Makhado coal project advances as water and legal disputes remain unresolved
The story at a glance
MC Mining’s Makhado project in Limpopo is progressing through commissioning towards production. A 2021 appeal concerning an amendment to its environmental authorisation remains undecided, according to current reporting.12
Water supply is also contested. Farmers have raised concerns about promised transfers and infrastructure, while the company says it complies with its water-use licence. The available reporting does not independently establish the project’s effects on local water availability.14
The story in brief
What you need to know
- MC Mining’s July 2026 activities report records commissioning milestones and says the eastern groundwater wellfield was commissioned to provide process water. The company said western wellfields were planned for the following quarter; this is a company plan, not confirmation that the work was completed.2
- The unresolved appeal was lodged in 2021 against an amendment to the project’s environmental authorisation. Mongabay reports differing interpretations from the appellants’ attorney and the environment department about whether the appeal suspends the whole authorisation or only the amendment; the collected sources contain no final determination.1
- The project’s water plan relied partly on farmers transferring authorised irrigation water from Nzhelele Dam. A local farmer told Mongabay that compensation and pipeline commitments had not been delivered. That account is not independently verified in the sources reviewed.1
- The company says it monitors groundwater and complies with its water-use licence. Its statement records its own position, but the available material does not independently verify compliance or provide current monitoring results for communities near the project.4
- The Department of Water and Sanitation describes the northern Limpopo water management area as semi-arid to extremely arid, with rainfall below potential evaporation. Its strategy discusses prospective supply for Makhado, but dates from 2016 and cannot establish current water availability or the mine’s impacts.3
Conservation context
Why this matters
The case brings together development, local water arrangements and an unresolved environmental-authorisation appeal in a region the department describes as arid. The sources establish concerns and competing accounts, but not the scale of any project-related effect on water.134
The developing story
What happens next
Key evidence would include a decision on the appeal, current independent water-monitoring data and records showing whether the farmer-transfer agreement, compensation and pipeline works were implemented. The collected reporting does not provide these updates.124
Established evidence
What we know
- Makhado is in Limpopo, within the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, and is moving towards production.12
- The company reported commissioning its eastern groundwater wellfield for process water in July 2026.2
- The 2021 environmental-authorisation appeal remains undecided in the reporting available for this draft.1
Open questions
What we don't know
- Whether the department has since decided the appeal, and what legal effect it has on the project’s authorisation.15
- What current independent surface-water and groundwater monitoring shows near the mine and in the Nzhelele catchment.14
- What the water-transfer agreement required in detail, and whether compensation and pipeline works were completed.1
- How actual project water use compares with licensed limits and reported operating needs.24
Source coverage
