Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management

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    Assessing the Impact of Mining Legislation in the Design and Development phase of Opencast Coal Mining Projects in South Africa
    (2014-01-21) Matambele, Thusani Comfort
    It is a well-known fact that South Africa is rich with coal resources. Remaining coal reserves are estimated to be at least 69 billion metric tonnes. Both underground and opencast mining methods are used to extract the energy mineral in South Africa. South Africa uses its coal domestically as well as internationally for electricity generation and heating in the Iron and Steel industries. After the promulgation of South Africa‟s constitution, numerous mining related acts were passed in order to address social, economic and environmental factors in a sustainable way. The study sought to assess the positive and negative impacts of mining legislation in the design and development phase of opencast mining projects. An empirical, interpretivist and simple qualitative design approach was used. Data was collected from mining consultants, government authorities and mining companies through face to face semi-structured interviews. The study found that positive impacts of mining legislation on the budget, time and quality of opencast coal mining projects were: Standardised requirements to enter the mining sector, world class drafted legislation, timelines on authorisations, promotion of environmental consciousness and up-skilling of officials involved in authorisation processes. The negative impacts were: Lack of alignment on pieces of legislation, absence of timelines in some acts, turf war between the Department of Minerals Resources (DMR) and the Department of Environmental and Water Affairs (DWEA), long lead times to issue water use licences and environmental authorisations, insufficient clarity on Social Labour Plans and Political influence on authorisations. Recommendations on negative impacts are: Legislation harmonisation, proper and equal remuneration of staff involved in authorisation, site inspection by authorities, and clarity on SLP and stakeholder engagements
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    The potential impact of a Carbon tax on the South African Coal Mining Industry
    (2012-10-04) Thokan, Mahomed Iqbal
    In December of 2010, the National Treasury Department of South Africa released a white paper for public comment on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by introducing a carbon tax of minimum seventy five Rand per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (R 75/t CO2e), increasing to about R 200/t CO2e. Such a tax could have a significant impact on South Africa’s Coal Mining Industry. This research focused on understanding what the South African Coal Mining Industry’s reaction would be to the possible implementation of a carbon tax, and aimed to evaluate the potential impacts of such a tax on the industry. Data was collected using a face-to-face data collection method from a purposive sample and analysed and interpreted using content analysis since the main medium for data collection was done via human communication. One of the key findings of this research is that government has not outlined a clear framework for its carbon pricing policy. The South African Coal Mining Industry, together with other mining institutes has put together a task team to assist government develop a clear framework. The majority of the respondents interviewed do not believe that a carbon tax is the right carbon pricing mechanism to address climate change. There were various reasons for this point of view, the most prominent being that government had not done its homework with regards to a carbon tax being the appropriate economic instrument. However, climate change mitigation could provide opportunities for both the government and industry at large. The impacts of a carbon tax are dependent entirely on the policy framework and the design of the carbon pricing mechanism, and could be minimal or significant enough to impact on the economy as a whole. Climate change mitigation measures could prove to be advantageous with many inherent growth opportunities, viz., by being an industry in its own right, beginning from the development of new technologies and following on through to the sales of goods and services. The key message of this research is that government needs to develop a clear framework for its carbon pricing policy and design a carbon pricing mechanism that does not affect its sustainable growth plan. Industries need to be proactive rather than reactive and assist government in developing the best possible climate change mitigation and adaptation policies. Climate change mitigation is a growing market with increasingly significant opportunities. Industries need to be proactive in taking advantage of these opportunities so that they can have the competitive edge.