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The Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries of South Africa dismissed appeals brought by the Centre for Environmental Rights and the North Western Cape Mining Forum against an Environmental Authorisation (EA) granted to Mineral Sands Resources (Pty) Ltd. The EA was issued under section 24G of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) to rectify the unlawful commencement of listed activities—specifically the clearance of vegetation and the construction of a process water dam—on the farm Geelwal Karoo 262 in the Western Cape Province.

This document is an appeal decision by the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment of South Africa regarding an Integrated Environmental Authorisation (IEA) granted by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to Tetra 4 (Pty) Ltd. The IEA concerned the Tetra 4 Cluster 2 Virginia Gas Production Project in the Free State Province. Following appeals by Natural Justice and the Centre for Environmental Rights (on behalf of MEJCON-SA and MACUA), the Minister dismissed several grounds of appeal but remitted the application back to the DMRE for reconsideration due to deficiencies in the climate change and geohydrology assessments.