No more mining in Barberton nature reserve
When Barberton Mines sought to commence with the prospecting work the MTPA and private landowners declined to grant the mine access to the nature reserve
BARBERTON – Nature Reserves and other protected areas across the country are safer from prospecting and mining as the first test case on the prohibition on mining in protected areas, went all the way to the Constitutional Court. In the matter between Barberton Mines (Pty) Ltd v Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and Mountainlands Owners Association (CCT 84/17), the Constitutional Court dismissed Barberton Mines’ application for leave to appeal; ruling that it “bears no prospects of success”.
Thus, the Constitutional Court upheld the ruling of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) that found that the Barberton Nature Reserve which was first reserved in 1985 for conservation purposes in terms of the then Provincial Nature Conservation Ordinance enjoys the status of a Nature Reserve as defined in the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act 57 of 2003 (NEMPAA).
In terms of NEMPAA prospecting and mining is not permitted in a nature reserve. The ruling clarifies the status of conservation areas established under provincial legislation before the commencement of NEMPAA.
As can be imagined there was a proliferation of such legislation, including legislation enacted before the current constitutional era.
The status of conservation areas established under such legislation has been the subject of considerable dispute, particularly as it pertains to mining and other forms of development in those areas.
This is the end of a dispute that began in 2006 when Barberton Mines, a subsidiary of Pan African Resources PLC, was granted a prospecting right in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002, (MPRDA) by the Department of
Mineral and Resources (DMR).
This despite the strong objections of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) and the Mountainlands Estate Owners Association (MOA) whose land has been incorporated into the reserve.
A number of administrative appeals and reviews were brought by the MTPA in an attempt to reverse that decision which threatened the future of one of the Mpumalanga provinces flagship nature reserves.
