Cleaning up Their Act, or More? Mining Companies and Environmental Protection in South Africa

Abstract

Historically, mining is the most important industry sector in South Africa. No other industry matches this sector in terms of its contribution to the GDP and its political weight (see Chapter 2 in this book). However, the industry is also the number one polluter in the country. The negative externalities of mining are substantial. Mining causes large-scale destruction of landscapes: erosion, siltation, deforestation and desertification are common side effects of mining. Mining activities are also often contested on account of the land conflicts they inevitably entail, as they repeatedly compete with other forms of land and nature appropriation, such as agriculture or tourism. In addition, the use of toxic chemicals in mining and processing leads to the pollution of soils, rivers and ground water; air pollution is caused by dust from bulldozing and tailing dams. Conflicts over pollution, for example water affected by toxic spills and seepage of acid or radioactive substances, occur regularly.1 Toxic waste management and the rehabilitation of old mines — issues particularly important for the traditional mining areas of Witwatersrand — are crucial regulatory aspects. In addition, mining companies have an extraordinarily high energy-consumption; energy, in turn, is mostly generated by coal-fired power plants in South Africa. The mining industry thus contributes substantially to South Africa’s CO2 emissions, and to climate change in general.