CER lawyers Sylvia Kamanja and Matome Kapa prepare for environmental rights training workshops

CER lawyers Sylvia Kamanja and Matome Kapa prepare for environmental rights training workshops

ELAW partners at the Centre for Environmental Rights are working to stop the sprawl of open-pit coal mines in South Africa’s Mpumalanga Province grasslands, bordering Swaziland and Mozambique.

The Department of Mineral Resources is approving mine after mine without considering the cumulative impacts to these key grasslands, which are are the source of water for three major South African rivers.

The area is already degraded and polluted, yet officials evaluate each new mining proposal in isolation.  CER honored Mandela Day on July 18 with the launch of training workshops on environmental rights and remedies in mining-affected communities across South Africa.  Saturday’s workshop was held in Burgersfort, Limpopo.  From here, CER lawyers will travel to Riverlea in Johannesburg, and Madadeni in eastern Mpumalanga in the first leg of the workshop series.  ELAW provided CER with a subgrant for the workshop series.

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Maggie Keenan
Communications Director
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide