Joint Statement: Mining Lekgotla Fails to Acknowledge and Address Key Challenges in South Africa’s Extractive Sector, say Rights Groups

The Centre for Environmental Rights, Centre for Applied Legal Studies, and the Open Democracy Advice Centre argue that the 2014 Mining Lekgotla and similar industry forums exclude critical stakeholders and lack transparency. They highlight the difficulty of accessing essential environmental and mining documents and call for more inclusive governance to ensure natural resources benefit all South Africans.

• The 2014 Mining Lekgotla and the annual Mining Indaba are criticized for failing to ensure the inclusive participation of civil society, workers, and mining-affected communities, as the cost of attendance limits participants to government officials, mine management, financiers, and the Chamber of Mines.
• There is a significant lack of transparency and disclosure regarding mining and environmental information in South Africa, with the government and industry players often resisting the release of mining licenses, water use licenses, environmental management programmes, and social and labour plans.
• The rights groups assert that the lack of transparency in the sector's administration raises concerns that the political elite's vested interests may be unduly influencing how the sector is managed.

APA

Melissa (2014). Joint Statement: Mining Lekgotla Fails to Acknowledge and Address Key Challenges in South Africa’s Extractive Sector, say Rights Groups. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/news/joint-statement-mining-lekgotla-fails-to-acknowledge-and-address-key-challenges-in-south-africas-extractive-sector-say-rights-groups

Chicago

Melissa. Joint Statement: Mining Lekgotla Fails to Acknowledge and Address Key Challenges in South Africa’s Extractive Sector, say Rights Groups. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2014. https://cer.org.za/news/joint-statement-mining-lekgotla-fails-to-acknowledge-and-address-key-challenges-in-south-africas-extractive-sector-say-rights-groups.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Melissa |title=Joint Statement: Mining Lekgotla Fails to Acknowledge and Address Key Challenges in South Africa’s Extractive Sector, say Rights Groups |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=15 August 2014 |url=https://cer.org.za/news/joint-statement-mining-lekgotla-fails-to-acknowledge-and-address-key-challenges-in-south-africas-extractive-sector-say-rights-groups |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{melissa2014joint, author = {Melissa}, title = {{Joint Statement: Mining Lekgotla Fails to Acknowledge and Address Key Challenges in South Africa’s Extractive Sector, say Rights Groups}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2014}, month = aug, url = {https://cer.org.za/news/joint-statement-mining-lekgotla-fails-to-acknowledge-and-address-key-challenges-in-south-africas-extractive-sector-say-rights-groups}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }