Draft amendments to the regulations of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act have been criticised by a coalition of mining-affected communities who are calling for them to be scrapped.
The proposed amendments, focusing on social, labour and environmental aspects, were published for public comment by the department of mineral resources & energy in December.
The amendments require employers to demonstrate steps to uplift areas from which they source workers, not just where they operate; introduce clear timelines on when social and labour plans (SLPs) should be submitted; and determine when consultations with communities and other structures over the plans need to be held.
Regarding employment equity, the draft says the plan should achieve 10% female participation in mining and 40% historically disadvantaged participation in management within five years of a company winning mining rights or converting old ones.
However, a coalition of mining-affected communities and civil society organisations, including Mining-Affected Communities United in Action (Macua) and the SA Federation of Trade Unions, picketed outside the department of mineral resources & energy in Pretoria on Friday.
Corruption Watch has also raised concerns about the draft regulations. These relate to the limitations that the draft regulations place on the ability of communities to voice their concerns and participate meaningfully in decision-making processes that affect them, particularly mining activities that may affect their security of tenure, their social and natural environment, and other socioeconomic conditions.
Corruption Watch is also concerned about the extent to which the amendments do not adequately regulate SLPs, and environmental impact management and create a legislative gap regarding the role of regional managers as well as the minister in the prevention of and protection against potential human rights violations.
The coalition of mining-affected communities has called on mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe to scrap the act and develop a new legal framework centred on mining-affected communities determining their own development path; and to launch a broad-based public participation process for the draft amendments.
They also called for the legalisation of illegal miners, known as zama-zamas. The Minerals Council SA estimates that zama-zamas and criminal syndicates account for R7bn in illicit flows of minerals such as gold, chrome and diamonds.
“We are saying legalise zama-zamas, legalise small-scale miners, because we believe if they [the government] do that, more jobs will be created,” said Macua national co-ordinator Meshack Mbangula.
“Unemployment in SA is over 40% and nothing is being done by the government. Our people will live better lives by legalising these zama-zamas. This bill is meant to give power to traditional leaders and they can take decisions without consulting us. We are saying we want free prior and informed consent.”
Mbangula lashed out at mining bosses, saying they are cruel and do not share profits with the communities in which they mine.
“A mine is a disaster. Where you find mines you find poverty, you find unemployment, you find diseases, you find pollution, contaminated water. These people are cruel, they are not there to make sure we benefit. They are there to loot our minerals, using the word ‘investment’,” he said.
The department’s chief inspector of mines, David Msiza, told the protesters the department takes their concerns “very seriously” and said the gazetting of the draft legislation does not mean “it’s the end of the story”.
“We gazette for inputs [from the public]. We will come to the respective communities and engage with yourselves. I think it’s key for us to do that,” said Msiza.
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