Athi Jara is a Director and Head of the Mining and Environmental Law Department at Gwina Attorneys, a corporate law firm based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

She holds an LLB Degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and an LLM Degree (with merit) from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom. She has over 10 years’ experience in Mining and Environmental Law.

 

She has completed Certificate Courses in Prospecting and Mining Law, and Advanced Company Laws I and II from the Mandela Institute at Wits University.

 

She was previously a Senior Associate in the Mining Department at Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs Incorporated (ENSafrica). Prior to joining ENSafrica, she practised as an attorney in the Mining, Environmental and Natural Resources Department at Bowman Gilfillan (now Bowmans). While at Bowmans, she was exposed to mining law, energy law, environmental law and public procurement law. She was also part of the team that advised the Department of Energy and National Treasury on the implementation of the first Independent Power Producers Programme for Renewable Energy (IPP Programme) in South Africa. Prior to Bowmans, she completed her articles of clerkship and was retained as an Associate within the Environmental and Mining Law Department at Eversheds.

 

Her experience within the mining practice area includes involvement in mergers and acquisitions transactions, conducting mining due diligences, compiling mining title reports, undertaking mining litigation, black economic empowerment structuring in compliance with the provisions of the Mining Charter, giving advice on mining royalties and drafting technical mining agreements.

 

She has acted for a wide range of mining companies in all mineral commodity sectors, including base and precious metals, diamonds, coal, gold and platinum group metals. She has also assisted a number of clients with regards to their environmental compliance requirements under South African Law.

 

In 2019, Athi was recognised as one of the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans in the Justice and Law Category.

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