The Maledu and Baleni cases impact on customary communities vulnerability to expropriation
type: CreativeWork
description: In 2018, two disputes between customary communities and entities seeking to exploit mineral resources came before the courts - Maledu v Itereleng Bakgatla Mineral Resources (Pty) Limited (“Maledu”) and Baleni v Minister of Mineral Resources (“Baleni”). In both cases, the courts found in favour of the communities that resided on the proposed mining sites and whose rights in land are secured by the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act (“IPILRA”). At face value, these cases bolstered the position of communities' rights over mineral-rich land. However, the attempt to empower communities may have rendered them more vulnerable to the expropriation of their land. Given the Maledu and Baleni decisions, this research considers the position of customary communities whose land is subject to a mining or prospecting right, or where an application for mining or prospecting rights looms. Specifically, this research considers these kinds of communities' vulnerability to expropriation for the purposes of mining in light of these judgments. The research considers the consent requirement formulated in the Baleni judgment and argues that this requirement has made obtaining a valid mining right more difficult. It has also increased the likelihood that expropriation proceedings may be used to bypass the requirement, where community consent promises to be an insurmountable hurdle to resource extraction. The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (“MPRDA”) foresees this possibility by empowering the Minister of Mineral Resources to expropriate land for the purposes of mining. Further, the research shows, the Maledu judgment has disabled mining where a dispute resolution process under section 54 of the MPRDA is under way. The lengthy administrative processes involved in section 54 cause costly delays. However, the section 54 process could likewise be bypassed by applying section 55 of the MPRDA, which provides for expropriation. The dissertation argues that communities wh…
abstract: In 2018, two disputes between customary communities and entities seeking to exploit mineral resources came before the courts - Maledu v Itereleng Bakgatla Mineral Resources (Pty) Limited (“Maledu”) and Baleni v Minister of Mineral Resources (“Baleni”). In both cases, the courts found in favour of the communities that resided on the proposed mining sites and whose rights in land are secured by the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act (“IPILRA”). At face value, these cases bolstered the position of communities' rights over mineral-rich land. However, the attempt to empower communities may have rendered them more vulnerable to the expropriation of their land. Given the Maledu and Baleni decisions, this research considers the position of customary communities whose land is subject to a mining or prospecting right, or where an application for mining or prospecting rights looms. Specifically, this research considers these kinds of communities' vulnerability to expropriation for the purposes of mining in light of these judgments. The research considers the consent requirement formulated in the Baleni judgment and argues that this requirement has made obtaining a valid mining right more difficult. It has also increased the likelihood that expropriation proceedings may be used to bypass the requirement, where community consent promises to be an insurmountable hurdle to resource extraction. The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (“MPRDA”) foresees this possibility by empowering the Minister of Mineral Resources to expropriate land for the purposes of mining. Further, the research shows, the Maledu judgment has disabled mining where a dispute resolution process under section 54 of the MPRDA is under way. The lengthy administrative processes involved in section 54 cause costly delays. However, the section 54 process could likewise be bypassed by applying section 55 of the MPRDA, which provides for expropriation. The dissertation argues that communities wh…
author: Massyn, Julie-Hannah
keywords: Law
date published: 2023
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:29Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Private Law

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38054