Durban - An environmental advocacy group is seeking a court interdict to halt operations at the Somkhele coal mine, near the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal.
The Global Environmental Trust (Get) claims Tendele Coal Mining’s Somkhele mine does not have the necessary authorisation, is damaging the environment and causing health problems.
The group is the first applicant alongside the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation, and Sabelo Dladla, a resident who lives within 300m of the mine.
Tendele has denied any wrongdoing and said Get’s case was devoid of any legal merit.
The matter is expected to be heard in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday.
“Tendele’s human rights abuses and negative impacts on the lives of the greater Mpukunyoni area, where Somkhele is situated, will be tabled in various reports, including the SA Human Rights Commission’s recently-released report on hearings with mining-affected communities that include Somkhele,” the group said.
“Meanwhile, Tendele plans to expand its operation and has identified several hundred households to be moved from their rightful land. Many more families will lose their livelihoods and have their lives and health destroyed by living in close proximity to the mine.”
In court papers, Get alleged that Tendele had caused “irreparable harm” to the community of Mpukunyoni, north of Richards Bay.
It said the mine had degraded the quality of life in the area by destroying the environments and had overwhelmed the community with dust and noise.
“The wilderness has been turned into an industrial rock dump, with massive blasting of rocks taking place regularly,” Get said in court papers.
In its court application, Get said the mine:
* Had no environmental authorisation.
* Was operating without any land-use authority or approval from any municipality.
* Had no formal approval to remove or alter traditional graves from their original positions.
* Lacked a waste management licence, as required by law.
In response, Tendele argued that its operations took place under valid mining rights and Environmental Management Programmes (EMPs) granted by the Department of Mineral Resources in 2007.
Tendele also argued that its EMPs provided necessary authorisation for stockpiling residue and deposits of rocks, and, therefore, it did not need a waste management licence.
“I am advised that Tendele does not require such environmental authorisation for its current mining operations,” Jan Christoffel du Preez, Tendele’s chief operating officer, said in court papers.
Tendele inferred in court documents that since the department had not requested that it upgrade its EMPs to address the environmental impact, the department was satisfied with its operations.
Graves
Tendele acknowledged it had moved or altered graves without necessary authorisation from Amafa, the KwaZulu-Natal heritage resources authority, but said this was done after lengthy consultations with the affected families.
It said it had taken steps to comply with the law and consult with all stakeholders in the future over moving graves.
It said this was not sufficient basis to have the mine shut down.
Tendele said shutting down the opencast anthracite mine would jeopardise the livelihoods of about a thousand local people employed there.
In 2015, Tendele signed off a 20% stake in the Somkhele mine to its employees and local communities.
Kirsten Youens, the attorney representing the applicants, disputed that a thousand local people were employed by Tendele.
“They are mostly from outside the neighbouring communities,” said Youens.
She said the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation had more than 3000 members, with more people joining almost every day, all wanting the judicial system to bring Tendele to book.
“This is an opportunity for a clear statement to be made that it is unacceptable for mining companies to only comply with the law once they have commenced mining and only when ordered to do so,” she said. - www.rovingreporters.co.za
* Goba is a Durban University of Technology journalism final-year student enrolled on Roving Reporters’ environmental journalism training programme.