Parliamentary committees recommend amendment of laws to fight illegal mining

South Africa’s laws have hampered efforts to rid the country of illegal mining.

A report adopted by the parliamentary portfolio committees on mineral resources and energy and police and home affairs on Friday found the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act is one of the blunt tools in South Africa's armoury against the scourge. The committees visited illegal mining hotspots in five provinces — Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, the Free State and North West. 

On Saturday, parliament said the report showed the act had some loopholes.

“The report also makes an observation on the existing legislative gaps which have an impact on the effectiveness of the efforts to fight illegal mining. It observes that by not explicitly criminalising illegal mining, the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act ... presents a substantial shortcoming and limits policing operations severely,” it said in a statement.

“The committees are also of the view that other existing legislation to combat illegal mining is fragmented and lacks substantive measures to effectively deal with these activities.”

The report makes several recommendations to “respond to the challenge of illegal mining”, including an “urgent amendment of some legislation” to the Immigration Act, the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, the Diamonds, the Precious Metals Act, the Hazardous Substances Act and the Customs and Excise Act.

National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula assigned the committees to conduct joint oversight visits after the gang rape and robbery at a mine dump in Krugersdorp recently. The committee discovered “how illegal mining activities affect communities with social crimes”.

“In the report, the committees acknowledge the response of the Free State to illegal mining and recommend that the province could be used as a benchmark by all the provinces experiencing illegal mining,” the statement reads.

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