'Watershed' Concourt ruling on mining rights

According to Business Report, a Constitutional Court (Concourt) ruling that any land for which mining is planned must first be rezoned in accordance with municipal and provincial land use planning ordinances has been welcomed by groups wanting to stop mining activities in two areas of the Western Cape's west coast and in an urban area of Cape Town.

The Verlorenvlei coalition, which represents community members in the Moutonshoek and Verlorenvlei area, 50km north west of Piketberg, said it considered the ruling "a redress in the balance of power between mining and other imperatives such as agriculture, job security, water conservation, environmental protection and social stability". The coalition is fighting black-empowered company Bongani Minerals, which has been granted a licence to prospect for minerals, including tungsten, in their valley.

Coalition co-ordinator Malie Grutter, and the World Wildlife Fund South Africa (WWF) welcomed the judgment in the case of Maccsand versus the City of Cape Town and others, which effectively means that the national government's licensing procedures cannot override provincial and municipal laws. Grutter said the court rulings "feel like a watershed moment of relief giving an indication to people who live in this community that landowners and municipalities will have a slightly bigger say in decisions, which will affect all their futures," Business Report says.

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