provide the required documents. But Khumalo did say that the department always seeks proof of consultation when awarding rights.
Angus Burns, coordinator of the Enkangala Grassland Project, a joint project of the Botanical Society and the WWF, says that environmental groups and communities in the area are not anti-mining and recognise its contribution to the region. But he says that more than 20% of the employment in the area is through agriculture, while only 6% comes from mining. He says much of the regional agricultural practices are compatible with biodiversity conservation.
Badly planned development also threatens the potential for tourism and ecotourism, he says. ”We need mining but we need to temper national interests such as economic development with those of water security, food security and biodiversity.”
But the Wessa report is critical of the department’s performance, stating that its processes are unresponsive and veiled in institutionalised secrecy. It says the department of minerals and energy seeks to fast-track economic growth, resulting in the short-circuiting of environmental laws and procedures and a culture of ”non-accountability”.
The Chamber of Mines works with environmental NGOs through the Mining and Biodiversity Forum, with large mining houses seen to be responsible for their impact on the environment. Concern, however, lies with smaller companies and the approvals they get from the Department of Minerals and Energy. Khumalo says junior miners cannot be precluded from prospecting or mining. ”The challenge is to work with other stakeholders and ensure that development goes hand in hand with conservation.”
The Chamber of Mines did not comment by the time of going to press.
