Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork

Chapter 4: The toxic cradle of productionSouth African law does not protect these communities from exploitation, anddiscriminates against communal land owners. According to Actionaid’s report:The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002, isvery permissive towards mining companies … The law requires miningcompanies only to consult with the community and report back on theoutcome of those consultations to the government department responsiblefor mining – the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) – before amining right is issued by the minister. The permission of the communityis not required. The DME and the minister have no obligation to consultwith the community affected and usually do not do so; they depend on thereport given to them by the mining company, which the community hasno right to see. Once a mining right is awarded to a company, the law doesnot require it to obtain permission from the occupiers or the owners of theland. Rather, the law expressly authorises the company to commence layinginfrastructure and undertake mining on the land. Neither does the DMErequire written lease agreements to be concluded between the mine and thecommunity. The negotiation and conclusion of a lease agreement is standardpractice in relation to privately owned land (land owned by white people)but is the exception in relation to communal land (land generally used byblack people). [2008: 12-13]While the guardianship of the country’s mineral resources is supposed to be vestedin the state, mining and prospecting rights are allocated to corporations for free.Compensation is limited by the fact that the mining corporation’s offer is usuallythe only one on the table, reflecting “at most the agricultural value of the land, not aproportion of the value of precious metals or minerals in the ground” [2008: 13].Campaigners for community rights want the Mineral and Petroleum ResourcesRoyalty Bill and the draft Mineral and Petroleum Royalty Bill to be amended to ensurethat:• communities have greater rights to be fully consulted and give informedconsent before mining concessions are granted;• the consultation process is supervised by the State or an independent, noninterestedparty delegated by the State and strictly governed by regulations;• environmental assessments and safeguards are retained and strengthened andremain under the control of the Department of Environmental Affairs;Wasting the Nation - groundWork - 97 -