Whether his department has a central database of all (a) active and (b) inactive tailings dams in the Republic; if not, why not; if so, what are the full relevant details of the dams?
The Department has central database of active and dormant/ inactive slimes in the Republic of South Africa. There are 150 active and 328 dormant slimes dam, respectively. The total number of slimes dams in the databese is 478.
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(1)Whether any officials in his department have been found fostering an environment for illicit mining to prosper; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what penalties were they given;
(2) whether his department will take charge of restoring regions that have been ravaged by illegal miners; if not, who will restore such regions; if so, what are the relevant details
- No, no official has been found fostering an environment for illicit mining to prosper.
- The Department will continue with rehabilitation of derelict and ownerless mines. It will further continue to promote development in areas ravaged by illegal mining, and mining rights holders to ensure that mines are rehabilitated after closure
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(1)(a) What are the names of all the mining companies that mined in the Koingnaas mining area in the Kamiesberg Local Municipality after De Beers stopped mining, (b) who are/were their shareholders/directors and (c) what (i)amount was set aside for rehabilitation by each mining company and (ii) did each mining company contribute towards the municipality and communities;
(2) whether he will furnish Mrs V van Dyk with the social labour plan of each of the (a) operational and (b) nonoperational mining companies over the past five years, specifically towards infrastructure; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
1(a) West coast resources (Pty) Ltd
(b) West Coast Resources (Pty) Ltd is owned 67.2% by Trans Diamante Ltd a subsidiary of Trans Hex group Ltd, 4% is held by Namaqualand Diamond Fund Trust, 8.8% is held by Dininoka Investment Holdings and 20% is held Main Street (State SPV). Historically Disadvantaged South Africans holds 41.61% shares of the 67.2% shares in the Trans Hex ...
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Whether any measures have been put in place for the nationalisation of mines; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
There are no measures in place to nationalize mines because it is not a government policy.
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(1)Noting how contractors appointed by different mines continue to exploit workers, (a) which measures of intervention have been put in place to ensure that workers are not exploited by contractors, (b) by what date will workers be employed directly by the mines and not through contractors and (c) what (i) total number of workers have been employed through contractors in all the mining houses and (ii) is the percentage of workers employed through contractors versus those employed directly by mines;
(2) whether he has found that mining contractors pay their workers the minimum wage as set out by the Department of Employment and Labour; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details? NW5123E
The matter is not within the mandate of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy as it is an operational matter which should be responded to by the mine owners.
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(1)(a) What are the names of all the mining companies that have been involved in the Kamiesberg Local Municipality area in the past five financial years, (b) what are the names of the shareholders and/or directors of the companies, (c) how long has each company been mining in the Kamiesberg, (d) what does each company mine, (e) where is the mine and (f) what amount was set aside by each mining company for rehabilitation;
(2) whether the Government and/or any government officials have any shares in any of the specified mining companies; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what is the (a) name of the company and (b) shareholding percentage;
(3) whether all of the mines have a social labour plan; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, will he furnish Mrs V van Dyk with a copy of the specified plan?
1(a) West Coast Resources.
(b) West Coast Resources (Pty) Ltd is owned 67.2% by Trans Diamante Ltd a subsidiary of Trans Hex group Ltd, 4% is held by Namaqualand Diamond Fund Trust, 8.8% is held by Dininoka Investment Holdings and 20% is held Main Street (State SPV). Historically Disadvantaged South Africans holds 41.61% shares of the 67.2% shares in the Trans Hex group shares. ...
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(a) What steps will he take with regard to the responses he received to the withdrawal of the Gas Amendment Bill, [B9-2021], on which extensive public hearings across the Republic were held and that now leave many stakeholders like the National Energy Regulator of South Africa in the dark and concerned that the withdrawal has dealt the entity a serious blow and (b) how does he plan to remedy the (i) wasteful spending of public funds on a bill that will never be processed and (ii) legislative shortcomings that the absence of the bill causes for the industry and the Republic?
a) The Department has not received any responses to the withdrawal of the Bill.
b) The inputs from public consultations will be used to strengthen and improve on the Bill which will be resubmitted in next financial year.
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With regard to the Samrad system of his department which has not been serviced and has therefore been outdated for years, (a) what are the reasons that there were no plans (i) drawn and (ii) implemented to service and ensure that the system is regularly updated, (b) how does his department intend to mitigate the backlog which the installation of a new system will cause and (c) what is the action plan to counter the specified backlog?
a) (i), (ii) Since its inception, the system has been serviced, however challenges were experienced when the service provider who maintained and serviced the system was liquidated in 2016. No updates were made of the system since then.
b) The norm for implementing ICT related projects is to have a detailed project and migration plan which also include risks identification and how the risks ...
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What steps has he taken to (a) address the issue of illegal mining and (b) transform illegal miners into small-scale miners in Witrankie Village in the Moses Kotane Local Municipality?
(a) Illegal mining of chrome in Witrankie is one of the Department’s priority areas. In order to address illegal mining in the village, intelligence led operations were conducted with members of the SAPS and the Hawks. As a result of those operations, cases were opened, and arrests made. There are continuous disruptive operations conducted by the Department and SAPS given the extent of illegal ...
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(1)Noting that the Republic has been facing an energy crisis, frequent load shedding and uncertainty from Eskom and his department as to when the country will reach stability again, what initiatives, outside opening bids for private entities and/or collaborations, have been started by the Government to build the Republic’s green energy industry,
(2) whether he has found that the current reliance on Independent Power Producers and opening bids is the Government’s way of shifting some of its responsibilities to services providers and the private sector and thus dismantling the Republic’s sovereignty; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the further, relevant details?
- Through the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM) established by the President of the Republic, short – medium term initiatives are being pursued to bring online both renewable and non-renewable energy-based power generation technologies. With regard to building “the Republic’s green energy industry”, outside opening bids for private entities and/or collaborations, limits on the maximum power that can be generated and traded through bilateral arrangements ...
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