The devastation of mining under the Environmental Law students' magnifying glass

Posted on September 28, 2017

On 19 August 2017 TuksLaw students at the University of Pretoria enrolled for the LLB elective and LLM module in Environmental Law, with lecturer Ms Melanie Murcott from the Department of Public Law, participated in an educational excursion to experience the impact of mining in the Witwatersrand Gold Fields of the West Rand, Gauteng.

The tour was led by the inspiring Ms Mariette Liefferink, CEO of non-profit environmental NGO, the Federation for a Sustainable Environment (FSE). Throughout the tour, with passion and enthusiasm, Liefferink pointed out some of the devastating impacts of mining in South Africa, and encouraged students to become engaged citizens who need to protect our environments and the communities who live in them in pursuit of justice and sustainability.

The first stop of the tour was the Lancaster Dam which revealed the impacts of mining on water. Students observed with shock the red-brown colour of the water's edge: the result of acid mine drainage. The students learned about the high levels of water contamination and the need for urgent action taken to address the issue.

The second stop was the Wonderfonteinspruit, where students were informed about potential exposure to radioactive material, including from bricks produced at a tailings storage facility. The students came to understand that mining activities affect a large range of environmental media and impact on our daily lives in unexpected ways. The students witnessed how tailings storage facilities around the West Rand area cause dust pollution which affects nearby communities. They observed how abandoned open pit mining operations with no fencing have been left dangerously accessible to an unwitting public.

The students visited the Tudor Shaft informal settlement which is located on top of an abandoned mining area, where they caught a glimpse of the daily realities of impoverished communities exposed to the many environmental injustices of mining activities.

The final stop was a water treatment facility owned by Sibanye Gold, which aims to treat water contaminated by mining activities. Along the way the students learned about Sibanye Gold’s efforts to reclaim Sand Dump 20, an eyesore of the Randfontien skyline, alleged to be the largest man made sand dump in the world. It has been a significant source of dust fallout and water pollution, but Sibanye Gold have made considerable progress in reducing its harmful impacts.

The tour was an incredible learning opportunity for Environmental Law students at the University of Pretoria. Murcott, who lectures the students in Environmental Law, and is the course coordinator for the LLM in Environmental Law at the University of Pretoria, believes that for the learning process to be meaningful and effective, and to grasp the laws intended to regulate humanity's harmful impact on the earth and its systems, students need to gain exposure to these impacts.

For more information about the Department of Public Law's Environmental Law offering, contact [email protected].

 

- Author Melissa Cox and Emma Slomkowski

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