The mineral resources department says it is not to blame for the large amount of illegal mining uncovered in recent months, emphasising the regulator’s progress in rehabilitating derelict and ownerless mines over the past few years.
In 2021, the auditor-general published a scathing report on the department’s slow progress in rehabilitating derelict and ownerless mines — a key part of the effort to cut down on illegal mining.
The audit found the department’s rehabilitation programme “achieved only minor improvements over the past 12 years”, with the average number of mines rehabilitated in a year increasing from 1.67 in 2009 to only 2.25 in 2021.
Five years later, concerns about the programme’s sluggish progress have resurfaced as a recent incident in Stilfontein, the North West, saw law enforcement officers hesitantly embarking on a mission to retrieve 4,500 illegal miners trapped underground.
Police reported last week that 1,004 illegal miners had surfaced at Stilfontein between October 18 and November 5, with police and the army having blocked routes for food to be delivered to the miners since last month.
However, addressing concerns that SA’s ongoing rise in illegal mining is partly because of an inefficient rehabilitation programme, minerals & petroleum resources department spokesperson Makhosonke Buthelezi said, “that is not the case”.
“We have sealed about 797 derelict and ownerless mines from the 1,170 that were identified,” said Buthelezi, adding that “I think the situation has improved”, with 297 mines having been rehabilitated since the 2021 audit.
Buthelezi said the department would continue with its programme of closing derelict and ownerless mines in line with its operational plan, which aims to close 40 shafts or openings per year.
The rise of illegal mining in SA poses a serious risk to the sustainability of the local mining industry with negative social and financial impacts on the state, employees, companies and the country.
“The impact goes beyond financial considerations,” Minerals Council SA spokesperson Allan Seccombe said.
“The negative impact of illicit mining activities on nearby communities — which include rape, murder, violence, human trafficking, extortion and the degradation of values — is compounded by the destruction of water sources and other environmental consequences as a result of unfettered extraction of minerals with no regard to health, safety or environmental rules that strictly apply to the formal mining sector.
“No single stakeholder can address the challenge of illegal mining, and collaboration is key,” said Seccombe, but as the problem continued to intensify, there is a critical need for dedicated legislation to define and punish illegal mining and the associated crimes.
“Illegal miners can expect to escape with a slap on the wrist after being convicted of the minor crime of trespassing,” said Seccombe.
“Far tougher laws, effective policing and improved crime intelligence is needed to address illegal mining and the associated criminality, and to make arrests all the way up to the leaders and masterminds of these syndicates.”
In a recent media statement issued by parliament, mineral & petroleum resources portfolio committee chair Mikateko Mahlaule highlighted the challenges posed by illegal mining.
“The country has been grappling with illegal mining for many years and mining communities bore the brunt of peripheral criminal activities such as rape, robbery and damage to public infrastructure, among other things.
“However, since the inception of Operation Vala Umgodi in December last year, there have been remarkable strides in fighting the problem,” Mahlaule said, referring to the campaign launched by the police and army to combat SA’s complex network of illegal mining activities.
“Over and above many arrests effected thus far, the operation has led to a crackdown on the illicit activities in Stilfontein. The number of illegal miners reported to be underground paints a harrowing picture of an endemic criminal syndicate characterised by the blatant disregard for the law. The state cannot afford to give in.”
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