Environmental activists in South Africa have been waging legal battles against the state and mining companies for years. This is often on the grounds that communities haven’t been consulted before mines were given permission to start digging and blasting on their land. Environmental justice researcher Mzingaye Brilliant Xaba has tracked the legal cases against mines since 2015. He analysed court rulings, research and media coverage. His research has found that environmentalists have managed to use lawsuits to firmly establish land rights. This means the state and industry will find it very difficult to launch mining projects without meaningful consultation with communities that will be affected.
What is meaningful consultation and how must it happen?
In practice, meaningful consultation is where:
