Changing Corporate Behaviour

The report examines the five-year campaign by the Save Mapungubwe Coalition to protect the Mapungubwe World Heritage Site from the Vele Colliery project operated by Coal of Africa (CoAL). It analyzes three primary engagement strategies: strategic litigation to challenge mining licenses, bilateral negotiations to establish best-practice environmental standards, and multilateral participation in the Vele Colliery Environmental Management Committee (EMC). The document concludes that while litigation and negotiations have limitations, they provide essential leverage, and that inclusive multi-stakeholder governance via EMCs can effectively monitor corporate compliance. It also highlights the correlation between CoAL's non-compliance with environmental laws and the decline of its JSE share price.

• The Save Mapungubwe Coalition utilized a multi-pronged litigation strategy, lodging internal appeals against the approval of the Environmental Management Programme (EMP), the mining right, the integrated water use license (IWUL), and the section 24G rectification under NEMA.
• There is evidence that unsustainable corporate practices and non-compliance with environmental laws negatively impacted Coal of Africa's profitability, specifically reflected in a volatile and declining JSE share price between April and August 2010, where the price dropped from 1696 to 911.
• Bilateral negotiations between the Coalition and CoAL broke down in September 2012 after the Coalition discovered that CoAL had withheld material information, including the existence of an unauthorized dam and impacts on water courses not disclosed in the IWUL.
• The Coalition achieved a significant governance milestone by becoming a full member of the Vele Colliery Environmental Management Committee (EMC) in October 2012, eventually leading to a Coalition representative being appointed as Chair of the main EMC in August 2013.
• Litigation serves as a critical source of leverage for civil society to force companies to the negotiating table and ensure they negotiate in good faith, as it creates reputational harm and forces companies to defend their environmental practices.
• Mining companies may employ 'divide and rule' tactics to fragment affected communities and subvert independent community organizations to prevent the emergence of strong, unified opposition.
• The Vele Colliery project faced temporary closure in June 2013 due to a combination of lower-than-expected coal grades, the stalling of the linked Mulilo power station project, low global thermal coal prices, and the costs associated with litigation and government enforcement actions.
• The report argues that the prevailing public discourse often incorrectly frames environmental protection as 'anti-development,' failing to recognize that economic development depends on the preservation of critical ecosystem services like water.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2014). Changing Corporate Behaviour. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Changing-corporate-behaviour-The-Mapungubwe-case-study.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. Changing Corporate Behaviour. 2014. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Changing-corporate-behaviour-The-Mapungubwe-case-study.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=Changing Corporate Behaviour |date=1 February 2014 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Changing-corporate-behaviour-The-Mapungubwe-case-study.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrights2014changing, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{Changing Corporate Behaviour}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2014}, month = feb, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Changing-corporate-behaviour-The-Mapungubwe-case-study.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }