Important wins from South Africa
There have been two recent decisions that are particularly important for environmental justice in the context of mineral sand mining in the country.
Those affected by mining operations have a right to see the mining applications. On 14 September 2020, the Pretoria High Court handed down a landmark judgment confirming that mining-affected communities have the right to access information about the projects that impact them. Read more here.
Environmental activists, defenders, lawyers, journalists, those in academic circles and others have a right to participate in public debates about mining projects without fear of reprisal. On 9 February 2021, the Western Cape High Court handed down judgment in an application related to a defamation case brought by mining companies against environmental activists. “The right to freedom of expression, robust public debate and the ability to participate in public debates without fear is essential in any democratic society.” Read more here and here.
The minerals mentioned in this context may seem unfamiliar to many readers. But they form part of the feedstocks procured from many developing countries by multinational companies that produce pigments for paints & plastics. They are also used in medical implants for ageing populations and aerospace applications that mostly benefit the Global North. Mineral sand mining has many similarities with other forms of mining. As Prof.Tracy-Lynn Field explains in this article in Conversation:
“The war is essentially about two things. It’s about different visions of development: agriculture, tourism, subsistence versus mining, urbanisation, industrialisation. And it’s about the age-old question of whether mining, with all its adverse impacts, can benefit the many, or only the selected, significant few.
Currently, it is waged under opaque conditions:
Lack of access to information – applications, reports, the actual operations of the mine.
Opacity of shareholding structures and beneficial ownership.
Opacity concerning the involvement of state officials and customary authorities in the profits from the mine.”
Even as the indigenous communities celebrate these landmark victories, they are conscious of the long road ahead. They have struggled against open cast mining and imposed "development" for over twenty years! More here.