Nonprofit shareholder activism and responsible investment organisation Just Share’s board of directors has welcomed an “important” High Court judgment, handed down on February 9, in relation to a Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) lawsuit initiated by Australian minerals sands and battery metals mining company Mineral Commodities (MRC).

Just Share says SLAPP is a mechanism to drag out legal processes and, ultimately, silence environmental activists.

The SLAPP suit was brought by MRC and a related company Mineral Sands Resources (MSR) against six South African environmental justice and community activists, alleging defamation and seeking damages of R14.25-million or a published apology.

MRC brought an initial SLAPP case in 2016 against environmental attorney Cormac Cullinan and environment activists Mzamo Dlamini and John Clarke.

MSR, meanwhile, in 2017 initiated a SLAPP case against Just Share executive director Tracey Davies, as well as environmental attorney Christine Reddell and environment activist Davine Cloete.

MRC and MSR, which are both involved in the exploration and development of major mineral sands projects in South Africa − the Tormin and the Xolobeni mineral sands projects − subsequently applied to have the cases heard as one.

One of the six defendants, Davies was working as an attorney at the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) when she was sued for defamation by MRC. Her, Reddell and Davies spoke during a lecture at the University of Cape Town’s Summer School in early 2017. At the time, they criticised MSR for environmental destruction and noncompliance with mining and environmental laws at MSR’s mine on the West Coast of South Africa.

In particular, the CER alleged that a large cliff had collapsed at the Tormin mining site in 2015, raising the alarm of environmental activists, scientists and authorities.

However, despite the incident, the CER stated that MSR subsequently received approval from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy for it to expand its operations on the West Coast. The CER also stated that appeals against this expansion had been rejected by the Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister.

Meanwhile, Dlamini, Clarke and Cullinan had criticised the conduct of MRC’s proposed titanium mining operation at Xolobeni on the Wild Coast. The Amadiba community had opposed the mine at Xolobeni for more than a decade, the CER reports.

In her February 9 judgment, Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath found that the slew of defamation lawsuits filed by MRC and its local subsidiary against the defendants – all of whom were either environmental justice and community activists or public interest lawyers – was an abuse of the legal process.

Her conclusion stated that, it was “trite that legal process is abused when it is used for a purpose other than that for what it has been intended or designed for. Corporations should not be allowed to weaponise our legal system against the ordinary citizen and activists in order to intimidate and silence them.”

The judge also found that it appeared that the defamation suit was “not genuine and bona fide, but merely a pretext with the only purpose to silence its opponents and critics".

In addition, the conclusion also noted that SLAPP suits constitute an abuse of process and are inconsistent with South Africa’s Constitutional values.

Just Share board chairperson Dugan Fraser says corporates like MRC use SLAPP suits – which are notoriously drawn out and expensive legal battles – with the intention to intimidate people who exercise their constitutional rights.

“This judgment is an extremely important victory for advocacy and activism in the public interest. It sends a clear message that freedom of speech on matters of public interest will be proudly defended by our courts.”

CER corporate accountability and transparency head Leanne Govindsamy says the judgment is a “clear signal” from court that South Africa’s law provides protection for civil society activists who engage in robust debate and free expression in the course of their activism.

“This judgment makes it clear that, in South Africa, corporations will not succeed in using SLAPP suits to silence criticism about their environmental impacts from environmental activities.”

CER executive director Melissa Fourie says that, as the environmental and climate justice movement grows in response to the climate crisis and ecological breakdown, environmental activists who criticise corporations that contribute to climate change and destruction of biodiversity are facing growing threats and intimidation.

“Although there is still a lot to be done to protect activists from threats and intimidation in South Africa . . . it is a relief that our courts recognise and are willing to protect the crucial importance of civil society activism for environmental justice.”