Deconstructing a single-actor resource ownership model

A study of the proposed uranium mining in the karoo region of South Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID13068232
AuthorsMoshood Issah (0000-0003-0928-4751, University of Ilorin), Lanre Abdul-Rasheed Sulaiman (0009-0000-2760-5630, University of Pretoria, corresponding author), Fatima Omotayo Aliu (0009-0004-3207-7392, University of Ilorin), Abdullateef Raji (University of Ilorin), Ridwan Olabisi Yusuff (0009-0008-9777-9052, University of Ilorin), Salihu Zakariyyah Abdulbaqi (University of Ilorin), Sunday Joseph Akor (University of Ilorin), Ojogiwa T Oluwaseun (University of KwaZulu-Natal)
Year2025
Volume22
Pages101609-101609
Publication date2025-01-05
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Extractive Industries and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2214-790X • E-ISSN: 2214-7918
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.exis.2024.101609
OpenAlexW4406080553
LanguageEN
References cited21

This study engages the discourse of ‘eminent domain’ as it applies to the mineral extractive sector in a uranium-rich region of South Africa. • This study makes a case for the deconstruction of a 'single-actor resource ownership’ model in uranium mining in the Karoo region of South Africa. • The study used data collected through qualitative instruments and concluded that the disaggregation of the current unconstructive policy space dominated by the hierarchic state to one that accommodates diverse views and voices of other stakeholders will create a multi-metric, pluralistic, and democratic environment where the ‘public-use principle’ in essence does not exclude the public. This study engages the discourse of ‘eminent domain’ – the power of the state to expropriate communally or individually owned properties for ‘public good’ – as it applies in the mineral extractive sector in resource-rich countries, such as South Africa. It is argued that the use of the ‘eminent domain’ principle in the acquisition of land and allocation of mining rights reinforces the notion of the ‘supreme state’. The entrenchment of this idea advances ‘the single metric model’ in which one stakeholder's voice is heard at the expense of other stakeholders. This hierarchical framework privileges the state and the licensed mining companies and excludes resource-rich communities and other egalitarian structures. It is against this backdrop that this study makes a case for the deconstruction of a ‘single-actor resource ownership’ model in South Africa. Using data collected through qualitative instruments, the study concluded that the ‘single metric’ approach, in which the state enforces its agency over the other stakeholders, is rooted in its understanding of ‘rights and sovereignty’ over land and mineral resource ownership in South Africa. This strikes at the centre of a developing conflict among the stakeholders in the uranium-rich community. Therefore, the disaggregation of the current unconstructive policy space dominated by the hierarchic state to one which accommodates diverse views and voices of other stakeholders will create a multi-metric, pluralistic and democratic environment where the ‘public-use principle’ in essence does not exclude the public

Business · Political science · Resource (disambiguation · Uranium · Computer Science · Hydropower, Displacement, Environmental Impact · Mining and Resource Management · Mining Techniques and Economics