A Failure of Democracy
*This article first appeared in the Business Day on 13 March 2017. The article was written by Michael Clements, the Head of the Environmental Rights Programme at Lawyers for Human Rights, and Christopher Rutledge, the Mining and Extractives co-ordinator at ActionAid. Both organisations are part of the MPRDA Civil Society Coalition In early March, Gauteng held hearings on proposed amendments to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA). This is the latest step in a procedurally flawed process — now in its fourth year — to formalise these amendments into law. In what is a hallmark of this legislative process, as well as the substance of the act and its amendments, the voice and consideration of mining-affected communities were almost entirely absent from the hearing. This is troubling, given that these are the people who bear the brunt of the health, environmental and socioeconomic impact of mining. President Jacob Zuma sent the Mineral and...