An Indian company has declared its intention to mine in a critical water catchment area in Mpumalanga province, just one year after the area was proclaimed a protected area. Fiona Macleod & Franz Fuls report Based in the Mpumalanga highlands, Mabola was declared a protected environment because of the value of its water resources and grasslands Atha-Africa Ventures called a meeting on January 23 2015 with landowners in the Mabola protected environment, where the company claims to have a right to mine coal. Mabola is one of five important water sources in Mpumalanga that were proclaimed protected environments in January 2014 by Pinky Phosa, then the MEC for economic development, environment and tourism. Proclamation enables government authorities and private landowners to work together to protect ecosystems of high value. At the meeting in the Wakkerstroom Country Inn in January 2015, Atha-Africa Ventures representatives told the half-dozen landowners present that the company had been granted a mining right for Mabola but that it had not been “executed”. Atha-Africa was represented by its senior vice-president, Praveer Tripathi, and Sizwe Zuma, who registered himself at the meeting as a director of the company. In the corridors of power in the provincial Mpumalanga government, Zuma is rumoured to be “part of the Zuma clan” in KwaZulu-Natal. Asked about his family connections, he refused to say anything other than that Tripathi “is the only person who can talk on behalf of Atha”. Tripathi said Zuma was not a director but represented a trust that is a black economic empowerment partner with a shareholding in Atha-Africa Ventures. He refused to name the trust. Tripathi is an overseas manager for the Atha Group, one of the oldest mining companies in India. He has a BSc degree in mechanical engineering from Bharathiar University and “is well versed in working with various regulatory departments of mining and minerals in the African continent”, according to his CV. Atha-Africa Ventures registered in South Africa in 2004, and the company bought a prospecting right for Yzermyn in Mabola from BHP Billiton in 2011. Tripathi said the department of mineral resources had accepted the mining right in 2013, about eight months before the Mabola protected environment was declared. “The mining right was already accepted, the protected environment came later,” he said. “It was an existing right. This is where the conflict comes in.” Mabola is on the border between Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, and is the source of several major rivers Environmental organisations involved in the proclamation of Mabola said legislation allowed for prospecting and mining in a protected environment, but only with the written permission of both the ministers of mineral resources and of environmental affairs. “Any right granted would effectively be sterile until such permission has been obtained,” said Melissa Fourie, director of the Centre for Environmental Rights. “Penalties for proceeding in contravention of the relevant legislation include a fine of up to R10-million and prison terms of between five and 10 years.” The battle over Mabola could set a precedent for protected areas throughout South Africa, Marthán Theart, an attorney at the centre, said. “As a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity, South Africa has pledged to conserve 12% of its terrestrial area. Currently, less than 7% of the country is conserved.” Protected environments add to the country’s conservation basket by allowing private properties and landowners to collaborate in biodiversity stewardship. Official data shows that 11 protected environments had been declared by September last year, covering nearly 197 000 hectares. At least 20 new areas, comprising more than 246 400 hectares, were being negotiated last September. “The Protected Areas Act allows for a broader range of compatible land uses to happen in a protected environment than, say, a national park or nature reserve. It is still a relatively new arrangement but it is growing,” said Tracey Cumming, a policy adviser at the South African National Biodiversity Institute. Mabola covers 8 772 hectares between Wakkerstroom and northern KwaZulu-Natal and is a high-yielding water catchment area that feeds several major rivers. Private landowners in the area, mostly farmers, agreed to make it a protected environment after years of negotiations with some of South Africa’s largest environmental nongovernmental organisations and the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency. Their objections to mining included its potential to “de-water” wetlands that cover about 2 000 hectares of Mabola.