Whether he will provide Mrs. C Phillips with the records of the written notice and consultation as envisaged by section 26(3) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, Act 28 of 2002, for the beneficiation of chrome currently undertaken by a certain company (name furnished) on Portion 71 of the Farm Groenkloof, in the Bojanala District, North West; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
1, The entity referred to has no mining authorisations issued by this Department, furthermore the Department has no records pertaining their application to beneficiate minerals. However, section 26 of the Act was meant to promote beneficiation of mineral in the Republic. Section 26(3) requires any person who intends to beneficiate any mineral outside the Republic to do so with written notice and in consultation ...
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(1) Whether he has found that the practice of seawalls is extremely harmful to the diamond diving industry and the littoral environment when hundreds of tons of residue stockpile are being dumped into the ocean every hour, destroying habitat, sterilising large areas of valuable diamond diving resource, turning the water column into a black slurry and driving the final nail into the coffin of the diamond diving industry; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what steps have been taken by his department to address the environmental crisis;
(2) whether it is his position that seawall material is defined as residue stockpile and is therefore the responsibility of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment to monitor, as provided for in the National Environmental Management Act, Act 107 of 1998, instead of his department that has no authority over the specified matter; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details? NW3232E
(1) Response: Seawalls are generally created using sea – sand excavated directly from the sea mining block to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out and drained. The pumping creates a semi-dry working environment so that work can be carried out safely and efficiently. In most cases, particularly in the case of diamond mining, seawalls are created as temporal structures, they collapse ...
What (a) is the total number of mines which have been rehabilitated in each province since he came into office in February 2018 and (b) are the relevant details of each rehabilitated mine? NW3030E
a) Since 2018 the department has rehabilitated thirteen (13) derelict and ownerless mines.
b) Eleven (11) of those mines are in Limpopo, one (1) in Mpumalanga, and another one (1) in the Northern Cape.
Whether his department was involved in the installation of solar systems at Vondeling in the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape; if not, why not; if so, what (a) total number of solar systems were installed at Vondeling in 2021, (b) total number of the solar system units are not working, (c) total number have never worked and (d) are the reasons that the contractor has not been required to repair the non-functioning units?
Yes, DMRE was involved in the installation of the SHSs
a) DMRE installed eighty-eight (88) Solar Home Systems (SHSs) at Dr Beyers Naude in the 2020/21 financial year through one of its appointed service providers. Twenty (20) SHSs were installed in Vondeling.
b) The DMRE conducted an inspection with the service provider and the municipality officials on 28-29 April 2021. During the inspection two ...
What (a) measures have been taken to rehabilitate old mining and bushy areas which were previously mines and (b) are the details of the time frames that have been put in place to legalise small-scale mining for local communities?
(a)The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has a programme to rehabilitate derelict and ownerless mines. Annually National Treasury allocates funds for the rehabilitation of these mines. In the current financial year, R143 million has been allocated for this purpose. With these amounts three derelict and ownerless mines are rehabilitated as outlined in the Annual Performance Plan.
(b) There is nothing in law or ...
What (a) financial amounts has the Republic contributed to the Grand Inga Hydropower Project since 1 January 2013 up to the latest specified date for which information is available, (b) have been the material outcomes of the contributions and (c) renewed financial commitments has the Republic made towards the revival of the specified project in 2023?
The Republic of South Africa has not made any financial contribution to the Grand Inga
Hydropower Project and there are no financial commitments made.
(1) Whether he has been informed that a 15-year-old child from Phola near Ogies, suffered third-degree burns after falling into a pit of an unrehabilitated mining area in Mpumalanga in October 2022 and that to date the owner of the land has not been located; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so,
(2) Whether his department has a database of all mine owners in each province, particularly the owners of the mines that need rehabilitation; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? NW3029E
1. The Department has been informed of the unfortunate incident. Preliminary investigations shows that the area where the incident happened falls outside coordinates of any Licensed mine. The Mining company in the vicinity decided to assist on purely humanitarian grounds and this assistance has also been acknowledged by the child’s family. The Department remains seizes with this matter to prevent the occurrence of such ...
What steps is he and his department taking to close the legislative loopholes that were identified in the Joint Illegal Mining Report, which make it more difficult for law enforcement to stop illegal mining?
The Department is participating in the process of developing the General Laws amendment (GLA) Bill by creating provisions in the Mineral Petroleum Resource Development Act (MPRDA, the Diamond Act and the Precious Metal Act that will strengthen penalties and criminalise illegal mining.
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(1) With regard to Section 26(3) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, Act 28 of 2002, which states that any person who intends to beneficiate any mineral mined in the Republic outside the Republic may only do so after written notice and in consultation with the Minister, what (a) total number of companies and/or individuals in the Bojanala area have submitted written notice and consulted with him in order to beneficiate ore containing chromium (Cr), (b) are the names of the companies and/or individuals and (c) are the details of the property on which the beneficiation is taking place;
(2) whether, with regard to Section 5(4)(a), which states that no person may prospect for or remove, mine, conduct technical co-operation operations, reconnaissance operations, explore for and produce mineral or petroleum or commence with any work incidental thereto on any area without an approved environmental management programme or approved environmental management plan, as the case may be, he will furnish Mrs C Phillips with a copy of the plans of the companies and/or individuals referred to in question 1(a); if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
1. Section 26 of the Act was meant to promote beneficiation of mineral in the Republic. Section 26(3) requires any person who intends to beneficiate any mineral outside the Republic to so with written notice and in consultation with the Minister. The constraints on electricity have limited the ability to facilitate local beneficiation.
(a) There is no company and/or individual in the Bojanala area ...
What measures has his department adopted in the past two years to deal with and stop illegal mining, which has become popular amongst illegal immigrants recently?
a) The National Environmental Management Act, 107 of 1998 (NEMA) provides for regulation of activities which cannot be undertaken without an Environmental Authorisation, such listed activities includes mining and prospecting activities. If any person conducts a listed activity without an approved Environmental Authorisation they are committing an offense in terms of section 49A of NEMA and can be prosecuted following an investigation.
b) The ...
