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The court ruled that mining is a land use subject to municipal planning and that the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act does not override the Land Use Planning Ordinance or the National Environmental Management Act.

The court ruled that the Land Use Planning Ordinance 15 of 1985 (LUPO) constitutes 'relevant law' under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA) and is not inconsistent with the Constitution. Consequently, mining activities cannot proceed on land without proper rezoning, as municipal planning falls within the constitutional mandate of local authorities and does not unlawfully intrude upon national legislative competence over mining.

The Bareki v Gencor case is a significant South African legal precedent regarding environmental liability. The court initially ruled that section 28 of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) did not apply retrospectively to pollution occurring before 1999, citing a common law presumption against retrospectivity and the 'strict' or 'absolute' nature of the liability. However, the document notes that Act 14 of 2009 subsequently amended NEMA to explicitly include retrospective application for significant pollution. The case also addressed the continuity of rehabilitation duties from repealed mining laws, with the court dismissing 'continuity by content' arguments but allowing some claims based on the Interpretation Act of 1957. The plaintiffs sought R64 million for asbestos pollution at the Bute mine caused by Gefco and Gencor between 1976 and 1981.

The document analyzes the case of Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited v Free State, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, where the court ruled that the obligation to take 'reasonable measures' to prevent pollution under the National Water Act is not limited to a party's own land and can extend to land owned or used by others. This occurred in the context of managing groundwater and preventing acid mine drainage in the KOSH basin, where several mining companies were directed to share the costs of pumping and treating water at defunct mines to protect active operations.

The document examines a legal case where the court determined that administrative decisions, such as the granting of a mining permit, are not suspended by the lodging of an internal appeal, distinguishing this from the common law rule applicable to court judgments.