Browsing by Author "Heyns, Anri"

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    A just transition towards sustainable development: A legal analysis of the transition to a low-carbon economy in the South African mining industry in the context of sustainable development.
    (2024) Zondo, Nondumiso; Mostert, Hanri; Cramer, Richard Henry; Heyns, Anri
    Section 100 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA) mandates the Broad-Based Socio-economic Empowerment Charter for the Mining and Minerals Industry (the Mining Charter) to outline how the MPRDA's objectives of redressing historical social and economic inequities can be met. However, the MPRDA does not require that environmental protection be included as one of the fundamental concerns to be addressed by the Mining Charter. Thus, the resulting Mining Charter does not establish a framework for achieving environmental objectives. Environmental justice redresses the injustices of the past that are associated with the inequality that resulted from economic growth which caused environmental degradation and pollution, as well as the distorted access to and benefits from the extraction and use of natural resources. This leads us to the central question of this study: Can the Mining Charter do more to promote sustainable development in the mining industry in the context of an energy transition? Section 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 declares environmental justice as a national priority, encouraging the mainstreaming of environmental protection measures into legislation to promote sustainable development and use of natural resources while promoting socioeconomic development. This research argues that the lack of environmental mandate in the Mining Charter is a point of concern for its effectiveness in addressing 'historical social and economic inequalities'. This research offers insight into the challenges presented by not incorporating climate change and environmental justice into regulations, which ignores a host of social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities that will be brought about by climate change, especially on the historically disadvantaged whom it claims it aims to redress. This research is premised on the conviction that social and economic justice cannot be achieved without environmental and climate justice
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    Empowerment through mine community development: how the politics of development perpetuate poverty in mining areas – a legal theoretical analysis
    (2020) Heyns, Anri; Mostert, Hanri
    The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (“MPRDA”) and the Broad-Based Socio-Economic Empowerment Charter for the South African Mining and Minerals Industry (“Mining Charter”), created in terms of the MPRDA, aim to address the exploitative legacies of past discriminatory practices in the mining industry. Impoverished mining communities stand to benefit from empowerment under the Mining Charter in the form of mine community development – one of the elements that constitute a mining right holder's commitment under the Mining Charter. Despite this legislative intervention and the relative wealth generated by the extraction of mineral resources, poverty and conflict have become the stereotypical images associated with mining areas. This project aims to determine why the empowerment of mining communities through mine community development perpetuates poverty from the past and creates new inequalities. To answer this main question, it is considered how the historical context within which the relevant policy and legislation were created, affected legislative drafting. Second, the effects of promoting development and empowerment in legislative provisions are explored to determine which worldviews and underlying values are being promoted by the legislative instruments under discussion. Furthermore, it is considered how these worldviews and underlying values affect how mining communities, subjected to harsh socio-economic living conditions, are depicted in legislative provisions. Here, it is specifically considered what the notion of “community” signifies in a development context and how “community” is represented in legislation. The thesis is a theoretical exposition of the ideological assumptions underlying the concepts “development”, “empowerment”, “community” and “poverty”. It is shown that “mine community development” is an inherently contradictory notion in South African law. The development paradigm implies the universalisation of values, effectively creating “the poor”, and causing vagueness and paradoxes. It results not only in a perpetuation of poverty and inequality from the past but also in the creation of new inequalities, as is evident in the differentiation drawn by the Mining Charter between different types of communities in mining areas. Measures currently being enforced by the legislation under discussion, are in desperate need of reconsideration.