Search

The water resources in South Africa are threatened by current and past mining practices such as abandoned and closed mines. While mining is considered valuable for its contribution to this country’s gross domestic product, its polluting effects on water and land resources have been criticised as unsustainable. Acid mine drainage (AMD) is one specific public health and ecological issue that has stirred debates in political and social circles in this country. This paper examines the scalar politics and other related dimensions of water and AMD governance, thereby revealing evidence of deep-rooted challenges regarding the governance of water and mineral resources. The specific focus is on the socio-political context of labour laws and Black Economic Empowerment and the decision-making processes adopted by government. Thus, this paper has implications for the improvement of environmental governance and decision-making strategies and the adoption of a national strategy for adequately addressing AMD and related policy issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper and Special Issue build a case for why justice matters in water governance and why it should be explicitly accounted for in water management and allocation. It describes four characteristics of water and their implications for social and environmental justice. These four characteristics -- the spatial and temporal uneven distribution of water; the fact that water is essential for all life, with minimums needed for the survival of both the environment and humankind; water's added benefits to human well-being through the goods and services it provides; and the ensuing political dimensions of power asymmetries affecting water governance -- have resulted in a plethora of disciplinary interpretations of justice in an attempt to capture its relevance and importance. The collection of papers in this Special Issue provides a glimpse into the diverse range of issues that can emerge when justice considerations are taken or not taken into account in water governance. Water justice is particularly significant when societal change occurs because of altered allocations, institutional rules of the game or in the underlying hydrological regime. We summarise 10 steps that contribute to the continuing articulation of a 'water justice framework' by researchers interested in this field of research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]