A 2021 report by auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke warns how the department of mineral resources and energy has failed to implement its rehabilitation programme to deal with derelict and ownerless (D&O) mines.
The report says the failure could delay by close to a century the rehabilitation of asbestos mines.
Illegal mining made headlines again last week as an unknown number of illegal miners were stuck underground in Stilfontein, North West, as the police’s Operation Vala Umgodi trapped the zama zamas who, fearing arrest, refused to resurface.
It is not yet clear how thousands of illegal miners gained access to the gold mines, which some have occupied for several months. A 2021 follow-up audit report by Maluleke into the rehabilitation of derelict and ownerless (D&O) mines highlighted how the government failed to nip the issue in the bud.
According to the report and information received from the department, 6,100 D&O mines and 1,170 holings (mine openings) were identified. In 2010, the department targeted rehabilitating about 2,000 large-scale mines by 2021. These mines pose the greatest risk and impact society and the environment the most. All 6,100 mines were targeted to be rehabilitated by 2038.
But by the end of March 2021, except for the asbestos mines, none of the 2,322 high-risk commodity D&O mines had been rehabilitated and the department set no specific target except for the overall 2038 deadline.
Of the 1,170 holings identified, only 43% (507) were closed, with no target date for closing the remaining holings.
“From the beginning of the rehabilitation programme, the National Treasury has not provided enough annual funding to ensure that all D&O mines will be rehabilitated by 2038. The medium-term expenditure framework allocated funding that was limited to rehabilitating D&O mines and the holings programme, and did not consider the budget required to rehabilitate the other 2,322 high-risk commodity D&O mines,” said Maluleke’s report.
Some 229 asbestos mines were targeted for rehabilitation by 2033, however, at the rate of the rehabilitation time frame and based on funding allocation levels and operational implementation plans, the AG's report expects the actual rehabilitation rate to be completed by the year 2123.
The 2021 valuation report estimated that R3.8bn would be needed to rehabilitate the asbestos mines by March 2033, but at its current rate of funding, the MTEF would have only allocated 44% of this amount by then, while the funding required to rehabilitate the remaining 229 abandoned asbestos mines would only be received by 2043.
In addition, the planned time frame for rehabilitating the remaining 229 asbestos mines does not consider the actual rate at which Mintek plans and implements rehabilitation projects. Mintek is the department’s implementing agent on asbestos rehabilitation.
For example, Mintek’s 2019-2022 implementation plan showed that 10 asbestos projects were identified in Limpopo to be completed between April 2019 and March 2022, resulting in an average of 3.33 asbestos rehabilitation projects per year.
At this rate, it would take about 79 years to rehabilitate the remaining 229 mines, which will only be completed in 2090.
Another blunder by the department was not reviewing the national strategy that was approved on December 14 2009. Due to this, the dynamic nature of the D&O mines database and rehabilitation rate is not clear as the strategy was meant to be reviewed every five years to consider how circumstances have changed over time.
Some of the key deliverables to be achieved were not included in the implementation plan and those that were included, did not have responsibilities, time frames and directed and allocated resources, Maluleke’s report found.
“The rehabilitation oversight committee (ROC) had also not finalised the implementation plan during 2010, as instructed by the director-general. [Example], the time frame in the implementation plan for rehabilitating large and medium-scale D&O mines was stated as ‘to start as soon as reasonably practical’, without giving any further details”.
Another issue raised in the report was the prioritising of rehabilitation and closure, as it was found that low-risk asbestos mines and holings were rehabilitated and closed while many unsafe holings and unsafe asbestos mines were unattended to.
The asbestos project implementation plan for the 2019/2022 to 2021/2022 financial year prioritised 10 asbestos projects in Limpopo, including low-risk mines and mines that did not require rehabilitation. It was not clear why these projects were chosen over the remaining seven high-risk asbestos mines in Limpopo.
— AG's report
“Included in the 81 high-priority asbestos D&O mines are three mines in Gauteng — the country’s most densely populated province — that have not been prioritised and scheduled for rehabilitation to date.
“The asbestos project implementation plan for the 2019/2022 to 2021/2022 financial year prioritised 10 asbestos projects in Limpopo, including low-risk mines and mines that did not require rehabilitation. It was not clear why these projects were chosen over the remaining seven high-risk asbestos mines in Limpopo.”
Maluleke, however, recommended that the department review its national strategy every five years as required to ensure that it reflects the changes in the abandoned mines environment.
Instead of only focusing on D&O asbestos mines and holdings, the department should perform an assessment, including research, and determine an approach for rehabilitating or repurposing all 6,100 abandoned mines.
When it comes to funding, Maluleke recommends that the department should compile, cost and approve a comprehensive implementation plan that covers all key deliverables of the national strategy.
“The department should develop processes and procedures to direct the planning, execution, monitoring and reporting of the D&O mines programme. The department should develop monitoring programmes, including the required costing so that it can allocate a sufficient budget to this crucial activity according to international best practices. The department should identify and allocate roles and responsibilities for implementing corrective action,” said Maluleke.
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