Court rules that Xolobeni community should have received mining application before the right was granted By Geoffrey Allsop The Umgungundlovu community, located in Xolobeni in the Eastern Cape, has won an important case in the Gauteng High Court that enables communities to meaningfully consult with companies that want to conduct mining operations in areas where they live or work. On 11 September, Judge...

Judge refuses to grant access to documents By John Yeld Cape High Court Judge Judith Cloete dismissed with costs a discovery application brought by three of six defendants ahead of a defamation case totalling R9.25m. The six are being sued by Australian mineral sands mining company Mineral Commodities Ltd (MRC); its executive chairman, venture capitalist Mark Caruso; MRC’s South African subsidiary Mineral Sands...

Amadiba activist sued for R7.5 million By John Yeld Controversial Australian venture capitalist Mark Caruso and one of his mining companies want to add four more claims totalling R2 million to their defamation case against South African social worker, writer and human rights activist John GI Clarke. Clarke has been involved with Amadiba community members who are strongly resisting mining of the titanium-rich...

Gwede Mantashe is concerned about mining being halted, but the judgment is an incentive for the industry to change the way it operates By Wilmien Wicomb South Africans have spent much of 2018 debating whether the Constitution must be amended to explicitly provide for expropriation of land without compensation. Lost in this debate is the reality that thousands of South Africans have...

Government and companies must obtain “full and informed” consent from communities before granting mining rights, says judge By Zoë Postman In a landmark judgment on Thursday morning, the North Gauteng High Court ruled that the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has to obtain “full and informed” consent from communities under customary law before granting mining rights to companies. Members of the Amadiba Crisis...