Thousands of abandoned mining tailings dams across South Africa continue to expose gaps in environmental regulation, placing communities and ecosystems at risk.

Researcher Thandolwakhe Mokotedi from the Faculty of Law at the North-West University (NWU) says that “the regulation of tailings dams in South Africa remains an area of environmental law that requires immediate attention.” According to her research, there are an estimated 6 000 abandoned and unrehabilitated tailings dams posing a persistent environmental challenge.

Thandolwakhe explains that mining, while central to the economy, remains a major source of environmental harm. “Mining activities are also considered the largest producers of solid waste,” she says, linking this to the growing number of tailings dams and associated risks.

Tailings dams are large, engineered structures designed to store large amounts of fine-grained waste from mineral processing. Thandolwakhe adds that these dams often contain hazardous substances and have the potential to cause catastrophic environmental and human harm in the event of structural failure.

Despite legislation such as the National Environmental Management Act, the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act and the National Water Act, Thandolwakhe says there are structural weaknesses in the system. “The current mining environmental law framework is characterised by a lack of coordinated and integrated legal framework,” she says.

This lack of coordination has consequences for enforcement. Fragmentation results in ineffective governance and inefficient arrangements between organs of state, weakening accountability. In some instances, Thandolwakhe observed that no one was willing to take accountability, even when environmental risks were known.

Communities living near tailings dams continue to face health risks, with Thandolwakhe reporting that they were adversely affected by the dust from the tailings dams, which led to respiratory problems, skin and eye infections.

She says the mining industry is considered one of the main contributors to water pollution in South Africa with tailings dams contributing to acid mine drainage and contamination. She notes that acid mine drainage is “one of the most serious and enduring environmental problems.”

The research is grounded in constitutional principles, and South Africa, says Thandolwakhe, recognises the right to an environment that is not harmful to health and well-being, which must be supported by reasonable legislative and other measures.

She highlights the role of broader stakeholders, stating that: “Civil society organisations, institutions are important to the regulation and management of environmental tailings dams.”

The findings focus on the need to strengthen enforcement, improve coordination and ensure accountability in the management of tailings dams as mining continues to shape the country’s economy.

Thandolwakhe Mokotedi