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This document is a legal affidavit submitted by Catherine Horsfield of the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) on behalf of eight petitioning parties seeking intervener status in an appeal regarding a land-use change application in Mpumalanga.

This responding statement, submitted by the Centre for Environmental Rights on behalf of eight appellants, challenges the Department of Mineral Resources' (DMR) approval of the Environmental Management Programme (EMPR) for Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd's proposed Yzermyn mine. The appellants argue that the approved EMPR authorizes an environmentally destructive discard dump, ignores extensive government conservation policies for the area, and contains woefully inadequate financial provisions for rehabilitation.

The Municipal Appeal Authority (MAA) of the Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme Local Municipality dismissed an appeal brought by several environmental organizations and a trust against the decision of the Gert Sibande District Joint Municipal Planning Tribunal (MPT) to approve a land development application for the rezoning of Portion 1 of Farm Yzermyn 96 IT.

A notice from the Municipal Appeal Authority of the Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme Local Municipality regarding a land development appeal for Portion 1 of the farm Yzermyn 96 IT in Mpumalanga Province. The notice establishes a written appeal process involving the Centre for Environmental Rights, the Gert Sibande District Joint Municipal Planning Tribunal, and Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd.

A notice of appeal filed on 30 March 2015 by eight environmental organisations, represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), challenging the grant of mining right MP30/5/1/2/2/1/0069MR to Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd (AAV). The appeal seeks to set aside and suspend the right for the proposed Yzermyn underground coal mine, arguing that the grant is unlawful and irrational given the area's extreme environmental sensitivity, its status as a protected environment, and the lack of required ministerial consent.

This practice note, submitted by the Voice Community Representative Council (the Twelfth Respondent) in a High Court case in South Africa, requests that the court consider the economic impact on the local community when deciding on an urgent interim interdict to prevent a mine from opening.