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In response to a DA question, Minister reveals that only 30 mines had action taken against them by Department of Water and Environmental Affairs
Licencing backlog sending wrong signal to mines
DA believes there should be dedicated environmental courts to facilitate the number of charges that can lead to prosecutions


The Minister of Water and Environmental affairs has revealed in the reply to parliamentary question that only 30 mines have had action taken against them by the Department of Water in terms of the National Water Act since the beginning of 2008. While it is commendable when action is taken by the Department, the figure of actual actions taken against mines is minimal considering that there are several thousand mining operations that have operated in the last two years or continue to operate today. It is simply implausible that so few mines have transgressed provisions in their water use licences. Civil society organisations raise considerable concerns about a number of mines around the country, particularly in Mpumalanga, which suggests that at least in terms of the issuing of pre-directives and directives against mines, far more than 30 mines should have had action taken against them during this period. It must further be noted that of the actions taken, several appear to have been wholly ineffectual. At least 5 of the mines have not even bothered to respond to pre-directives issued.

Despite a disappointing response in terms of actions taken against mines, the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs has chosen to be transparent about the actions. This stands in stark contrast to the response of the Minister of Mineral Resources to a parliamentary question two weeks ago in which she refused to provide the names and locations of mines against which action had been taken by her Department for deviations from their respective Environmental Management Plans. The Minister of Mineral Resources said that the information is sensitive and may affect the share prices of listed companies if revealed. In response to this the DA submitted an access to information request for the names of the mines in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The Minster of Water and Environmental Affairs' response to a parliamentary question that is of a similar nature to the one put to the Mining Minister, that is requesting information of actions taken in terms of legislation that she is responsible for, ridicules the previous response of the Mining Minister. There is simply no basis at all for the Minister of Mineral Resources to not reveal the information that has been asked of her.

Actions that can be taken against mines under the Water Act include pre-directives which are effectively warnings, directives which prescribe an action that needs to be taken by the offending mine, and criminal charges which are usually laid when the response by a mine is deemed inadequate or if a directive is constantly ignored. The Department of Water has laid criminal charges against only three mines since the beginning of 2008: Grootvlei mine in Gauteng, Trucks for Africa sand mines in KZN and Eastside Colliery in Mpumalanga.

Enforcement and compliance actions against mines needs to be stepped up considerably in South Africa. More than 120 mines in South Africa operate without valid water licences, according to a reply to a parliamentary question two months ago. Officials from the Department acknowledged in a recent parliamentary portfolio meeting that operating without a water licence was a transgression of the National Water Act, although in effect they condone these actions, because the licensing backlog is so large, which sends a signal to mines that the Department is not tough on compliance. Besides from clearing the backlog of licences, giving due consideration to all the processes that lead to the awarding of a licence, the so-called Blue Scorpions, the enforcement arm of the Water Department, needs to increase the number of criminal charges against offending mines where appropriate and press for actual prosecutions. Evidence that the Department has the guts to enforce the Water Act will go a long way to improving compliance from mines on matters related to the use and discharge of water.

The establishment of dedicated time in at least three courts for the prosecution of environmental courts, as announced by the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs in her budget speech this year, provides the opportunity to ensure that a greater number of criminal charges can lead to actual prosecutions.