Judge dismisses application to shut down KZN anthracite mine

Environmental justice activists, including the Global Environmental Trust, have failed in a bid to close down an anthracite mine next to the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi nature reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Pietermaritzburg High Court judge Rishi Seegobin ruled this week that the company, Tendele Coal Mining, was acting lawfully and that the applicants had simply failed to make any case for an interdict shutting down the mine.

While the application was supported by some community members, traditional leadership structures in the area backed the company, saying the Somkhele mine had brought economic prosperity to the region and its closure would mean unemployment for many households.

The mine is one of the largest resources of open-pit mineable anthracite in the country and activities have been ongoing for more than a century.

Tendele got involved in 2006.

In its papers, the company argued that the mine was unique as other anthracite producers could not produce the qualities and quantities consistently required by ferrochrome producers.

"If the the mine cannot supply the local market, these producers would have to look to overseas mines which would significantly increase the cost of ferrochrome – a crucial component in the production of stainless steel," Jan Christoffel du Preez, Tendele’s chief operating officer, said.

"Increased production costs may, for example, result in retrenchments which will negatively affect South Africa’s trade balance and have associated regional and national economic impacts. SA is the second-largest producer of ferrochrome in the world, with China being the largest," he said.

The mine employed more than 1,000 people, the majority from the impoverished surrounding areas, it procured services from the local community, helped with farm and adult basic education training and had built new homes and infrastructure.

Between 2006 and 2016, it had spent R719m paying local community employee salaries, R54m on community projects and R300m on procuring services from community-based black economic empowerment companies.

It had also given the community a financial stake in the mine.

But resident Sabelo Dladla argued that the quality of life had changed completely. There was no land for grazing and livestock would "disappear" in the mining area.

"My family once owned 15 goats. Now it has none," he said.

"Rainwater is contaminated and the steam is polluted. Blasting occurs twice a week - an alarm is sounded and the houses shake and windows rattle," he said.

"What was once a quiet rural area alongside a wilderness area is now a vast industrial rock dump."

The applicants alleged that the company had no environmental authorisation in terms of a plethora of relevant laws.

But Judge Seegobin knocked all of these arguments on the head.

"They seem to have adopted a scattergun approach, hoping to hit one target or another," he said, dismissing the application with costs.