The Citizen reports that the organisation ‘Lawyers for Human Rights’ has welcomed a Constitutional Court (ConCourt) ruling that a mining right does not supersede the rights of land occupiers as exactly the milestone that mining communities need.  

The court on Thursday set aside an eviction order and trespassing interdict obtained by the Pilanesberg Platinum Mine against the Lesethleng village community, saying the fact that the mine held mining rights over the land did not mean the community was occupying the land unlawfully.  The court held that a mineral rights holder must exhaust the internal procedures prescribed by the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act before resorting to an interdict to restrain interference with mining.  In 2008, the community agreed to a surface lease by the platinum company in terms of which the community would lease the farm to the mine for mining purposes.  In 2014, they obtained an interdict to stop mining operations, but the mine obtained an eviction order and an order preventing the community from returning to the farm in question.

• Read this report by Ilse de Lange in full at The Citizen
• Read too, Landmark ConCourt judgment says mining rights do not trump lawful land occupier rights, at News24
• And also, Game-changing ConCourt judgment empowers communities, say experts, at News24

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