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Sustainable development requires among other things that the disturbance to ecosystems and the pollution, degradation of the environment and negative impacts on the environment be avoided. Where it cannot be avoided, it must be minimized and remedied. (management principles; National Environmental Management Act). The persons who causes pollution or degradation of the environment is responsible for rectifying such pollution or degradation (environmental hazards; NEMA) In emergency situations, where the responsible person fail to comply or inadequately comply timeously, the catchment management agency may take the necessary remedying measures (Emergency incidents; National Water Act). A subsidy scheme for land users may be established for water related restoration or rehabilitation activities such as the reparation of damage to the natural agricultural resources or soil conservation works damaged by a natural disaster; the restoration of eroded, disturbed, denuded or damaged land; and the planting and cultivation of particular crops that improve soil fertility or counteract the vulnerability of soil to erosion. (Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act ) The Mineral Act (Sections 38-42) requires that the rehabilitation of the surface of land in any prospecting or mining shall be carried out by the holder of the prospecting permit or mining authorization concerned in accordance with the environmental management programme. It can also be carried out as an integral part of the prospecting or mining operations concerned. Remediation is not an end-of-line requirement anymore. The entire process of the planning, the commissioning and the management of a project should incorporate all the rehabilitation and remediation structures necessary to avoid any adverse environmental impacts. The requirement generally is similar to the requirement in the Minerals Act that states that rehabilitation should be an integral part of prospecting and mining. Mining activities impact on the environment in varying degrees. The mining activities that identify themselves for policy and regulation is mine site rehabilitation and the maintenance of rehabilitation measures where mining activity has ceased. Areas affected by past mining operations must be rehabilitated. The Environmental Management Programme requires adequate provision for financial guarantees for rehabilitation and arrangements for monitoring and auditing (A Minerals and Mining Policy for South Africa). Rehabilitation procedures should be made more affordable by devising a more flexible system for providing the necessary rehabilitation moneys (View of small-scale miners; A Minerals and Mining Policy for South Africa). The rehabilitation of defunct and derelict mines, which are a risk to the environment, public safety and human health, should be provided for by appropriate regulation. The rehabilitation of land for post-mine use should be carried out to standards that permits its use for the purpose set out in the EMPR. No unforeseeable residual impacts should be inherited by parties acquiring such land (other views; A Minerals and Mining Policy for South Africa). Rehabilitation during and after mining operations will be on the polluter-pays basis. Where the mining entrepreneur is incapable or demise and no other responsible person exists, the State may accept responsibility or co-responsibility for the rehabilitation required. Government may require that any person benefiting from such rehabilitation, contribute to the costs involved (Government Policy; A Minerals and Mining Policy for South Africa). The principles of Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) including rehabilitation responsibilities will be applied to environmental management throughout the lifespan of mining operations up to the stage where an exonerating certificate is granted (Government policy; A Minerals and Mining Policy for South Africa). The White Paper on the conservation and sustainable use of South Africa's biological diversity provides for the following:
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Biological diversity is best
conserved in the wild (in-sito), through the conservation and restoration
of ecosystems and natural habitats (