House Chairperson, the ACDP believes that this oversight report presents both the opportunities and challenges facing South Africa’s mining and energy sectors.
While the report highlights significant economic and potential in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal through industrial minerals, heavy mineral sands, lithium and iron ore, it also exposes serious governance, regulatory and enforcement failures that undermine stable development.
Particularly concerning in the view of the ACDP is the persistence of illegal sand mining. Evidence from the Valley of a Thousand Hills and several Eastern Cape hotspots demonstrates that illegal mining has evolved into a sophisticated criminal enterprise. The resulting environmental degradation is a threat to public safety and a loss of state revenue, and it requires a more coordinated response.
Significant capacity constraints exist within the DMPR (Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources). Critical vacancies, licensing backlogs, weak compliance monitoring and inadequate enforcement of social labour plans have created conditions where non-compliance flourishes, while legitimate investors face uncertainty and delays.
The findings relating to PetroSA (Petroleum, Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa) and SAPREF (South African Petroleum Refineries) further highlights risks to South Africa’s energy security. Although plans to restore refining capacity are encouraging, financial liabilities, regulatory disputes and operational uncertainties remain unresolved.
The ACDP therefore calls for three urgent interventions:
- The establishment of specialised multi-agency units to combat illegal mining syndicates;
- Adequate staffing and resourcing of the DMPR to improve compliance and licensing processes; and
- Mandatory independent audits and public reporting of mining trusts to ensure communities benefit from mineral wealth.
As Kingdom-builders, the ACDP asserts that South Africa’s mineral resources can drive growth and job creation, but only if governance, accountability and enforcement become non-negotiable.
Thank you, House Chair.
