‘Pass the parcel’ flaw in legislation blamed

THE humanitarian crisis at the Blyvooruitzicht mine has cast a spotlight on mining legislation, which experts say allows mining companies to walk away from problem mines.

Blyvooruitzicht whistleblower Mariette Liefferink, who has campaigned for mine owners to be held accountable for environmental damage, said the mine illustrated everything that was wrong with the local mining industry.

“It is a human rights violation par excellence and an ecological disaster,” she said. “It shows the consequences of a mine that is not properly closed.”

Catherine Horsfield, programme head of mining at the Centre for Environmental Rights, said it was difficult to understand why DRDGold was not being held accountable for the situation.

There was a South African trend for large mining companies to “pull out most of the resource and then sell their mining rights to lesserknown, less-established mining companies”, she said.

“And because the Department of Mineral Resources does not require public participation in these transfers, those transfers fly under the radar. These smaller companies then pull out what is left of the reserve and cannot afford to clean up and so go insolvent or disappear.”

The shambles was highlighted in a recent academic study by Tracy Humby, of the Wits School of Law. Humby said loopholes in legislation pertaining to mining and liquidations allowed mining companies to hand over responsibility for mine closures to other companies.

This “pass the parcel” approach to custodianship of the closure plan, whereby the “gift” ended up in the hands of the weakest, undermined the value and integrity of the planning approach to mine closures, Humby said in her article.