Minerals and Energy Department drops the ball on community safety, says the Auditor-General
THE DEPARTMENT of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) needs to speed up its management of rehabilitating 6 100 abandoned mines, as they pose serious health, safety and environmental hazards for nearby communities,” Auditor-General (AG) Tsakani Maluleke said yesterday.
Maluleke commented at the release of a report on the follow-up performance audit conducted on the department’s rehabilitation of abandoned mines, also referred to as derelict and ownerless (D&O) mines.
She recognised the efforts the department had made since the first audit in 2009 but said the government needed to “urgently improve” its rehabilitation efforts as they negatively affected local communities and the environment. The 2021 follow-up audit evaluated the progress the department has made since 2009 and whether issues in the previous report still exist.
Most of the 6 100 D&O mines closed down before the Mineral and
Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002, which compelled the mining right holder to fully rehabilitate mines before a closure certificate was issued by the department.
During the 2009 performance audit, the department reported that they managed 5 906 abandoned mines.
Subsequently, the 2021 audit found that the DMRE manages 6 100 D&O mines. These include high-risk commodity mines: 261 asbestos mines and 2 322 other high-risk commodity mines such as gold, coal and copper.
Before the 2009 audit, the department had rehabilitated five asbestos mines. From 2009 to 2021, the department rehabilitated an additional 27 asbestos mines. To date, none of the 2 322 other high-risk commodity mines have been rehabilitated.
In addition to the 6 100 mines, the department also reported on and managed 1 170 mine openings, of which 507 were closed by March 31, 2021.
The latest audit revealed the department’s rehabilitation programme had achieved only minor improvements over the past 12 years, with the average number of mines rehabilitated in a year increasing from 1.67 mines in 2009 to 2.25 mines in 2021.
According to the AG, given the current allocated funding and planned targets, as well as the progress in the past, “the department is not likely to achieve its objective of having all asbestos mines rehabilitated by 2033 unless it re-prioritises”.
Since 2009, the DMRE has approved a national strategy and compiled an implementation plan.
However, the implementation plan had not been costed or approved and did not include all the key deliverables in the national strategy.
Maluleke also said: “There were no procedures to maintain and manage the D&O mines database, and this responsibility has not been allocated since April 1, 2020. The database was also not regularly monitored and reviewed.”
A handover of the D&O mines database to the department had also been delayed by more than two years.
The latest audit revealed that while capacity in the department did not impede its ability to implement the D&O mines programme, the department was not well organised.