Community Organisation and Support
The project acts is a fiscal sponsor of our community partner, the Mining and Environmental Justice Communities Network of South Africa (MEJCON-SA). It also provides support to community structures (CBOs, Committees, Forums and the like) to strengthen their capacity to engage with government and industry. In the project we also work to empower activists and communities to better participate in relevant legal processes such as legislative amendments, public participation, parliamentary oversights and the like.
The project is currently assisting MEJCON-SA in two major litigation cases. The first is the Mabola matter where MEJCON-SA is represented by CER in trying to stop a mining in a protected environment and a strategic water source in Mpumalanga. The second case relates to the mining charter whereby mining affected communities seek to be included in the formulation of a new mining charter. In this matter MEJCON-SA and other applicants have received a court order that states that mining affected communities must be involved in the formulation of a mining charter as it affects them directly.
The project is also appointed as national coordinator for MEJCON-SA. In this role the project advises the MEJCON-SA steering committee on all the legal processes and assists them in giving inputs and instructions to their lawyers in these legal matters.