Minister of mineral & petroleum resources Gwede Mantashe has told parliament that the process of closing the Ekapa mine does not absolve legal accountability for its environmental impacts, including the details surrounding five dead mineworkers.
The minister sent a written reply to a question from EFF MP Lorato Tito, who asked — in light of reports that the Ekapa mine is in the process of closing down — what the legal and regulatory basis was for the department to permit or acknowledge the closure while there are unresolved questions about the fate of the five missing miners.
Mantashe said that in terms of section 43 of the Mineral & Petroleum Resources Development Act, the holder of a mining right remains responsible for:
- any environmental liability, pollution and ecological degradation;
- the pumping and treatment of extraneous water;
- compliance with the conditions of the environmental authorisation; and
- the management and sustainable closure of the facility.
“Until the minister has issued a closure certificate in terms of the act to the holder … the provisional winding up of Ekapa Minerals does not exonerate the company from environmental liability,” he said.
Ekapa Minerals was under provisional liquidation as the high court in Kimberley heard the matter of its operations. In February a group of miners was trapped 890m underground following a mudslide, and a weeks-long operation kicked off to rescue them, with all five bodies recovered by March.
“The department of mineral & petroleum resources and Mine Rescue Services are at the Ekapa mine … daily … to support the mine with the rescue operations that are currently continuing
— Gwede Mantashe, minister of mineral & petroleum resources
Mantashe said Ekapa Minerals launched an ex parte application in March in the high court in Kimberley to place Ekapa Minerals under provisional winding up in the hands of the master of the high court.
“The department of mineral & petroleum resources, as the regulator, was not cited as a respondent in this application. This is a legal process and does not constitute a legal and/or regulatory basis for the department to permit and/or acknowledge closure while there are unresolved questions.”
He said in March the high court ordered that Ekapa Minerals be placed under provisional winding up in the hands of the master of the high court. However, the provisional order calls on interested parties to show cause on April 17 why a final liquidation order should not be granted.
In a separate question, Tito asked whether the department has instituted an independent forensic and structural investigation into the cause of the collapse of the Ekapa mine, who is leading the investigation, and on what date the findings of the investigation will be made public.
“The department of mineral & petroleum resources and Mine Rescue Services are at the Ekapa mine … daily … to support the mine with the rescue operations that are currently continuing,” Mantashe replied.
On conclusion of the rescue operations, the department will follow due process as prescribed by the Mine Health & Safety Act, which provides for the chief inspector of mines to appoint an inspector of mines to investigate the cause of an accident.
After the investigation, an inspector of mines will prepare a written report of the findings, recommendations and any remedial steps, he added.
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