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COMMENTS BY THE CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENAL RIGHTS ON THE DRAFT MINE WATER MANAGEMENT POLICY POSITION
The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) provides critical feedback on the Department of Water and Sanitation's (DWS) draft Mine Water Management Policy Position. The CER argues that the draft understates the crisis of mine water management in South Africa, citing a systemic failure in mine closures and a lack of compliance monitoring and enforcement. The CER recommends that the DWS utilize existing legislative tools—specifically the National Water Act (NWA), the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), and the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA)—to enforce the 'polluter pays' principle and secure financial provisions for water treatment before granting licenses.
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Document type: Statement
National Strategy for Water re-use
The National Strategy for Water re-use, published by GreenCape in June 2011, outlines a framework for implementing water re-use projects in South Africa to address the country's water-stressed status. It defines various types of re-use, analyzes drivers such as cost and public perception, and identifies sector-specific needs in agriculture, industry, mining, and power generation. The strategy proposes a policy environment focused on clear guidelines, updated water quality standards, and the leveraging of private sector capacity to ensure sustainable water resource management.
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Document type: Report
1.2-annexures-2-78fa702fbab040ea.pdf
This document consists of a series of legal submissions, correspondence, and technical reports related to an appeal against the granting of a mining right to William Patrick Bower (Pty) Ltd (WPB) for a coal mine near Belfast, Mpumalanga. The materials include a hydrogeochemical study on acid mine drainage (AMD) and decant management, a responding statement from BirdLife South Africa (represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights), and an internal appeal from the Escarpment Environment Protection Group (EEPOG). The central disputes concern procedural unfairness in the consultation process, the inadequacy of environmental impact assessments—specifically regarding biodiversity and water quality—and the lack of a sustainable mine closure plan.
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Document type: Report
1.4-annexures-4-29c174f5574f969f.pdf
This document consists of several annexures related to two proposed coal mining projects in Mpumalanga, South Africa: the Lusthof Colliery and the WPB Colliery. The first part is a draft report from 2012 by Dr. Hugo van Zyl for Black Gold Coal Estates (BGCE) regarding the financial provisioning for a Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Plant (WTP) at Lusthof Colliery, estimating a required provision of approximately R74.42 million to cover construction and 100 years of post-closure operation. The second part contains correspondence and reviews from 2013 to 2015 regarding the WPB Colliery, featuring objections from BirdLife South Africa and technical reviews by Golder Associates. These reviews highlight 'fatal flaws' in the WPB Colliery's water use license application, specifically the lack of adequate acid mine drainage (AMD) assessment, insufficient public participation, and flawed geochemical modelling for pollution mitigation.
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Document type: Report
2011-cope-koornhof-q737-contamination-of-the-vaal-rivers-upper-catchment-from-coal-mining-and-abandoned-mines-causing-acid-mine-drainage-35cd3757c18b62f2.pdf
This document is a draft written reply from the South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs to a National Assembly question (Question 737) posed by Mr N J J van R Koornhof of the COPE party in March 2011. The inquiry focuses on the contamination of the Vaal River's upper catchment due to coal mining and the risk of acid mine drainage from abandoned mines.
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Document type: Briefing
2011-cope-ndude-q2976-departmental-directive-and-compliance-pertaining-to-acid-mine-drainage-1e8333a621d7fcf0.pdf
This document is a draft written reply from the South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs to a National Assembly question (No. 2976) asked by Mrs H N Ndude regarding departmental directives and compliance for mines concerning acid mine drainage (AMD).
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Document type: Briefing
2011-da-morgan-q1816-current-location-of-all-decant-points-of-acid-mine-drainage-on-the-west-rand-and-related-ph-and-sulphate-levels-b18af813b208d5d3.pdf
This document is a draft written reply from the South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs to a National Assembly question (Question 1816) asked by Mr G R Morgan (DA) regarding acid mine drainage (AMD) on the West Rand.
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Document type: Briefing
2011-da-morgan-q223-status-of-acid-mine-drainage-in-the-western-central-and-eastern-basins-94d80b7743e9e039.pdf
A draft reply from the South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs to a National Assembly question regarding the status of acid mine drainage responses in the western, central, and eastern basins.
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Document type: Briefing
APPELLANTS’ HEADS OF ARGUMENT IN THE APPEAL IN TERMS OF SECTION 149 OF THE NATIONAL WATER ACT NO. 36 OF 1998
This document contains the Appellants' Heads of Argument filed by the Centre for Environmental Rights on behalf of the Endangered Wildlife Trust and the Federation for a Sustainable Environment. The appeal, brought under section 149 of the National Water Act (NWA), challenges a Water Tribunal decision that dismissed an appeal against the granting of a water use licence (WUL) to Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd for the proposed Yzermyn Underground Coal Mine. The appellants argue that the Water Tribunal erred on several questions of law, including the failure to consider the strategic importance of the mine area, the absence of landowner consent, the misapplication of the precautionary principle, the lack of post-closure water treatment provisions, and the misapprehension of the burden of proof regarding socio-economic impacts.
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Document type: Report