mining

East coast, best coast The South African Eastern Cape community of Xolobeni -- in the Xhosa language spoken by most Eastern Cape inhabitants, the “X” is pronounced as a click -- after years of work have had a big win on mining in the area, and it's all thanks to Australia (though not in the way we might like...).

The North-Gauteng High Court has ruled that affected communities have a right to see mining licence applications -- levelling the information asymmetry in negotiations with mining companies.

Previously communities had to rely on a cumbersome, slow freedom of information process that would as often as not end in rejection.