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The Constitutional Court upheld an appeal by Bengwenyama Minerals and the Bengwenyama-Ye-Maswazi Tribal Council, ruling that the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and Genorah Resources failed to meet legal obligations regarding community consultation, preferent rights, and environmental prerequisites.

The court found the Stilfontein Gold Mining Company (SGM) and its four directors guilty of contempt of court for ignoring directives to pump underground water to prevent pollution and flooding. The judge rejected the directors' defense that their mass resignation and the company's financial status absolved them of responsibility, emphasizing that directors cannot 'walk away' from environmental obligations. However, this contempt order was subsequently set aside on appeal in Kebble v The Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry 2007 JDR 0872 (SCA).

The case Rex v Marshall & Another [1951] confirmed the convictions of the manager and resident engineer of Natal Cambrian Collieries Ltd for violating Regulation 7(2) of the Mines and Works Regulations, 1937. The court found that the mine had allowed water containing injurious matter to escape without treatment, contaminating a stream that affected lower-lying farms. The court rejected defense arguments that the regulation was void for vagueness, unreasonableness, or ultra vires, ruling that 'injurious' water is that which is unfit for human or animal consumption, dangerous to animal life, or unsuitable for irrigation.