Mineral Policy Review: Findings and Recommendations Report

The 'Mineral Policy Review: Findings and Recommendations Report' (August 2024), produced by Mining Dialogues 360° and Good Governance Africa, evaluates the impact of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) of 2002 on the South African mining sector. The report finds that the mining industry is in a state of economic decline, characterized by falling GDP contribution, stagnant investment, and a depleted project pipeline. It identifies a combination of legislative shortcomings in the MPRDA, institutional capacity constraints within the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), and structural failures in electricity and logistics as primary drivers of this underperformance. The report recommends urgent legislative amendments to the MPRDA, the professionalization of stakeholder relations to resolve a deep trust deficit, and the establishment of a new, inclusive vision for the industry to restore investor confidence and promote sustainable transformation.

• The South African mining sector has experienced a sustained economic decline over the last three decades, with its real share of GDP falling from 11.1% in 1993 to 4.8% in 2023. The sector has averaged a negative year-on-year growth rate of 0.4% since 1994, and net fixed capital formation as a percentage of mining GDP has shrunk to nearly zero.
• South Africa's share of global exploration expenditure has stagnated below 1% since 2020, failing to meet the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy's (DMRE) 2022 target of 5%. This has resulted in a mining project pipeline that has effectively 'dried up,' with no major new greenfield capital expansion projects planned.
• The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) of 2002 is viewed as failing to achieve its twin goals of promoting sector growth and establishing an efficient regulatory regime. A legal review identified fifteen key areas of legislative shortcoming, including ambiguity regarding the bondability of mining rights, excessive administrative discretion, and a lack of explicit provisions for artisanal and small-scale mining.
• The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) suffers from significant institutional capacity constraints, leading to inconsistent application of the MPRDA and substantial backlogs in processing mining rights, permits, and transfers, particularly in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga provinces.
• Structural constraints, specifically unreliable electricity supply and decaying transport and logistics infrastructure (notably Transnet's rail and port performance), act as binding barriers to growth. These exogenous factors undermine profitability and deter new investment in exploration and greenfield expansion.
• There is a profound trust deficit between the government, mining companies, and host communities. This is exacerbated by dysfunctional local government, weak community organization, and Social and Labour Plans (SLPs) that are often too formulaic and limited to single-company license areas to have a significant regional impact.
• Illegal mining is proliferating due to socio-economic hardship and the opportunism of criminal syndicates. The MPRDA currently lacks a provision that creates a specific offence for illegal mining, and while an Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) policy was published in March 2022, it has not yet been codified into law.
• Transformation remains a source of discord due to uncertainty caused by frequent revisions to the Mining Charter and the 2021 High Court ruling that rendered many Charter III provisions non-binding. While B-BBEE deals have exceeded R235 billion since 2000, the lack of clear, long-term targets deters investors.
• The 'One Environmental System' (OES), intended to align the MPRDA with the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), remains incomplete and is marked by tension between the DMRE (focused on growth) and the DFFE (focused on protection). This misalignment creates delays in obtaining environmental authorizations and mine closure certificates.
• The report recommends a shift toward 'regionalised' Social and Labour Plans to enable larger-scale, more impactful projects and the potential creation of an independent mining licensing authority to remove the conflict of interest and rent-seeking opportunities within the DMRE.

APA

Good Governance Africa (2024). Mineral Policy Review: Findings and Recommendations Report. https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2024/11/Mining_Policy_Review_2024.pdf

Chicago

Good Governance Africa. Mineral Policy Review: Findings and Recommendations Report. 2024. https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2024/11/Mining_Policy_Review_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Good Governance Africa |title=Mineral Policy Review: Findings and Recommendations Report |date=August 2024 |url=https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2024/11/Mining_Policy_Review_2024.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{goodgovernanceafrica2024mineral, author = {{Good Governance Africa}}, title = {{Mineral Policy Review: Findings and Recommendations Report}}, institution = {Good Governance Africa}, year = {2024}, month = aug, url = {https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2024/11/Mining_Policy_Review_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }