South Africa’s abandoned mines serve as a striking reminder of the nation’s resource wealth and the significant environmental consequences that have come with it. Although the country has frameworks that promise environmental restoration and social upliftment, only 27 of the nation’s 2332 high-risk abandoned mines have been rehabilitated, according to the latest publicly available data in the 2022 Auditor-General’s report. This figure reflects an obvious gap between policy and practice. As a result, mining host communities are left burdened with health hazards as well as economic and social hardships. In this context, rehabilitation refers to repairing and restoring mining-damaged land…
