AROUND THE
INDUSTRY
January - February 2014
MODERN QUARRYING
3
EDITOR’S
COMMENT
I
t is very satisfying indeed to see that the kingpin
of a clay mining operation has been sentenced
to five years in prison for the damage caused to
the environment. Fortunately for MatomeMaponya
personally, his sentence has been suspended for a
five-year period, providing that the damage done
by his company is rectified within three months.
Blue Platinum Ventures 16 (Pty) Ltd has been
mining clay outside the village of Batlhabine in
Limpopo since 2007, causing widespread environ-
mental degradation through its activities. The cost
of rehabilitation is estimated at about R6,8-million.
Honestly, I don’t know if it is possible to repair
the environmental damage caused by this company
in a period of three months. To view the struggle of
the community, as well as to see photographs of
the soil erosion damage caused by unrehabilitated
clay mining in the area, visit
.
Plagued by the environmental degradation
due to Blue Platinum’s mining operations, the
Batlhabine community spent several years in
an attempt to persuade the DMR to take action
against the company. With no success from the
Department, and with these activities continuing
unabated, the community laid criminal charges
against the company and its directors with
the assistance of attorneys from the Centre for
Environmental Rights (CER).
Faced with evidence presented by the com-
munity and expert reports commissioned by the
CER, both Blue Platinum and its MD pleaded guilty
to contravention of Section 24F of the National
Environmental Management Act (Nema). The
company, Maponya and five other directors have
been charged with offences under the Nema, the
National Water Act and the Mineral and Petroleum
Resources Development Act.
“The outcome of this case is a victory for the
Batlhabine community, and we commend the
National Prosecuting Authority for seeing this case
through to a conviction and for this precedent-
setting sentence,” says CER attorney Tracey Davies.
“As with all other criminal prosecutions for environ-
mental offences in the mining industry that we’ve
seen in recent years, it is unfortunate that the list of
charges against Blue Platinum had to be brought
to the NPA by the affected community, when the
DMR is the national department mandated with
enforcing environmental obligations under min-
ing laws.”
The point here is that it was the Batlhabine
community – suffering from the environmental
damage caused by Blue Platinum – that in fact
brought the illegal mining to the attention of the
DMR in 2010. The Batlhabine Foundation, after
Justice is served on Blue Platinum
fruitless attempts to get any help from the DMR in
this regard, had to lay criminal charges against the
company and do the work that should have been
done by the Department.
Last year, there was another successful case
where Nkomati Anthracite (Pty) Ltd was found
guilty of eight charges under Nema and the
National Water Act. Charges related to unlawfully
removing indigenous vegetation, constructing
roads and infrastructure within an environmentally
sensitive area without the necessary environmen-
tal authorisations, and using water and disposing
of waste in an environmentally harmful manner.
The company was fined R1-million –
payment suspended – and instructed
to pay an amount of R4-million to the
DEA’s Environmental Management
Inspectorate for the purpose
of proper execution of envi-
ronmental rehabilitation and
enforcement training.
Unfortunately, as is the case
with most environmental prosecu-
tions, the R1-million fine imposed
was suspended, and no directors or
managers of that company who either authorised
or participated in the illegal activities, were pros-
ecuted for the contraventions. The communities in
both these areas now have to continue to monitor
that these companies comply with the legislative
obligations.
It seems to me that the DMR has a very poor
record for regulating the environmental impacts of
mining; and in these two recent cases in particular,
the absence of any action by the DMR is notable.
The MPRDA Amendment Bill’s proposed
changes currently with Parliament, states that: ‘...
even though prospecting and mining activities
will now require environmental authorisations
under the National Environmental Act, 1998, the
DMR, and not environmental authorities, will
be responsible for issuing and enforcing those
authorisations’.
I can’t say I am optimistic at this stage, that
the DMR has the competency or willingness to
tackle environmental crimes by mining compa-
nies, and the two cases above are clear proof of
that. It does, however, seem that the Department
of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and the NPA are on
the ball.
Let’s hope, that the
prosecution of the
directors of Blue
Platinum Ventures
sends out a powerful
message that directors
of mining companies
who contravene mining
and environmental
legislation, are no
longer assured that this
can be carried out with
impunity, and that it
is no longer a case of
business as usual.
