Historically on a global scale and in South Africa it was common practice for mining operators to abandon a mine once the mineral extraction on site was completed. The operators had no obligation to rehabilitate the land and in most cases the disturbed areas were abandoned with no regard for the residual impacts that the site may present or the continued environmental deterioration. This represents the mining legacy of many countries, particularly in South Africa. The continual underestimations in financial provisioning for premature mine closure, leads to the continual abandonment of mining sites. Abandoned mines and the resultant legacy of environmental pollution are of major concern as literature indicates that there are around 6000 abandoned sites in South Africa. The problem is that no-one is currently taking responsibility for these sites as the Minister for Mineral Resources has stated that the South African government would not take the liability onto them. With this being said the burden still falls on the state as the mining companies responsible for the pollution may no longer exist or have the finances to carry out post-closure rehabilitation to ensure that the site no longer poses a threat to the environment.
To address a similar problem, Western Australia has implemented the Mining Rehabilitation Fund Act 33 (2012) which delegates due responsibility for abandoned sites. The act provides for a government administered pooled fund into which all current mining operators pay an annual levy. The funds are used to rehabilitate abandoned mining areas, alleviating the burden of government to solely fund their rehabilitation. The aim of this research is, therefore, to investigate the viability of Western Australia‟s Mining Rehabilitation Fund as a fiscal policy solution for the rehabilitation of South African abandoned mines. To achieve this aim, three lines of inquiry are pursued. Firstly, to “identify the challenges related to abandonment of mine sites in South Africa,” secondly “to compare the legal provisions for abandoned mine sites management in South Africa with that of Western Australia, specifically the rehabilitation fund” and lastly “to investigate how such a policy will be received by stakeholders in the South African mining industry.”
The research was approached from a pragmatic philosophical stance. A qualitative dominant mixed methods research approach with an embedded design is used for data analysis. The strategies of inquiry consist of a literature review, comparative analysis and open-ended interview questions which provide qualitative data and structured
survey questions which produces quantitative data. Surveys were carried out with selected stakeholders to investigate how such a policy will be received in the South African mining industry. The methods employed for the analyses of data consist of a scoping and literature review, coding and categorising, a comparative analysis, the identification of themes and analytical evaluation of survey data. An article format was chosen for the presentation of results and is presented in chapter 4.
The challenges related to the abandonment of mine sites in South Africa are related to skills shortages, poor enforcement of existing legislation and an out of date Guideline document for the evaluation of the quantum of closure related financial provision (DME, 2005). The comparison of the legal provisions for abandoned mine sites management in South Africa with that of Western Australia, highlighted that both frameworks have the intention to protect the environment and promote sustainable mining but as can be seen in South Africa, even if the intentions of the legislation is good, it has limited value without proper implementation and enforcement. The results indicate a general feeling of stakeholders that such a policy is necessary and will be beneficial, but the respondents have doubts in the ability of the South African government to enforce the law. They also felt that it was unfair to hold the current mining operators responsible for the heedless actions of the previous miners and ruling party. / MSc (Geography and Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/15299 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Janse van Rensburg, Danitza |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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