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The N2 Wild Coast Toll Highway. Photo: Thembela Ntongana/GroundUp

SANRAL must stop sabotaging engagement with the people of Amadiba

The government must require SANRAL to meet communities directly, conduct a genuine mid-term review, assess the inland route honestly and prioritise local road repair as the real…

According to Minister  Ntshavheni, the miners were stuck in the depths of the earth, which was their own doing, and the state would not be involved in any rescue of “criminals”.

Stilfontein miners have human rights just like you, Minister Ntshavheni

Marikana was a precursor to Stifontein and show the lengths to which the state would go to punish people in protection of corporate interests, particularly in the mining industry

Members of Extinction Rebellion Red Rebels along with other local Cape Town environmental action groups mobilsed outside Parliament calling for climate action and environmental justice. Cape Town. Photo by David Harrison

SA must end Slapp suits, says environmental lawyer

He is one of six defendants who this week an reached out-of-court settlement with an Australian mining company in a long-running defamation battle

Second chance: The constitutional court (above). Take the country forward in the same way the Constitution was forged. Photo: Madelene Cronjé

Concourt holds that SLAPP suit defence exists in South African law

The court upheld an appeal by miners against a high court victory for environmentalists but recognised the defence in a landmark ruling on abusive litigation

Dan Teffo demanded that Judge Tshifhiwa Maumela meet him in chambers before the trial proceeded, saying he wanted to discuss “other issues” that could not be mentioned in public  (Gallo)

The slings and arrows of advocate Malesela Teffo’s outrageous fortunes

Now that he has withdrawn from the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial, will the promise of justice for the Meyiwa family be kept?

In the black void of missing bodies

We cannot allow the mathematics of racial capital stop us from bearing ethical witness to the death of the marginalised majority

Community empowerment: A performance group connected to the Extinction Rebellion group joins hundreds of other people protesting against Shell’s plan to conduct underwater seismic surveys along South Africa’s Wild coast coast, at Muizenberg Beach, Cape Town. (Rodger Bosch/AFP)

The business case for environment, social and governance criteria

ESG performance presents an opportunity for involving communities in the decision-making process and reducing costs that might emerge down the line from litigation and fines

Intersectional protest: Members of Extinction Rebellion and Red Rebels, as well as other local Cape Town environmental action groups, mobilised outside parliament last Friday, calling for climate action and environmental justice. (David Harrison/M&G)

Concourt hears landmark ‘Slapp’ defamation and free speech case

The case isn’t only about environmental lawyers and activists being slapped by ‘rapacious’ miners with a series of defamation lawsuits, but about the rule of law

Covid hampers were distributed by charities at the Iterileng informal settlement in 2020, but the government failed to respond structurally to the pandemic. (Photo by Marco LONGARI / AFP)

Sona 2022: Tell us what’s happened, Mr President

The president needs to report back to South Africa on what his government has – and hasn’t – achieved since 2018

United in opposition: An anti-Shell protest at the Mzamba Estuary united protesters across race and class. (Photos: Paul Botes/M&G)

‘Times are urgent, let’s slow down’: The groundswell against Shell

Even a country with citizens as fractious and fractured as South Africa is showing signs of unity to save the sea off the Wild Coast.

Protestors  at the Waterfront waiting the arrival of  the  ship Amazon Warrior . They are against the planned Shell seismic survey for oil and gas in the ocean on November 21, 2021 in Cape Town, South Africa.  It is reported that Shell has announced that it will carry out a three-dimensional seismic survey in search of oil and gas deposits from Morgan Bay to Port St Johns off the Wild Coast. (Photo by Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

Urgent interdict filed to block Shell’s Wild Coast seismic survey

Shell’s 3D seismic survey is set to begin on Wednesday. But a high court application brought by rights groups to block it will be heard as an urgent matter on Tuesday

Steadfast: The Xolobeni residents have, for more than a decade and with deadly consequences for them, fought off an Australian company wanting to mine their land.  (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

We don’t have to ‘sell nature to save it’

Although South Africa no longer practices ‘fortress conservation’, the shift to to protecting resources for people is criticised for incorporating nature in a neoliberal…

The women of Mfolozi and eXolobeni do not feel safe approaching law enforcement as their aggressors will be treated with impunity, exposing them to further harassment, and driving more potential women activists into the shadows

Women environmental activists often pay the ultimate price

The violent murder of Mam’ Ntshangase is not the first of its kind and will most certainly not be the last

Steadfast: The Xolobeni residents have, for more than a decade and with deadly consequences for them, fought off an Australian company wanting to mine their land.  (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

High court gives Australian mining company a big SLAP(P)

The judge ruled that corporations should not be allowed to use the legal system against citizens and activists

Amadiba Crisis Committee co-founder Nonhle Mbuthuma. (Madelene Cronjé)

Xolobeni activist receives death threat

In an environment where activism against mining is becoming increasingly deadly, Nonhle Mbuthuma’s life may be at risk

Mam’Ntshangase was described as a fierce critic of mining and ambassador for land rights. (Supplied)

Murder of anti-mining activist emboldens KZN community

Mam’Ntshangase was described as a fierce critic of mining and ambassador for land rights.

A view of the targeted area for the Xolobeni Mineral Sands project on the Wild Coast.

Corporate bullying in fight over Xolobeni mining

Activists argue that the Australian company suing them is using the courts to silence criticism and so abusing the legal system. The law should change to stop these types of suits

Steadfast: The Xolobeni residents have, for more than a decade and with deadly consequences for them, fought off an Australian company wanting to mine their land.  (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Lawyers push for Slapp suit regulation in SA as Australian miner sues environmental activists

An Australian mining company is suing three attorneys and activists for defamation. But the defendant’s attorneys argue that this a strategic lawsuit against public participation

As ANC secretary general Ace Magashule mulls over his options, the party’s national chairperson, Gwede Mantashe, drew a line in the sand — there is no turning back from ruling that corruption charged politicians step aside by month’s end.  (Delwyn Verasamy)

Changes to mining Act need work

Proposed amendments to the legislation mandate meaningful consultation with communities but critics say there are loopholes