Mining firm Harmony Gold will argue that mining companies do not have a responsibility to manage pollution on land they no longer own or use, when it asks the Constitutional Court to overturn an earlier judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeal.
According to papers filed with the Constitutional Court, Harmony will argue that a National Water Act directive compelling landowners to prevent pollution on their property becomes invalid once the land has been sold.
The company is seeking an order declaring that the directive, issued in November 2005, became invalid in 2009, when the land in the Klerksdorp area of North West was sold to Pamodzi.
In its application Harmony said it had been a landowner in the area for just five years and therefore was only responsible for a small portion of the overall water pollution in the area.
Harmony's Melanie Naidoo-Vermaak said in an affidavit the company currently paid R1.3-million a month for water management.
The Department of Water Affairs said that it would oppose the application.
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