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) submits that the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill [B 15D-2013] is vulnerable to constitutional challenge due to procedural irregularities in Parliament. The CER argues that the Bill dilutes the rights of women and communities to benefit from mineral resources and fails to align environmental management of mines with the higher standards of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA). Specifically, the CER opposes the 'deeming' of old-order environmental management programmes as NEMA authorisations, which it claims exonerates companies operating illegally. The submission also calls for the Department of Mineral Resources to be stripped of environmental regulation duties, citing a lack of capacity and an inherent conflict of interest between promoting mining and protecting the environment.

• The legislative process for the Bill is procedurally irregular and likely to lead to a deadlock or constitutional challenge because the National Assembly is bound by the President's referral and cannot consider new amendments proposed by the National Council of Provinces or Provincial Parliaments.
• The Bill proposes to remove the phrase "including women and communities" from section 2 of the MPRDA, which the CER argues is irrational and unjustifiable given the continued exclusion of these groups from the benefits of mineral exploitation.
• Section 38B(1) of the MPRDA inappropriately equates old-order environmental management programmes (EMPs/EMPRs) with NEMA environmental authorisations, effectively lowering environmental standards and exonerating companies that conducted operations illegally without proper NEMA authorisations.
• The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is unfit to act as the environmental authority for mining due to a lack of human resource capacity, a poor track record of enforcement, and an inherent conflict between its mandate to promote mining and its obligations to protect the environment.
• The MPRDA and the proposed Bill are inadequate in upholding principles of administrative justice, specifically regarding the lack of meaningful public participation in the renewal, transfer, and amendment of mining rights and permits.
• The CER objects to the deletion of requirements for community participation in mining conditions, arguing that the MPRDA should instead explicitly require the free, prior and informed consent of communities 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} }