Mpumalanga Protected Area Expansion Strategy

The Mpumalanga Protected Area Expansion Strategy sets a 20-year target to protect 6,320 km² of land by 2028, with a primary focus on the Grassland Biome. The document also contains a series of legal objections from the Centre for Environmental Rights and a coalition of NGOs against a proposed underground coal mine by Atha-Africa Ventures on the Yzermyn farm. Objectors argue the mine would cause irreparable harm to the Mabola Protected Environment, a strategic water source area, through aquifer dewatering and acid mine drainage, and that the application process violated the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA).

• Mpumalanga's contribution to the National Protected Area Expansion Targets is 6,320 km² (632,000 ha) over 20 years (by 2028), with a 5-year target of 1,520 km² (152,000 ha) by the 2012/13 financial year.
• The Grassland Biome is the most critical area for protection in Mpumalanga, requiring 5,775 km² of the 20-year target and 1,443.78 km² of the 5-year target.
• Priority Level 1 areas for expansion, representing 3.6% of the province, are the primary focus for the first 5-10 years and include regions such as Middelburg to Loskop Dam, Vaalhoek, and Dullstroom to Waterval River.
• A proposed underground coal mine by Atha-Africa Ventures on Portion 1 of the farm Yzermyn 96 HT is contested due to its location in a protected area buffer zone adjacent to the Mabola Protected Environment.
• Scientific reviews indicate that the Yzermyn mine would cause severe environmental harm, specifically through the dewatering of aquifers and the decant of contaminated groundwater and acid mine drainage, which would impact the Assegaai River and surrounding wetlands.
• The Yzermyn mine site is located within an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) and contains six floral species at high risk of extinction in the wild and 30 species protected under the Mpumalanga Conservation Act, 10 of 1998.
• The Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme Local Municipality's Spatial Development Framework (SDF) identifies the Yzermyn property as a 'sensitive natural area' and states that mining is an 'undesirable' activity not allowed in Zone 1: Conservation areas.
• Legal objections argue that Atha-Africa Ventures' land-use application was fundamentally flawed because it sought to amend a town-planning scheme that does not exist for the area outside of Volksrust, violating the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA).

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2009). Mpumalanga Protected Area Expansion Strategy. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/8.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. Mpumalanga Protected Area Expansion Strategy. 2009. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/8.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=Mpumalanga Protected Area Expansion Strategy |date=2009 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/8.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrights2009mpumalanga, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{Mpumalanga Protected Area Expansion Strategy}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2009}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/8.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }