THE high court sitting in Mahikeng in the North West is today (Thursday) due to hear an application for a final interdict brought by Tharisa Mine in Marikana against two environmental justice activists.
The pair are outspoken about what they deem to be harmful mining activities in the area.
In March, Tharisa Mine approached the court for an urgent interdict against Oridile Kgatea and Rodney Kotsedi. The mine sought to interdict the activists from making “defamatory” statements and gathering on the mine’s premises.
Despite opposition to the urgent application, the court granted an interim interdict against the activists.
The court has to decide today whether to grant a final interdict in favour of the mine.
The activists are represented by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (Cals).
The latter will argue that the activists are representing their community and attempting to exercise their environmental and civil rights.
Cals’s stance is that the application by the mine constitutes strategic litigation against public participation – otherwise known as a “Slapp” suit. They will argue that the application constitutes an abuse of court process and that the mine has not fulfilled the requirements of an interdict.
Cals said in November 2022 that the Constitutional Court recognised the existence of Slapp suits in South African law as a form of abuse of court process.
Slapp suits are used around the world as a tactic to threaten, silence and distract activists and take up their already limited resources. Slapp suits often take the form of defamation cases, which usually have no prospects of success and instead seek to discourage members of the public from exercising their rights, Cals said.
“This application falls squarely into the definition of a Slapp suit adopted by the Constitutional Court and amounts to an abuse of court process. The mine has failed to prove it has been defamed or suffered any loss or harm from statements made to the media and the interviews it relies on do not portray any false or misleading information,” said Cals’s Sithuthukile Mkhize.
Cals further said that far from defaming the mine, the activists have instead attempted to vindicate their community’s rights to protest and to an environment not harmful to their health or well-being.
“It is clear the mine seeks to silence those trying to hold them accountable for harms related to mining activities, such as damage to houses from blasting and contamination of drinking water, among others.”
These issues are the subject of a pending inquiry in respect of the Mine Health and Safety Act.
“The application violates the rights to freedom of expression and the right to protest guaranteed in the Constitution. The activists are entitled to raise awareness of human rights violations and to hold the mine accountable for failing to comply with the Constitution and other legislation. The application has no merit and stands to be dismissed as a Slapp suit.”
Mazi Choshane, an attorney at Cals, meanwhile said the mine operates on communal land and its operations continue to have a negative impact on the community of Mmaditlhokwa village.
“The community has lodged a number of complaints that blasting is taking place within 500m of their homes, causing damage to houses and also releasing dust, which is a health and safety violation. It is these complaints that have led the mine to institute urgent legal proceedings against the community.”
This case is part of Cals’ ongoing campaign to eradicate Slapp suits and activist victimisation as part of their strategic mission of contributing to the expansion of the agency of activists and other marginalised actors.
Pretoria News