SUBMISSIONS BY THE CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES ON THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL [B 15D-2013]

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) submitted comments to the National Council of Provinces regarding the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill [B 15D-2013]. The CER argues that the legislative process has been procedurally irregular, potentially leading to a constitutional challenge, and expresses concern that new amendments dilute community participation and environmental protections.

• The CER asserts that the legislative process for the Bill is procedurally flawed and likely to result in a deadlock. The Bill was referred back by the President in January 2015 due to a lack of public participation in Provincial Parliaments and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), and a failure to consult the National House of Traditional Leaders (NHTL) on the customary principle of consent. The CER argues that any new amendments proposed at the NCOP stage cannot be considered by the National Assembly, making the Bill "vulnerable to a constitutional challenge".
• The CER objects to proposed amendments that remove specific protections for women and communities. Specifically, the Bill proposes removing the phrase "including women and communities" from section 2(d) of the principal Act. The CER argues this is "not justifiable" and "not rational" because the extraction of minerals still fails to adequately create opportunities or benefits for these groups.
• The CER criticizes section 38B(1) of the MPRDA, which deems old environmental management programmes (EMPs) and programmes (EMPRs) approved before September 2, 2014, as environmental authorisations under the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA). The CER argues this lowers environmental standards, as the MPRDA regime was "not adequate to ensure that the impact of mining on the environment is properly mitigated" compared to NEMA's Integrated Environmental Management system. They further claim this provision effectively exonerates right holders who operated illegally without NEMA authorisations.
• The CER argues that the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is an inappropriate authority for issuing environmental authorisations due to a lack of human resource capacity, a poor track record of enforcement, and an "inherent conflict" between its goals to promote mining and its obligations under NEMA. They note that the DMR's environment function has been "severely affected by budget cuts" and that the department has failed to make its compliance monitoring and enforcement statistics public.
• The CER highlights deficiencies in administrative justice and public participation within the MPRDA. They argue that public participation should be mandatory for the renewal, transfer, and amendment of rights and permits. They specifically object to clause 11(c) of the Bill, which proposes removing the requirement to consult "interested parties" for prospecting right applications, arguing this would "preclude interested members of the public" from providing input.
• The CER strongly opposes the deletion of the phrase "including conditions requiring the participation of the community" from section 17 of the MPRDA. They argue that because mining often has "severe adverse environmental and socio-economic impacts on communities," it is essential that communities have opportunities to participate and should ideally provide "free, prior and informed consent" for mining on their land.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2017). SUBMISSIONS BY THE CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES ON THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL [B 15D-2013]. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/22-03-2017-CER-comments-on-MPRDA-Bill.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. SUBMISSIONS BY THE CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES ON THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL [B 15D-2013]. 2017. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/22-03-2017-CER-comments-on-MPRDA-Bill.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=SUBMISSIONS BY THE CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES ON THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL [B 15D-2013] |date=22 March 2017 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/22-03-2017-CER-comments-on-MPRDA-Bill.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2017submissions, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{SUBMISSIONS BY THE CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES ON THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL [B 15D-2013]}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2017}, month = mar, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/22-03-2017-CER-comments-on-MPRDA-Bill.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }