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NOTICE OF APPEAL IN TERMS OF SECTION 96(1) OF THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT, 2002
This document is a formal notice of appeal filed on 30 March 2015 by eight environmental organisations, represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights, against the granting of mining right MP30/5/1/2/2/1/0069MR to Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd (AAV). The appeal seeks to set aside the right and suspend its operation, arguing that the proposed Yzermyn underground coal mine is located in the Mabola Protected Environment and the Wakkerstroom Wetlands Area, regions of irreplaceable biodiversity and critical hydrological importance.
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Document type: Statement
MINING WITHIN PROTECTED ENVIRONMENTS WITHIN MPUMALANGA PROVINCE
The report argues that the Mabola Protected Environment (MPE) was correctly proclaimed due to its high biodiversity and hydrological importance. It concludes that de-proclaiming the MPE to allow the Yzermyn coal mine would set a dangerous precedent, risk irreplaceable ecosystems, and contradict South Africa's climate change goals. While the mine's current underground plan has moderate short-term impacts, the report warns of long-term risks including acid mine decant and permanent loss of critical water-producing wetlands.
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Document type: Report
MINING RIGHT APPLICATION MP 30/5/1/2/2/10069 GRANTING OF MINING RIGHT TO ATHA-AFRICA VENTURES (PTY) LTD IN RESPECT OF PROPERTIES IN THE MABOLA PROTECTED ENVIRONMENT
The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) sent an urgent letter to the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) on 23 February 2015, requesting confirmation and documentation regarding a mining right allegedly granted to Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd (AAV) within the Mabola Protected Environment.
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Document type: Statement
Mpumalanga Protected Area Expansion Strategy
The Mpumalanga Protected Area Expansion Strategy sets a 20-year target to protect 6,320 km² of land by 2028, with a primary focus on the Grassland Biome. The document also contains a series of legal objections from the Centre for Environmental Rights and a coalition of NGOs against a proposed underground coal mine by Atha-Africa Ventures on the Yzermyn farm. Objectors argue the mine would cause irreparable harm to the Mabola Protected Environment, a strategic water source area, through aquifer dewatering and acid mine drainage, and that the application process violated the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA).
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Document type: Report
3.2-annexures-a7cd5f38edf0c1c1.pdf
This document consists of a series of legal statements, permissions, and correspondence regarding the Yzermyn underground coal mine project in Mpumalanga, South Africa. It includes a formal permission from the Ministers of Environmental Affairs and Mineral Resources for Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd to mine within the Mabola Protected Environment, a land use approval from the Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme Local Municipality, and a detailed statement of grounds for appeal filed by a coalition of environmental organisations. The appeal argues that the project is 'fatally flawed' due to its potential for irreversible damage to critical biodiversity, wetlands, and water resources, and claims that the socio-economic benefits to local communities were overestimated.
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Document type: Statement
9-049d4dd440ba8aa7.pdf
The document consists of a series of legal and administrative records regarding a land-use change application for Portion 1 of the farm Yzermyn 96 HT in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The application, submitted by Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd, sought to rezone the land from agricultural to 'special' use to allow for mining and related activities. The process involved multiple objections from environmental organizations and landowners, a dismissal by a local planning tribunal based on a lack of locus standi, a subsequent appeal, and a final approval by the Gert Sibande District Municipal Planning Tribunal on 29 April 2019.
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Document type: Report
annexure-9-4aea90f86e7d7da0.pdf
The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) submitted a formal objection to the proposed Yzermyn underground coal mine project by Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd, arguing that the project is illegal and environmentally devastating due to its location within protected biodiversity areas.
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Document type: Statement
APPELLANTS’ ANSWERING STATEMENT IN TERMS OF REGULATION 63(2)(b) OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REGULATIONS, 2010
This answering statement, submitted by the Centre for Environmental Rights on behalf of several appellants, challenges an environmental authorisation granted to Atha Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd for the proposed Yzermyn coal mine. The appellants argue that the project has significant implications for international environmental commitments, suffers from material gaps in specialist information—particularly regarding acid mine drainage and subsidence—and was determined by an incorrect competent authority.
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Document type: Statement
appeal-decision-19e4b3e7fa30c8b2.pdf
This document is a decision by the MEC for Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs of Mpumalanga Province to dismiss an appeal brought by the Centre for Environmental Rights. The appeal challenged the environmental authorisation granted to Atha-Africa Ventured for the proposed Yzermyn underground coal mine, located on Portion 1 of the farm Yzermyn 96 HT within the Pixley Ka Seme Local Municipality.
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Document type: Statement
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
APPELLANTS’ RESPONDING STATEMENT, IN TERMS OF REGULATION 74(8) OF THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS, 2004, TO ATHA-AFRICA VENTURES (PTY) LTD’S REPLYING SUBMISSION
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.
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Document type: Statement
applicants-notice-ito-rule-16a-04cc8aab01466fe1.pdf
This document is a legal notice filed in the High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division, Pretoria) in August 2017. It outlines the grounds upon which several applicants, including Mining and Environmental Justice and GroundWork, seek the review and setting aside of decisions made by the Minister of Environmental Affairs and the Minister of Mineral Resources to allow Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd to conduct commercial mining in the Mabola Protected Environment.
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Document type: Statement
atha-africa-replying-submission-in-terms-of-regulation-747-of-the-mprda-regulations-8-august-2019-70752ba425e764ac.pdf
This document is a replying submission by Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd to the Director-General of the Department of Mineral Resources. It responds to an administrative appeal lodged by a coalition of environmental organisations against the approval of the Environmental Management Programme (EMP) for the Yzermyn Underground Coal Mine Project.
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Document type: Statement
et3-d178e81375b40721.pdf
This memorandum from the Mpumalanga Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs (DARDLEA) evaluates an appeal by the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) and its clients against the environmental authorisation granted to Atha Africa Ventures (AAV) for the proposed Yzermyn underground coal mine. The department recommends that the appeal be dismissed, concluding that the authorisation process was legally sound and that potential environmental impacts can be mitigated to acceptable levels.
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Document type: Briefing
et4-9bacb3b44cdccdc8.pdf
This document is a statement of grounds of appeal filed by eight environmental and community organisations against an environmental authorisation (EA) granted on 7 June 2016 to Atha Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd for the Yzermyn underground coal mine near Wakkerstroom, Mpumalanga. The appellants argue that the EA was granted without lawful authority, based on a deficient Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR), and ignores critical biodiversity and socio-economic risks.
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Document type: Statement
mec-annexure-bbb0f053aea3d0e7.pdf
A petition from The Voice Community Representative Council to the MEC for Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs of Mpumalanga, requesting the removal of four specific farms from the Mabola Protected Environment (MPE) to allow for the development of the Yzermyn underground coal mine.
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Document type: Statement
part-2-of-atha-africa-replying-submission-in-terms-of-regulation-747-of-the-mprda-regulations-8-august-2019-4e2322ae8658724c.pdf
This document is a replying submission by Atha-Africa, submitted on 12 April 2019, responding to an administrative appeal against the approval of the Environmental Management Programme (EMP) for the Yzermyn Project. The submission disputes the findings of a September 2013 NSS Report and a subsequent 'Brownlie Review,' arguing that updated specialist studies by Delta-H and Scientific Aquatic Services demonstrate that the project's environmental impacts—specifically regarding wetlands, groundwater, and biodiversity—are localized and can be effectively mitigated.
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Document type: Report
pml12-fc1807e382e45450.pdf
A letter from the Republic of South Africa's Department of Water and Sanitation to the Centre for Environmental Rights regarding a water use licence application for the Yzermyn Mine in the Mabola Protected Environment.
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Document type: Statement
pml16-41bad0a113eaf968.pdf
The Centre for Environmental Rights, representing eight civil society organisations, has appealed the grant of a coal mining right to Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd in the Mabola Protected Environment. The appellants request the suspension of the mining right and ask the Minister of Mineral Resources not to grant written permission for commercial mining under NEMPAA, arguing that the area's environmental sensitivity makes coal mining detrimental and that proper legal permissions were not obtained.
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Document type: Statement
pml3-5528e044b82f4c9a.pdf
BirdLife South Africa submitted a formal objection on 5 April 2013 to the draft scoping report for the proposed Yzermyn Underground Coal Mine, operated by Atha Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd. The organization argues that the mine's location in the Grassland Important Bird Area (IBA) and its proximity to protected environments and endangered ecosystems make the application unsustainable and legally flawed.
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Document type: Statement