REQUEST TO INCLUDE CERTAIN RECORDS IN, AND TO REMOVE CERTAIN LIMITATIONS FROM, THE DEPARTMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES’ DECLARATION IN TERMS OF SECTION 15 OF THE PROMOTION OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT, 2000

The document is a formal request to the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) to increase transparency by expanding the list of records automatically available to the public under section 15 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). The signatories argue that the DMR's 2014 declaration improperly limits access to specific categories of persons and excludes critical documents such as mining rights, environmental authorisations, and compliance reports, which are essential for affected communities to hold mining companies accountable.

• The signatories argue that the DMR's 2014 PAIA Manual improperly limits automatic access to records to specific groups, including landowners, lawful occupiers, and 'Other interested and affected parties as contemplated in the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002', which they claim contradicts the intention of section 15(1)(a) of PAIA.
• The DMR is requested to include several categories of records in its section 15 declaration for automatic availability: mining and prospecting rights (including works programmes), environmental authorisations, social and labour plans (SLPs), environmental management programmes/plans (EMPs/EMPRs), full applications for these rights and licences, and compliance inspection and audit reports.
• The document highlights a lack of transparency regarding Social and Labour Plans (SLPs), noting that while they are listed as automatically available, the DMR excludes 'confidential commercial and financial information' and limits access to 'interested and affected persons'.
• The signatories point out that the DMR's restrictive approach to environmental authorisations contradicts regulation 26(h) of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2014, which requires authorisation holders to make copies available on their websites and to anyone upon request.
• The request emphasizes that the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) and the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) have already moved toward greater transparency; the DEA announced in April 2016 it would make environmental licences automatically available, and the DWS committed to doing the same for water use licences and compliance reports.
• The document asserts that automatic access to compliance records is necessary for civil society to monitor industrial operations, citing the 2014 Supreme Court of Appeal case ArcelorMittal South Africa v Vaal Environmental Justice Alliance.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2016). REQUEST TO INCLUDE CERTAIN RECORDS IN, AND TO REMOVE CERTAIN LIMITATIONS FROM, THE DEPARTMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES’ DECLARATION IN TERMS OF SECTION 15 OF THE PROMOTION OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT, 2000. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Joint-CER-_CALS-Letter-to-DMR-regarding-s15-declarations-in-terms-of-PAIA-27-09-2016.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. REQUEST TO INCLUDE CERTAIN RECORDS IN, AND TO REMOVE CERTAIN LIMITATIONS FROM, THE DEPARTMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES’ DECLARATION IN TERMS OF SECTION 15 OF THE PROMOTION OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT, 2000. 2016. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Joint-CER-_CALS-Letter-to-DMR-regarding-s15-declarations-in-terms-of-PAIA-27-09-2016.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=REQUEST TO INCLUDE CERTAIN RECORDS IN, AND TO REMOVE CERTAIN LIMITATIONS FROM, THE DEPARTMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES’ DECLARATION IN TERMS OF SECTION 15 OF THE PROMOTION OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT, 2000 |date=27 September 2016 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Joint-CER-_CALS-Letter-to-DMR-regarding-s15-declarations-in-terms-of-PAIA-27-09-2016.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2016request, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{REQUEST TO INCLUDE CERTAIN RECORDS IN, AND TO REMOVE CERTAIN LIMITATIONS FROM, THE DEPARTMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES’ DECLARATION IN TERMS OF SECTION 15 OF THE PROMOTION OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT, 2000}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2016}, month = sep, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Joint-CER-_CALS-Letter-to-DMR-regarding-s15-declarations-in-terms-of-PAIA-27-09-2016.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }