Mining starts in Mpumalanga water zone
Local residents reported blasting and the removal of coal close to the wetlands of the Greater Lakenvlei Protected Environment. Andiswa Matikinca investigates...
21 Nov, 2018
How #MineAlert helped Mabola
An anonymous tip-off sparked a sustained investigative journalism trail and a precedent-setting High Court judgment, writes Julia Thomas
16 Nov, 2018
Directors targeted for Mintails mess
Executives at Mintails and DRDGOLD scramble to avoid liability and the possibility of criminal charges for R460-million environmental mess on the West Rand
12 Dec, 2018
How #MineAlert helped Mabola
An anonymous tip-off sparked a sustained investigative journalism trail and a precedent-setting High Court judgment, writes Julia Thomas
16 Nov, 2018
Directors targeted for Mintails mess
Executives at Mintails and DRDGOLD scramble to avoid liability and the possibility of criminal charges for R460-million environmental mess on the West Rand
12 Dec, 2018
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Mabola case sets new boundaries for protected areas
Judicial review of Cabinet decision to open Mabola strategic water zone raises questions about the status of mining in protected environments. Tholakele Nene reports...
18 Oct, 2018 -
Parliament probes Mintails toxic legacy
Parliamentary committee asks for explanations following Oxpeckers report on mining company’s liquidation plans. Lisa Steyn reports...
19 Sep, 2018 -
Mintails collapse: case study in how not to close mines
Liquidation leaves a R330-million environmental mess for Gauteng residents, government and other mining companies to clean up. Mark Olalde investigates...
08 Aug, 2018 -
Mud-slinging over Mabola mine turns nasty
Threats against critics of mining in protected water resource are part of a bigger trend of corporations trying to bully their critics into silence, reports John Yeld...
24 Jul, 2018 -
Cleaning up the mining mess
With about 6,000 abandoned mines across South Africa, regulators are searching for answers to irresponsible mine closure. Mark Olalde reports...
11 Jul, 2018 -
Is Mabola open for mining?
Indian company Atha-Africa Ventures is going ahead with an application to change land use at the Mabola protected area to open it to mining. Julia Thomas investigates...
18 May, 2018 -
Mine closure investigations win top award
Pioneering data journalism project on financial provisions for mine closures and rehabilitation is rewarded with top environmental media award...
25 Oct, 2017 -
No mining at Mabola for ‘the foreseeable future’
Mining at the Mabola protected water zone is on hold – for now. The status of the mining right is unclear after court action by civil society groups this week, reports Mark Olalde...
30 Jun, 2017 -
Watership down: the reality of mining Mabola
Mabola is a strategic water source that feeds four of South Africa's major rivers, but the government has approved a licence to mine coal there. Oxpeckers broke the story in 2015, and recently paid a site visit to the Mabola headwaters...
16 Jun, 2017 -
South Africa’s future without coal
The future of electricity generation is no longer guaranteed to the coal industry. Which forms of power will keep the lights on? Mark Olalde investigates...
25 May, 2017 -
R60-billion held for mines that are never closed
Never-before-seen data shows a fortune has been set aside for mine rehabilitation in South Africa. But large mines are not being properly closed, and the money cannot be touched. Mark Olalde investigates...
17 May, 2017 -
Coal mines leave a legacy of ruin
Oxpeckers publishes never-before-seen data exposing the lack of mine closures, despite R45-billion being held in financial provisions for rehabilitation in 2015. Investigation by Mark Olalde...
07 Apr, 2017 -
Ministers sign secret deal to mine strategic water zone
Without any public notification, South Africa’s ministers of environment and mining signed off on a coal mining project in the critical Mabola water catchment in Mpumalanga. Mark Olalde investigates Documents......
15 Feb, 2017 -
The reality of social and labour plans
Social and labour plans are supposed to improve life for communities affected by mining. Unfortunately, because of the fog surrounding how they operate and are enforced, these communities are often......
06 Feb, 2017 -
Appeal against mine expansion in wildlife corridor
Tricia Govindasamy looks into the impacts of environmental authorisation for expanding Sedibelo mine in the North West Heritage Park Corridor The expansion of a mining project that cuts through a......
23 Jan, 2017
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Our investigation into donkey smuggling in East Africa is making headlines in local media: 'Kenya at centre of region's donkey smuggling racket' featured in 3 different Kenyan publications in the past week. See, eg, www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/ea/Kenya-East-Africa-donkey-smuggling-racket/4552908-4930314-6s7yds... via @The_EastAfrican
Kenya at centre of region's donkey smuggling racket
theeastafrican.co.ke
Donkey skin is used in China for making traditional medicine.Watching in 2019: Executive director of Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area says phase III implementation start early in the year and will build on the earlier two phases with a transboundary focus in three priority wildlife dispersal areas – critical hotspots for wildlife migration. 'Priorities include reducing human wildlife conflict, land use planning (and corridor protection), community development, tourism development and natural resources management, including transboundary law enforcement.'
Read the plans at bit.ly/2UI0CMf
#MineAlert manager Tholakele Nene undertakes indepth research into ‘traditional’ attitudes of underground miners and mine managers regarding safety in underground mining'. We look forward to publishing her findings:Tholakele Nene is an #OpenSocietySA25 Commemorative Scholar. Hosted by Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism, Tholakele’s focus area is “the ‘traditional’ attitudes of underground miners and mine managers regarding safety in underground mining with a view to curbing mining fatalities and injuries”.
Read Tholakele’s profile: 25.osf.org.za/portfolio-items/tholakele-nene/
Inside view: Southern Africa has the world’s largest international conservation and eco-tourism zone. Has it helped wildlife and communities? Oscar Nkala investigates
bit.ly/2UI0CMf
The world’s largest ‘paper park’
oxpeckers.org
Six years and €50-million since its creation, Oscar Nkala visits the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area to find out what impact it has had on wildlife and communitiesSA and its allies at the COP24 climate negotiations are pushing for a strong rulebook on the Paris Agreement. Yolandi Groenewald reports from Katowice for #ClimaTracker
bit.ly/2Le9XHn
oxpeckers.org
South Africa and its allies at the COP24 climate negotiations are pushing for a strong rulebook on the Paris Agreement. Yolandi Groenewald reports from Katowice#MineAlert is a project of Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism, and is based on #GreenAlert, which allows users to track environmental impact assessments in the same way
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