Legal reforms are needed for a genuine Just Energy Transition that shifts power to affected communities, argues a new report shared exclusively with the Oxpeckers #PowerTracker programme by Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA), a community-based social movement fighting against the negative social, economic and environmental impacts of mining.

The report, titled Green Power, Old Inequality, raises questions about whether South Africa’s renewable-energy transition gives affected communities enforceable rights to ownership, decision-making and the economic benefits generated by projects developed in their areas. “A change in the source of electricity is not, by itself, a change in the distribution of power,” it states.

Produced in collaboration with Youth Affected by Mining United in Action (YAMUA) and Women Affected by Mining United in Action (WAMUA), it argues that meaningful participation must go beyond mere consultation with affected communities. Legal structures must be put in place to confirm community control over assets, decision-making and enforceable benefits, it says.

“We are witnessing billions being invested in renewable energy infrastructure, much of it connected to the decarbonisation of existing mining and industrial operations, while communities that have historically borne the environmental, social and economic costs of those industries remain marginalised from ownership, governance and economic benefits of the new energy economy,” Christopher Rutledge, executive director at MACUA/WAMUA advice office, said in an interview with #PowerTracker.

The report uses a public-private partnership for the R2.1-billion Sonvanger Solar Power Plant near Theunissen in the Free State to examine the gap between the legal and commercial arrangements securing renewable-energy investments and the rights of the communities expected to benefit from them.

Launched in November 2024 in the abandoned gold-mining town of Theunissen, the Sonvanger (sun catcher) plant supplies electricity to mining company Glencore’s industrial operations under a 20-year power purchase agreement. Pele Green Energy, a South African renewable-energy developer, was selected by Glencore Operations South Africa, acting on behalf of the Glencore-Merafe Venture, to develop, finance, construct, own and operate the plant.

The MACUA report, due to be handed over by the community to Sonvanger, Glencore and the banks on November 11, states that the project’s commercial arrangements were negotiated without proper community input, and that small businesses which were supposed to benefit from the project have not done so. Rutledge said the movement is considering challenging these processes in court.

Sonvanger is not an isolated case, he added: “We are seeing a pattern in many of the green energy projects nationwide, particularly in Mpumalanga’s coalfields, where communities face the prospect of mine closure and the loss of economic livelihoods, and where new energy and transition mineral investments raise questions about who controls development and who benefits from it,” he said.

This story was produced by Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism and shared with Scrolla.Africa as part of a content partnership. Read the full investigation here.