Push to formalise artisanal mining
The department of mineral resources & energy is looking into revamping its licensing regime to make it easy for artisanal mining to operate legally in the industry. It hopes the legalisation will discourage dangerous illegal mining, which costs the economy up to R70bn a year.
Since introducing the artisanal and small-scale mining policy framework two years ago, artisanal mining has remained informal, and its contribution to job creation and GDP is yet to be counted.
Makgatho Machaka, director for artisanal and small-scale mining in the department, told the Council for Mineral Technology’s inaugural symposium on Thursday that the ultimate aim is to introduce a separate policy for artisanal mining.
Machaka said the policy will close the gap while the department formulates regulations for artisanal miners in the long run.
Artisanal mining, known as “pick and shovel”, refers to traditional and customary mining operations that do not have mining rights or permits.
Small-scale mining entails a prospecting or mining operation with a permit but not employing specialised prospecting or mechanised mining technologies.
Gwebinkundla Qonde, special adviser to the minister of mineral resources & energy, said the absence of proper regulation for artisanal mining and poor government support has allowed illegal mining to thrive. “Small-scale mining is ready to take this space which has been dominated by illegal miners. Without any training or skill, they (illegal miners) earn a living because we have left this area abandoned and not utilised for economic activities that could be of benefit to the country, and they can pay taxes as well.”
Thabo Kekana, deputy director-general for programmes and projects in the department, said while artisanal mining offers opportunities for employment to previously disadvantaged communities, operators are perceived as illegal miners, known as zama zamas, which was tainting artisanal mining.
“Artisanal mining is not yet formalised, there is no clear definition. We are saying let us draw from what we have and formalise them so they can have an identity and we are able to say ‘you are not a zama zama, this is a small-scale miner’,” he said.
Ideally, artisanal and small-scale miners should be community-led co-operatives that work on legacy mines previously owned by established mining houses that abandoned shafts in the 1990s.
“We want to ensure that the processes are less cumbersome. We are making sure that applications are not as stringent as for the likes of (Patrice) Motsepe’s African Rainbow Minerals and Anglo American. We want simple application processes at the click of a button on your cellphone to put in an application with very minimal turnaround time and less paperwork,” he said.
To simplify the application process, the department intends awarding those deemed legal operators permits for operating on 2ha of land to be mined over three years, which would be renewable for another three years. It also wants to issue five-year permits for artisanal miners who operate on 5ha of land, which would be renewable for another three years. The permits will be limited to South African citizens.
“We want to make sure the requirements for permits are as pain-free as possible. We are aiming to provide artisanal mining permits which are custommade, not like conventional mining permits. In that way, we will ensure we do not have the same cumbersome process for small-scale miners to enter the economy.”
Zethu Hlatshwayo, spokesperson for the National Association of Artisanal Miners, a pressure group, said: “You cannot say everyone who is carrying a pick and shovel is a criminal, dangerous and a rapist. Not all of us are like that. We need the government to fasttrack the process of making sure dignity is restored to artisanal miners by formalising and regulating (us), by giving permits to artisanal miners.”
He said this would help distinguish them from illegal zama-zama activity.
The Minerals Council SA said a clear distinction must be made between small-scale formal miners who have mining permits and rights, and artisanal miners who operate informally without permits, but who want to be brought into the legal mining process.
“Formalisation of the artisanal miners is not the legalisation and formalisation of zama zama syndicates,” the council said.
It said small-scale miners are part of the council through their respective associations, and the Junior and Emerging Miners Desk supported them in various policy interventions.
“There is no structure for artisanal miners in the Minerals Council. Our members must be legitimate mining, exploration or development companies with permits from the ministry,” it said.