[miningmx.com] — THE Special Court of Appeal (SCA) has in two separate judgments curtailed the powers of the Minister of Mineral Resources in relation to the granting of mining rights in municipal areas.
The rulings confirmed the power of local authorities to regulate zoning for mining.
Judges L. Harms, T. Cloete, J. Shongwe, N. Wallis and C. Plasket found unanimously that where municipal land was concerned, the relevant municipality had the final say in terms of the Land Use Planning Ordinance (LUPO), and not the minister by extension of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA).
On Friday the court handed down judgment in the Maccsand case, where the company was granted a right to mine mineral sands in two areas of Mitchells Plain in Cape Town. According to the right, Maccsand was allowed to mine sands for nine years in two areas; the Westridge and Rocklands dunes.
In the second case, the company Elsana Quarry had a licence to mine granite for 30 years on the farm Lange Kloof in the Malmesbury district, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Swartland municipality.
In both cases the municipalities argued that the companies were not allowed to carry on with mining without obtaining the permission from the relevant authorities, in accordance with LUPO.
In the Swartland case, the department of mineral resources (DMR) argued the granting of mining rights were the exclusive right of the national government, as represented by the DMR.
The five judges disagreed. They ruled the minister’s duties concerned the evaluation and granting, or refusal, of mining rights. She had no say over the way how municipalities ran their affairs.
“They ruled that LUPO continued to function alongside the MPRDA. Once a mining right has been issued, mining will not be permitted, unless Lupo allows for that use of the land,’ said the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER).
The judges ordered both companies to cease mining until the municipalities have made their own decisions on the matter.
“Very few mines in South Africa currently hold the correct zoning under local planning legislation, since mining authorisations have traditionally been regarded as authorisations that trump most other legislation,’ said the CER.
– Beeld
