The Minerals Council South Africa will engage extensively with the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) on the Mineral Resources Development Bill to ensure the mining regulatory environment is conducive to investment, growth and job creation.
The Minerals Council’s members account for 90 percent of South Africa’s annual mineral production.
The Minerals Council lodged its extensive Board-approved submission on the Bill within the 13 August 2025 deadline.
“The regulatory environment must be conducive to encouraging investment in exploration, mine development and sustain existing mining operations so that the industry can grow, create jobs and generate the wealth it is capable of delivering for the benefit of all South Africans,” says Mzila Mthenjane, CEO of the Minerals Council.
“Our key point of departure in engagements with the Department is to have pragmatic conversations that address elements of the Bill that discourage investment and growth of the industry which we all agree has untapped potential that is not being realised,” he says.
It is of fundamental importance for the Minerals Council that the Bill creates certainty, predictability and a competitive regulatory environment, while eliminating ambiguity in what will become the Act to ensure we build on the successes we have had to date.
The Minerals Council and its members are committed to transformation of the industry, which can be further broadened by a flourishing mining sector, creating new opportunities for all role players and newcomers.
In principle, the Minerals Council has no objection to the inclusion of artisanal mining in the Bill provided it can be done in an environmentally responsible, safe and healthy manner, with clear identifiable obligations and responsibilities attributable to artisanal mining. In this regard the Minerals Council advocates for a fit for purpose regulatory framework for artisanal mining.
We welcome the criminalisation of illegal mining in the Bill, which addresses the long-held concerns of the Minerals Council. We have made recommendations for more effective penalties to be imposed to serve as a deterrent in the long run. In addition, the streamlining of the appeals process is positive.
The Minerals Council’s overarching concern with the Bill is that in its current form it does not encourage investment in the industry for growth. Its reliance on regulations that have yet to be published for public scrutiny make it impossible to fully engage the DMPR in detail on key elements of the Bill.
Key elements of the Bill that will be the focus of the Minerals Council engagement with the DMPR include beneficiation, empowerment, tailings, and mine closure provisions, which rely heavily on unpublished regulations and, in their current form are potentially disruptive to mining operations and potential investment.
The Government must look at incentivising beneficiation, developing transport and water infrastructure and cost-competitive electricity rather than imposing prescriptive obligations and penalising non-compliance with the Act and its regulations.
The Minerals Council stresses that the Bill must build on successes achieved in relation to transformation and empowerment in the industry.
The mining industry has significantly transformed, a point that Minister Gwede Mantashe has repeatedly noted on public platforms, stating that ours is one of the most transformed sectors in the economy.
These elements and others will be the subject of discussions with the DMPR.
The Minerals Council is looking forward to the engagement with the DMPR and it will play its role in enabling the process to run its course to develop an optimal regulatory framework to grow and sustain the mining industry for the benefit of all stakeholders.
