Mining and Environmental Justice Community Network of South Africa and others v Minister of Environmental Affairs and others

The Pretoria High Court set aside a decision by the Minister of Environmental Affairs and the Minister of Mineral Resources to allow Atha-Africa Ventures 16 (Pty) Ltd to mine in the Mabola Protected Environment, citing procedural unfairness, lack of transparency, and failure to apply environmental management principles.

• The Pretoria High Court overturned the decision to grant Atha-Africa Ventures 16 (Pty) Ltd permission to mine in the Mabola Protected Environment under section 48(1)(b) of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003 (NEMPAA). The court found the decision-making process was "nontransparent" and "procedurally unfair" because no public participation process occurred.
• The court determined that the Ministers failed to independently evaluate the decision, instead relying on approvals from other bodies, including the Department of Water and Sanitation and the Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs. Furthermore, there was no evidence that the Ministers utilized the "risk averse and cautionary approach" required by section 2 of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998.
• The decision was found to be flawed because it was made without an approved management plan under NEMPAA and before other critical decision-making processes, such as appeals regarding water use licenses and environmental management programmes, had concluded. Due to these failures in transparency and participation, the Court issued a punitive costs order against the MEC and the Ministers.

APA

Melissa (2018). Mining and Environmental Justice Community Network of South Africa and others v Minister of Environmental Affairs and others. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/virtual-library/judgments/high-courts/mining-and-environmental-justice-community-network-of-south-africa-and-others-v-minister-of-environmental-affairs-and-others

Chicago

Melissa. Mining and Environmental Justice Community Network of South Africa and others v Minister of Environmental Affairs and others. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2018. https://cer.org.za/virtual-library/judgments/high-courts/mining-and-environmental-justice-community-network-of-south-africa-and-others-v-minister-of-environmental-affairs-and-others.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Melissa |title=Mining and Environmental Justice Community Network of South Africa and others v Minister of Environmental Affairs and others |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=8 November 2018 |url=https://cer.org.za/virtual-library/judgments/high-courts/mining-and-environmental-justice-community-network-of-south-africa-and-others-v-minister-of-environmental-affairs-and-others |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{melissa2018mining, author = {Melissa}, title = {{Mining and Environmental Justice Community Network of South Africa and others v Minister of Environmental Affairs and others}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2018}, month = nov, url = {https://cer.org.za/virtual-library/judgments/high-courts/mining-and-environmental-justice-community-network-of-south-africa-and-others-v-minister-of-environmental-affairs-and-others}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }