COMMENTS ON THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL, 2012

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) submitted comments on the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill, 2012, arguing that while the application of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) to mining is welcome, the Bill fails to ensure adequate community consultation and transparency. The CER criticizes the proposed administrative penalty system for lacking an independent tribunal and warns that the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) lacks the capacity to act as the competent environmental authority. The document further advocates for the reinstatement of joint and several liability for company directors and the removal of state immunity from criminal liability.

• The CER supports the application of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (NEMA) to mining activities to standardize environmental authorisations, but argues the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is unsuitable as the competent authority due to an "inherent conflict between its obligations to promote mining, and its obligations under NEMA" and a lack of human resource capacity.
• Current consultation processes for mining licenses are described as "box-ticking activities" that fail to provide communities with complete and accessible information. The CER argues that the standard for mining on land owned or occupied by customary communities should be "free, prior and informed consent".
• The CER opposes the proposed administrative penalty system because it grants significant power to a single official (the Regional Manager), which it claims "invites corruption" and violates the principle of administrative justice. It recommends the establishment of an independent tribunal, similar to the Competition Tribunal, to ensure fairness.
• The document highlights a loss of critical environmental protections during the transfer of provisions from the MPRDA to NEMA, specifically the "joint and several liability for directors of a mining company for environmental damage caused", and calls for its reinstatement.
• The CER criticizes the proposed definition of "historically disadvantaged person" in the Bill, arguing that by linking it to franchise rights prior to 1983 or 1993, the Bill "limits the ability of the DMR" to empower disadvantaged communities and address apartheid-era inequalities.
• The CER argues that the Minister should have discretion over whether to grant mining and prospecting rights, rather than being obligated to do so if certain conditions are met, suggesting the word "must" in sections 17(1) and 23(1) be replaced with "may".
• The document identifies significant barriers to information access, noting that mining companies often refuse to provide key documents and DMR Information Officers fail to comply with the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000.
• The CER opposes the removal of subsection (1)(d) from section 47, which would mean that providing "inaccurate, false, fraudulent, incorrect or misleading information" would no longer be a legal basis for the Minister to suspend or cancel a right.
• The CER calls for the removal of the phrase "save in so far as criminal liability is concerned" from section 109 to ensure the State is not exempt from criminal liability, especially given the launch of the first state-owned mine in Ogies in 2011.

APA

Fourie, M. (2013). COMMENTS ON THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL, 2012. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CER-Comments-to-DMR-on-Draft-MPRDA-Amendment-Bill-8-Feb-2013.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Fourie, Melissa. COMMENTS ON THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL, 2012. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2013. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CER-Comments-to-DMR-on-Draft-MPRDA-Amendment-Bill-8-Feb-2013.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Fourie |first1=Melissa |title=COMMENTS ON THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL, 2012 |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=8 February 2013 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CER-Comments-to-DMR-on-Draft-MPRDA-Amendment-Bill-8-Feb-2013.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{fourie2013comments, author = {Fourie, Melissa}, title = {{COMMENTS ON THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL, 2012}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2013}, month = feb, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CER-Comments-to-DMR-on-Draft-MPRDA-Amendment-Bill-8-Feb-2013.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }