Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Ms Edna Molewa has lifted the suspension of the Integrated Water Use Licence of Vele Colliery’s coal mining operation in the Limpopo Province pending an appeal lodged with the Water Tribunal. The lifting of the suspension of the licence of the Limpopo Coal Company comes after the Minister has given due consideration to the interests of all affected parties in the matter.
The water use licence was first issued by the Department of Water Affairs to the Limpopo Coal Company on the 29 March 2011. Their operations are located in Musina in the Northern Part of the Limpopo Province. Following this, a number of interested and concerned parties lodged a joint appeal with the Water Tribunal against the decision citing a number of discrepancies in the Water Use License application. This matter is still pending.
Subsequent to this the company petitioned the Minister to consider lifting the suspension pending the outcome of the Water Tribunal process citing among others the length of time it takes for such appeals to be finalised and the negative effect the time delay will have on the mining operations, revenue and the general workers.
The Minister, after consulting widely on the matter concluded that, the strict conditions attached to the licence are adequate. These include:
- that the licence has been issued for a period of five years and is renewable after the first year and every two years thereafter
- the mine must within three months of being issued with a water use licence establish a monitoring forum that comprises water specialists, interested and affected parties, civil society and local government
- the daily quantity of water taken must be metered and gauged and the total recorded at the last day of each month. (the entire list of conditions is available at www.dwa.gov.za).
The Department of Water Affairs is therefore of the view that the concerns raised by the parties are covered by the licence conditions and that the appellants are further presented with an opportunity to be directly involved in the monitoring of the water resources during the operation of the mine.
Contact:
Linda Page
Tel: 012 336 8250
Cell: 083 460 4482
E-mail: pagel@dwa.gov.za
