Synopsis:
Application for leave to appeal against a High Court decision, affirmed on appeal by the Supreme Court of Appeal. Decision concerns the lawfulness of the grant of a prospecting right to a company on the land of a community in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act. The Court held that there had been insufficient consultation between the respondent and the community and the company representing the community; that the department was meant to have provided the applicant with a hearing and that the respondent had failed to comply with the environmental requirements in terms of the Act. The Court thus set aside the decision of the High Court. Judgment: Froneman J (unanimous).