‘The [department] simply does not have the manpower to properly inspect mining licences’

– CEO of Mpumalanga Agriculture Robert Davel, speaking out about the negative impact of mines on productive agricultural land

The contribution of the agriculture sector in Mpumalanga to national food and fibre security remains under major threat from widespread past, present and future mining operations in the province.

This is despite legislation that is meant to ensure that mining’s environmental impact is kept to an absolute minimum.

Robert Davel, CEO of Mpumalanga Agriculture, said a balance was needed between South Africa’s demand for fossil-based energy, as evidenced by this province’s many coal mines, and the country’s need for food, fibre and water.

Davel said it was of great concern to the organisation and its members that mines were often given access to productive agricultural land that was then frequently taken out of production for at least 20 years. Operational mines utilised and often polluted already scarce freshwater resources necessary for both agricultural production and direct consumption by people.

Added to this problem was the fact that owners of depleted or closed mines often failed to effectively rehabilitate the mines and their immediate environs to the standards required by legislation.

“The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy [DMRE] simply does not have the manpower to properly inspect mining licences. The same goes for the Department of Water and Sanitation. They are also unable to properly monitor mines’ water-use licences.

“The mining sector’s great negative impact on [South Africa’s] water resources must be emphasised as one of the big objections that we have to the sector,” Davel said.

While a response from the DMRE said its database currently showed 168 registered mining operations in Mpumalanga, Farmer’s Weekly counted 235 such mines listed on the department’s website.

Of these, a significant proportion appeared to be coal mines.

Responding to questions on the matter, the DMRE said in a statement that both the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002 and the national Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan sought to include more previously disadvantaged South Africans in the ownership and economic benefits of mining.

It also intended to promote investment in the extraction, beneficiation and processing of minerals. The statement did not make mention of coal mining.

It added that every mine was required to have an environmental authorisation and environmental management plan aimed at “controlling the negative impact of mining on the environment”.

“The agriculture sector is one of the identified key potential stakeholders [that] play a pivotal role during consultation processes [for] mining applications, which enables the department to consider [and make] an informed decision when granting rights on a particular [portion of] land.

“Through concurrent rehabilitation processes, most mines have released certain portions of rehabilitated land for agricultural activities […],” the DMRE’s statement said.

MINING ACTIVITIES CONTINUE TO THREATEN FOOD SECURITY