PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT, 2002 (ACT NO. 28 OF 2002) BY THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL [B15-2013]

This report by the Centre for Environmental Rights details the proposed amendments to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (MPRDA) as introduced by the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill [B15-2013]. It includes an introduction explaining why the President of South Africa referred the Bill back to Parliament for reconsideration due to constitutional concerns, followed by a comprehensive side-by-side comparison of the original Act and the proposed changes.

• The President of South Africa referred the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill [B15-2013] back to Parliament for reconsideration due to several constitutional reservations.
• One constitutional concern is that the Bill's definition of "This Act" effectively elevates industry codes and charters to the status of national legislation, allowing the Minister to amend them without following constitutional legislative procedures.
• The President noted that Sections 26(2B) and 26(3) of the Bill may conflict with international trade obligations under the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) and the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) by imposing quantitative export restrictions.
• The Bill is criticized for failing to sufficiently facilitate public participation, with the President citing a highly compressed consultation period and insufficient notice for provincial legislature hearings.
• The President expressed concern that the Bill ignores the consent principle in customary law by allowing entry onto land for investigations after mere notification and consultation, and by amending the definition of "community".
• The proposed amendments redefine "beneficiation" to focus on transformation, value addition, or downstream beneficiation to create a higher value product, moving away from a four-stage process (primary, secondary, tertiary, and final).
• The Bill proposes a new definition of "community" as a coherent social group of persons within a district municipality with communal interests or rights in land.
• The proposed changes shift the processing of petroleum exploration and production applications from a "designated agency" to the Regional Manager.
• The Bill introduces a requirement for producers of "designated minerals" to offer a prescribed percentage of their production to local beneficiators at the mine gate price or an agreed price.
• The proposed amendments establish a Ministerial Advisory Council to advise the Minister on sustainable development, industry growth, transformation, and beneficiation terms.
• The Bill proposes that the State, through a designated organ of state, be entitled to a 20 percent free carried interest in all new exploration and production rights.
• The Bill proposes that the Minister must initiate or promote the beneficiation of mineral resources to ensure transformation, sustainability of supply, and local capacity development.
• The proposed amendments introduce a system where the Director-General can impose administrative fines of up to R800,000 for certain failures to comply with the Act.
• The Bill proposes that the Minister may impose conditions on rights relating to land occupied by a community to promote the rights and interests of that community, including requiring their participation.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (n.d.). PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT, 2002 (ACT NO. 28 OF 2002) BY THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL [B15-2013]. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Proposed-Changes-MPRDA.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT, 2002 (ACT NO. 28 OF 2002) BY THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL [B15-2013]. n.d. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Proposed-Changes-MPRDA.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT, 2002 (ACT NO. 28 OF 2002) BY THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL [B15-2013] |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Proposed-Changes-MPRDA.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrightsndproposed, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT, 2002 (ACT NO. 28 OF 2002) BY THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AMENDMENT BILL [B15-2013]}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Proposed-Changes-MPRDA.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }