Update: Since the publication of this article in 2009, the Mail & Guardian was informed on February 5 2015 that Delta Mining Company had abandoned its prospecting right in Wakkerstroom.
Coal-mining companies with black empowerment partners who have friends in high places are posing a growing threat to some of South Africa’s most sensitive environmental areas.
The companies are seeking to cash in on South Africa’s coal resources, mainly in Mpumalanga, by supplying cheap coal to Eskom.
- The empowerment partners of Coal of Africa, which is prospecting near heritage and national park site Mapungubwe, include new Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale’s Mvelaphanda group.
- The sister of the former trade minister Mandisi Mpahlwa, (who is President Jacob Zuma’s financial adviser) Mandlakazi Mandaka, is the BEE partner of Delta Mining Company, which has been handed a permit to prospect in Wakkerstroom. Concerns have been voiced about the impact of mining on the area’s important wetlands.
Coal-mining companies with black empowerment partners who have friends in high places are posing a growing threat to some of South Africa’s most sensitive environmental areas.
The companies are seeking to cash in on South Africa’s coal resources, mainly in Mpumalanga, by supplying cheap coal to Eskom.
- The empowerment partners of Coal of Africa, which is prospecting near heritage and national park site Mapungubwe, include new Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale’s Mvelaphanda group.
- The sister of the former trade minister Mandisi Mpahlwa, (who is President Jacob Zuma’s financial adviser) Mandlakazi Mandaka, is the BEE partner of Delta Mining Company, which has been handed a permit to prospect in Wakkerstroom. Concerns have been voiced about the impact of mining on the area’s important wetlands.
- In Dullstroom ANC funding vehicle Chancellor House has applied for a prospecting licence amid allegations that it is riding roughshod over local stakeholders.
- In Belfast farmers have mounted a court challenge to Exxaro, Africa’s largest black-controlled diversified mining company and the biggest supplier of coal to Eskom.
The applications have pitted environmental groups such as the Escarpment Environmental Protection Group and the Mpumalanga Lakes District Protection Group (LPDG) against mining groups and have turned farmers into green activists.
The activists are pointing fingers at the department of minerals and energy for favouring companies with political connections.
The department has denied looking at the ownership of companies in awarding permits, except to check their BEE credentials.
Many government officials, former officials and their families have decided to seek their fortune in mining through BEE deals in the coal industry.
They include Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor’s husband, Sharif Pandor; former director general of trade and industry Alistair Ruiters and former minister of minerals and energy Penuell Maduna.
Brigette Radebe, the wife of Justice Minister Jeff Radebe and sister of mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe, is the driving force behind Mmakau Mining, which has entered a joint venture with Total Coal SA.
The department’s mineral regulation deputy director general, Jacinto Rocha, said his department would not punish anyone for having political connections.
”There is no prohibition on family members [of officials] of the department or elsewhere in government getting mineral rights,” he said. The fact that former political leaders had received permits was a mere coincidence. We look at compliance when we issue licences,” he said. ”We don’t look at who is there.”
Environmentalists also question Zuma’s decision to move Buyelwa Sonjica from minerals and energy to environment, seeing it as a sign that BEE coal-mining interests now trump environmental concerns.
Rocha strongly denied this. He said activists sometimes became very ”emotional” and did not consider all the facts.
”We don’t issue licences on emotion, we issue them on the basis of law,” he said. ”After having followed the process, it does not make a department official happy or sad. It is just a yes or a no, after the process was followed to the letter.
”We all have children. No one in the department says ‘to hell with the environment’,” he said.
Rocha said the department received 622 prospecting applications last year, of which 62 were granted and 125 denied. The others are still being processed.
He named an application by an unnamed mining house in amphibian haven Chrissiesmeer, also on the Mpumalanga escarpment, as an example of an application refused on environmental grounds.
The applications show that many mining companies now have the Waterberg in their sights. The Waterberg coalfield, around Lephalale in Limpopo, has 50% of South Africa’s remaining coal reserves and hosts South Africa’s latest power station, Medupi.
The area is home to the Waterberg biosphere, Marakele National Park and many private reserves.
Only Exxaro’s Grootgeluk colliery operates in the area. But Exxaro Resources chief executive Sipho Nkosi said the Waterberg has sufficient coal to feed eight power stations and the company could be mining there for the next 200 years.
Several mining houses, including BEE company Sekoko Coal, are investigating the feasibility of an open-cast coal mine in the Lephalale area and several have applied to the government for prospecting licences.
Companies seeking prospecting licences must submit environmental management plans, which involve consultation with the owners or lawful occupiers of the land in question. In many cases, however, landowners and interested parties dispute that there has been adequate consultation.
The department must also submit applications to the water affairs and environmental affairs departments. In many sensitive cases these claim they did not see licence applications or, as in the case of Mapungubwe learned of them only at the last minute. The law provides that sister departments have 60 days in which to react to environmental management plans. ”If there is no response, we take it that the department has nothing to say,” said Rocha. ”You can’t blame us if someone in another department doesn’t do their job.”
Mapungubwe miners’ powerful allies
Coal of Africa (CoAL), the driver of a controversial proposed mining venture near world heritage site Mapungubwe, has powerful allies.
Its BEE partner is the Mvelaphanda group, headed by Tokyo Sexwale before he was appointed to Cabinet. Mvelaphanda owns a stake in CoAL through African Global Capital (AGC), which owns a 26% stake.
But the connections do not end there. Former intelligence director general Vusi Mavimbela is the executive director of Mvelaphanda responsible for business strategy and African expansion. This week Mavimbela was tipped to become the director general in President Jacob Zuma’s office.
CoAL’s mining application has sparked a public outcry, with South African National Parks and even the former minister of environmental affairs, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, speaking out against the proposed mining.
But CoAL’s chief operating officer, Riaan van der Merwe, said the park and the mine could coexist. ”We know there is a lot of emotion around coal mining, particularly considering the scars left by mines in the Witbank area,” he said. ”But mining methods have changed drastically.”
He said CoAL took its environmental responsibilities seriously and intended managing the mine in line with the vision of the proposed Transfrontier Conservancy Area.
Among the measures planned at the mine were the use of strobe lighting when reversing trucks, rather than a warning beep. High-noise activities such as blasting will also be restricted to between 8am and 4pm. He said the mine was far enough from Mapungubwe not to disturb the park. All baobab trees uprooted as part of mining operations would be lifted and replanted.
CoAL has 74% ownership of the project, with the remaining 26% held by several BEE groups, according to Van der Merwe. He would not disclose their identity.
Wakkerstroom’s ‘gravest’ threat
Environmental groups regard the Delta Mining Corporation’s (DMC) exploration for torbanite and coal in the Wakkerstroom region as the gravest threat this environmentally sensitive area has faced.
The groups, including World Wildlife Fund South Africa, the Botanical Society and Birdlife South Africa, have objected to the granting of prospecting rights in more than 20 000ha of pristine grassland and wetland.
They and local farmers have joined forces against Delta in two high court applications for the prospecting rights to be revoked.
Central to their case is the weak environmental management plan, which the Mail & Guardian has seen. The report turns a blind eye to the pristine state of the area and to its biodiversity, including rare birds such as wattled cranes and other red data species.
Investigative programme 50/50 revealed that the sister of former minister of trade and industry (Mandisi Mpahlwa, who is Jacob Zuma’s financial adviser), Mandlakazi Madaka, is the BEE partner in DMC’s venture in Wakkerstroom. ”We are aware of reports of who our BEE partners are, though we are not aware of any concerns, certainly we have none,” said Delta chairperson Bernard Swanepoel.
He said Delta Mining was a private company whose shares were mainly held by its chief executive and founder, Heine van Niekerk.
An investment company in which Swanepoel is a director, To The Point Growth Specialists, owns 30% and the rest is held by the management team, he said.
Swanepoel denied allegations that the environmental management plan used to secure prospecting rights in Wakkerstroom was fatally flawed. ”We outsourced two scoping studies to two separate independent competent persons,” he said. ”We are confident that the process we ran was thorough and professional. Although some areas were identified as sensitive, none were identified as irreplaceable and our exploration process will ensure that sensitive areas are left undisturbed,” he said.
Swanepoel said the DMC property is not adjacent to or in the wetlands. ”Our property is about 20km away and about 200m lower than (or downstream of) the wetlands in the area,” he said.
”About two-thirds of our prospecting area is old or current mealie fields. Consequently our property and the land we plan to explore will allow for coal extraction that should in no way affect the wetlands.”
- In Dullstroom ANC funding vehicle Chancellor House has applied for a prospecting licence amid allegations that it is riding roughshod over local stakeholders.
- In Belfast farmers have mounted a court challenge to Exxaro, Africa’s largest black-controlled diversified mining company and the biggest supplier of coal to Eskom.
The applications have pitted environmental groups such as the Escarpment Environmental Protection Group and the Mpumalanga Lakes District Protection Group (LPDG) against mining groups and have turned farmers into green activists.
The activists are pointing fingers at the department of minerals and energy for favouring companies with political connections.
The department has denied looking at the ownership of companies in awarding permits, except to check their BEE credentials.
Many government officials, former officials and their families have decided to seek their fortune in mining through BEE deals in the coal industry.
They include Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor’s husband, Sharif Pandor; former director general of trade and industry Alistair Ruiters and former minister of minerals and energy Penuell Maduna.
Brigette Radebe, the wife of Justice Minister Jeff Radebe and sister of mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe, is the driving force behind Mmakau Mining, which has entered a joint venture with Total Coal SA.
The department’s mineral regulation deputy director general, Jacinto Rocha, said his department would not punish anyone for having political connections.
‘There is no prohibition on family members [of officials] of the department or elsewhere in government getting mineral rights,†he said. The fact that former political leaders had received permits was a mere coincidence. We look at compliance when we issue licences,†he said. ‘We don’t look at who is there.â€
Environmentalists also question Zuma’s decision to move Buyelwa Sonjica from minerals and energy to environment, seeing it as a sign that BEE coal-mining interests now trump environmental concerns.
Rocha strongly denied this. He said activists sometimes became very ’emotional†and did not consider all the facts.
‘We don’t issue licences on emotion, we issue them on the basis of law,†he said. ‘After having followed the process, it does not make a department official happy or sad. It is just a yes or a no, after the process was followed to the letter.
‘We all have children. No one in the department says ‘to hell with the environment’,†he said.
Rocha said the department received 622 prospecting applications last year, of which 62 were granted and 125 denied. The others are still being processed.
He named an application by an unnamed mining house in amphibian haven Chrissiesmeer, also on the Mpumalanga escarpment, as an example of an application refused on environmental grounds.
The applications show that many mining companies now have the Waterberg in their sights. The Waterberg coalfield, around Lephalale in Limpopo, has 50% of South Africa’s remaining coal reserves and hosts South Africa’s latest power station, Medupi.
The area is home to the Waterberg biosphere, Marakele National Park and many private reserves.
Only Exxaro’s Grootgeluk colliery operates in the area. But Exxaro Resources chief executive Sipho Nkosi said the Waterberg has sufficient coal to feed eight power stations and the company could be mining there for the next 200 years.
Several mining houses, including BEE company Sekoko Coal, are investigating the feasibility of an open-cast coal mine in the Lephalale area and several have applied to the government for prospecting licences.
Companies seeking prospecting licences must submit environmental management plans, which involve consultation with the owners or lawful occupiers of the land in question. In many cases, however, landowners and interested parties dispute that there has been adequate consultation.
The department must also submit applications to the water affairs and environmental affairs departments. In many sensitive cases these claim they did not see licence applications or, as in the case of Mapungubwe learned of them only at the last minute. The law provides that sister departments have 60 days in which to react to environmental management plans. ‘If there is no response, we take it that the department has nothing to say,†said Rocha. ‘You can’t blame us if someone in another department doesn’t do their job.â€
Mapungubwe miners’ powerful allies
Coal of Africa (CoAL), the driver of a controversial proposed mining venture near world heritage site Mapungubwe, has powerful allies.
Its BEE partner is the Mvelaphanda group, headed by Tokyo Sexwale before he was appointed to Cabinet. Mvelaphanda owns a stake in CoAL through African Global Capital (AGC), which owns a 26% stake.
But the connections do not end there. Former intelligence director general Vusi Mavimbela is the executive director of Mvelaphanda responsible for business strategy and African expansion. This week Mavimbela was tipped to become the director general in President Jacob Zuma’s office.
CoAL’s mining application has sparked a public outcry, with South African National Parks and even the former minister of environmental affairs, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, speaking out against the proposed mining.
But CoAL’s chief operating officer, Riaan van der Merwe, said the park and the mine could coexist. ‘We know there is a lot of emotion around coal mining, particularly considering the scars left by mines in the Witbank area,†he said. ‘But mining methods have changed drastically.â€
He said CoAL took its environmental responsibilities seriously and intended managing the mine in line with the vision of the proposed Transfrontier Conservancy Area.
Among the measures planned at the mine were the use of strobe lighting when reversing trucks, rather than a warning beep. High-noise activities such as blasting will also be restricted to between 8am and 4pm. He said the mine was far enough from Mapungubwe not to disturb the park. All baobab trees uprooted as part of mining operations would be lifted and replanted.
CoAL has 74% ownership of the project, with the remaining 26% held by several BEE groups, according to Van der Merwe. He would not disclose their identity.
Wakkerstroom’s ‘gravest’ threat
Environmental groups regard the Delta Mining Corporation’s (DMC) exploration for torbanite and coal in the Wakkerstroom region as the gravest threat this environmentally sensitive area has faced.
The groups, including World Wildlife Fund South Africa, the Botanical Society and Birdlife South Africa, have objected to the granting of prospecting rights in more than 20 000ha of pristine grassland and wetland.
They and local farmers have joined forces against Delta in two high court applications for the prospecting rights to be revoked.
Central to their case is the weak environmental management plan, which the Mail & Guardian has seen. The report turns a blind eye to the pristine state of the area and to its biodiversity, including rare birds such as wattled cranes and other red data species.
Investigative programme 50/50 revealed that the sister of former minister of trade and industry (Mandisi Mpahlwa, who is Jacob Zuma’s financial adviser), Mandlakazi Madaka, is the BEE partner in DMC’s venture in Wakkerstroom. ‘We are aware of reports of who our BEE partners are, though we are not aware of any concerns, certainly we have none,†said Delta chairperson Bernard Swanepoel.
He said Delta Mining was a private company whose shares were mainly held by its chief executive and founder, Heine van Niekerk.
An investment company in which Swanepoel is a director, To The Point Growth Specialists, owns 30% and the rest is held by the management team, he said.
Swanepoel denied allegations that the environmental management plan used to secure prospecting rights in Wakkerstroom was fatally flawed. ‘We outsourced two scoping studies to two separate independent competent persons,†he said. ‘We are confident that the process we ran was thorough and professional. Although some areas were identified as sensitive, none were identified as irreplaceable and our exploration process will ensure that sensitive areas are left undisturbed,†he said.
Swanepoel said the DMC property is not adjacent to or in the wetlands. ‘Our property is about 20km away and about 200m lower than (or downstream of) the wetlands in the area,†he said.
‘About two-thirds of our prospecting area is old or current mealie fields. Consequently our property and the land we plan to explore will allow for coal extraction that should in no way affect the wetlands.â€
