Acid Mine Drainage in South Africa

This SpringerBrief focuses on Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) in the three basins in the Witwatersrand, South Africa. It provides a background to AMD and its impactsfrom a social science perspective.The South African government and non-governmental organizations' response to AMD is assessed, as well the socio-economic and developmental effects of AMD. This volume, which is based on the author's Master's dissertation at UNISA, involves interviews with a range of experts in the field from government departments, environmental organisations (activists), the private sector (mining), tourism sector and the agricultural sector. The book discusses existing policy documents on AMD and provides recommendations in response to the many socio-economic impacts which have not been fully addressed. A literature review on the global context of AMD is provided.

South Africa's water systems are already severely harmed by climate change, different forms of pollution, and poorly managed sanitation systems. For these reasons, the country is becoming increasingly water-stressed and therefore, water will continue to become much scarcer in the future. As a result of AMD's continued impact on South Africa's water systems, as a technical or scientific matter as well as the policy implications for the mining sector, water security and socio-economic sustainability has become a highly contested issue.

Suvania Naidoo was born in Durban, South Africa. She completed her bachelor's and honour's degrees at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. In 2009 she began lecturing for the Department of Development Studies at the University of South Africa (UNISA), where she also obtained her Master's degree. Her research niche area is environmental sustainability. In 2011, she began researching Acid Mine Drainage (AMD)as it became highly publicized and gained much attention at the time. Since, she has become very enthusiastic and focused in this area as she continues to pursue her research interests in this field, specifically on the environmental and socio-economic impact of AMD. She has presented papers at International Conferences in Japan, Croatia and London and has published on the topic. She is currently working on her PhD.