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Paper short abstract:

The energy transition means more mining, increasing private sector presence in frontier areas. This paper examines grievance mechanisms in South Africa’s platinum belt, revealing how they 'restrict' and 'constrict' access to justice, creating systemic barriers to fairness for affected communities.

Paper long abstract:

The energy transition will drive unprecedented mining activity, bringing increased private sector presence into rural, peasant, informal, and indigenous territories. Concerns of looming injustices are quelled with assurances that corporate responsibility practices will be implemented and that remedies will be accessible through grievance procedures should infringements occur. This paper examines these operational-level grievance mechanisms and claims for environmental justice in mining territories. It draws on data collected in platinum-producing regions in Limpopo, South Africa, through interviews, observation and extensive engagement with mine representatives, aggrieved community members as well as various other actors involved in efforts to address disputes in the area. The analysis is anchored in Environmental Justice (EJ) and political ecology literatures, which reveals how the distribution of environmental costs is maintained through distinct modes of resource governance – often codified in law. The case study illustrates how company-administered grievance mechanisms 'restrict' and 'constrict' access to justice at major points of the grievance management process. Restriction is defined as deliberate limitations or controls imposed on the process, whereas constriction describes the gradual narrowing of access through practical barriers or systemic inefficiencies. For the aggrieved, grievance procedures are perceived as “barriers”, designed to put time and space between the operation and those affected by it. Organisational limits furthermore have a notable bearing on procedural and epistemic aspects of justice. The study builds on existing literatures of the failings of operational-level grievance mechanisms, highlighting their role in the increased juridification of socio-environmental relationships in extractive territories.