Development actors and the issues of acid mine drainage in the Vaal River system

• Main Author: Naidoo, Suvania
• Other Authors: Kotze, D. J. (David Jacobus)
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Acid mine drainage; Sustainable development; Water management; Mining; Socio-economic impacts; South Africa; 363.738409682; Acid mine drainage > South Africa > Vaal River; Mines and mineral resources > Environmental aspects > South Africa > Vaal River; Vaal River (South Arica)
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10500/13932

This study focuses on Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) in the three basins of the Witwatersrand’s goldfields in the Vaal River System in South Africa. AMD has become a highly contested issue. A difference in its definition exists between two groups of role-players identified in the study: government and consultants/activists/NGOs. This study unpacks the differences in the way AMD is defined, the situation of AMD in each of the three basins and the socio-economic implications caused by AMD. A crucial finding was that these definitions determine how the issue is understood and what solutions these role-players propose. The main purpose of the study was to determine whether the South African government’s policy response was appropriate given the socio-economic impacts of AMD and imperatives of sustainable development. This study concluded that, in the policy, there was no clear indication as to what the socio-economic impacts are, and limited attention was therefore given to these impacts. === Development Studies === M.A. (Development Studies)