Gupta-linked coal mine admits causing damage

A MINING company co-owned by the Gupta family has asked for permission to expand - despite admitting to a long list of illegal activities.

These include building unauthorised roads and diverting a stream.

Details of the company's illegal activities emerged in a background information document submitted to the government last month after mining was halted by the Department of Water Affairs earlier this year. The company, Idwala Coal Crypts, is trying to legalise and expand its operations into a coal mining hub on a 64ha farm outside Emalahleni (previously Witbank), Mpumalanga.

The mine's executives refused to divulge shareholder details, but the Sunday Times has established that Idwala Coal Crypts is partly owned by Tegeta Resources, one of several Gupta-controlled companies. The Gupta family is closely tied to President Jacob Zuma, whose son Duduzane is a listed director of Gupta's Sahara Holdings.

Idwala's unusual mining tactics were first reported on by the Sunday Times last year. At the time the company denied any wrongdoing. But the background information document details several transgressions in an application for rectification - a mechanism allowing companies to apply to have their illegal mining activities approved retrospectively, usually at a cost.

Unauthorised activities listed in the document include:

• Dredging and excavation of soil and rock from a water course/wetland through opencast mining;

• Widening and lengthening of existing farm roads by more than 6m in width or 1km in length; and
• Clearance of 5ha or more of vegetation where 75% constitutes indigenous vegetation.

According to the document, the company wants to expand mining activities to incorporate a "crushing and screening" plant, waste storage facilities, a weighbridge and an administration office.

Mine manager Rajiv Dabas said this would ensure the company could continue to operate and provide local employment. He said the company was battling to stay afloat under circumstances that included labour unrest, heavy rain, and a complex regulatory environment.

"We have had those nightmares. We are doing our work. Things take time," Dabas said. He said the mine was a significant investment in the local economy at a time when many companies were struggling or closing up shop.

But environmental groups said Idwala's move was too little, too late. Koos Pretorius, Mpumalanga environmentalist and director of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment, said: "They should have done all of this in the first place - that's the whole point of having the regulations."