Faulty mining rights system to be studied
The mineral resources & energy department is “not married” to the faulty digital mineral rights management system, Samrad, and will undertake a six-month study into whether to fix and improve it or scrap it in favour of another system, officials said on Wednesday.
The mineral resources & energy department is “not married” to the faulty digital mineral rights management system, Samrad, and will undertake a six-month study into whether to fix and improve it or scrap it in favour of another system, officials said on Wednesday.
Around the world, governments have mining cadastres, which are state-run online systems to manage mineral rights. SA has a system called Samrad (SA Mineral Resources Administration System) on which mineral right applications are lodged by the public and then processed by the department.
Mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe said in an interview with Tim Modise on Business Day TV that when he arrived at the department in 2018, the electronic system had collapsed. “We’ve tried all kinds of things,” he said.
Senior department officials told a parliamentary portfolio committee about its efforts, particularly in Mpumalanga, to address a large backlog of more than 5,000 mineral rights applications and the cadastre system.
“If we can correct the electronic system we’ll move faster in resolving the backlogs and have a more efficient licensing system,” Mantashe said.
The bad news for mining and prospecting companies is that the department will take another six months to consider its options about Samrad, a system introduced in April 2011, and which has been problematic ever since.
Mantashe described the broken Samrad system as the department’s achilles heel. “We’ve agreed we are giving ourselves six months to resolve the issue otherwise we’ll lose staff. I may be reshuffled if I don’t resolve that issue because I become a liability to society and the country, so we are working on that,” he said.
Industry participants, including executives, mining lawyers and even departmental officials, have bemoaned how clunky, unreliable, opaque and difficult the system has been for a decade.
At a meeting between Mantashe and his senior departmental officials on Tuesday, the matter of Samrad was discussed and the commitment was made to deliver a decision by August, department director-general Thabo Mokoena said.
Deputy director-general Tseliso Maqubela said there would be a workable system. “We are definitely looking at options. If we do get the six months, we will be able to come back with a system that I believe will be transparent, accessible, and also ensure our colleagues can deliver on their mandate.”
Minerals Council SA junior mining leader and CEO of Orion Minerals Errol Smart said at a mining conference recently that the industry is prepared to pay for a new, transparent and corruption-free digital system, as well as for the data capture to populate it. “That’s how important it is for SA’s mining industry,” he said in November.
Of all 2,786 prospecting and mining right applications, as well as mining permit requests older than the 14-day acceptance or rejection period, the Mpumalanga office accounted for 1,594 of the backlog. Limpopo, which is also receiving special attention, made up 582.
Officials would not be drawn on when the backlog will be cleared.
Mantashe has made expediting prospecting rights and the exploration of minerals a key platform in his tenure as mines minister.
However, MPs pointed out there is a discrepancy between the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act and Mantashe’s comments about those applying for prospecting rights not needing to apply BEE criteria as stipulated in the act.
Mokoena said this is something that will be addressed.
I MAY BE RESHUFFLED IF I DON’T RESOLVE THAT ISSUE BECAUSE I BECOME A LIABILITY TO SOCIETY AND THE COUNTRY, SO WE ARE WORKING ON THAT