Johannesburg - The country’s biggest mining houses and the Minerals Council SA have all laid the blame for the recent spate of mining deaths squarely at the feet of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMRE).
The Auditor-General urged the DMRE to “speed up its management of rehabilitating abandoned mines”.
On July 7, a gas leak at Angelo informal settlement in Boksburg led to the deaths of 17 people. Seven people, who lived in a yard across from where the empty cylinder was found, died at the scene.
Meanwhile, Independent Media spoke with ImpalaPlats, AngloPlats and Sibanye Stillwater, who all said they and other mining houses had followed proper mine closing protocols, but DMRE has not issued mine closing certificates in years.
There’s even a court battle on the go to force the DMRE to issue a mine closing certificate for a mine that was closed in 2017. The companies and the Council claim that the DMRE is sitting with a mine rehabilitation fund of R4 billion, and not a cent of that money has been spent to properly close mines and to prevent further deaths.
Independent Media sent numerous queries to DMRE over a two-week period to shed more light on the rehabilitation fund, but the department refused to provide answers to all the queries.
In a half-answered reply, DMRE’s Media Relations Director, Ernest Mulibana, said when the mine is at the closure phase, the holder of a right or permit should initiate the process and should apply for a closure certificate, which should be accompanied by a closure plan, environmental risk report and final performance assessment report, which are subject to review and adjudication by the DMRE.
“The mine should be closed in an environmentally sustainable manner, adhere to the health and safety standards, as prescribed, and ensure that the National Water Act has been adhered to,” he said.
DMRE said it issued 91 closure certificates in the Gauteng region in the last five years. .
But a spokesperson for Sibanye Stillwater, James Wellsted, said they have been waiting for five years after closing the Cook Mine on the West Rand and is now in court to force the DMRE to issue a closing certificate.
“Mining companies set money aside each year for this very process. The DMRE also has a fund for this. We are spending half a billion rand a year to secure mines while we wait for the certificates. As far as I know, DMRE has never issued any closing certificates,” Wellsted said.
Mulibana said the DMRE's Environmental Mineral Resources Inspector conducts inspections and determine adherence to the mitigation measures as approved as well as the legislative requirements. The Mine Health and Safety Inspector also conducts an inspection and provides a report. The Department of Water and Sanitation is consulted and should assign an inspector who will also provide a report and comments.
The DMRE, however, refused to answer questions about whether these inspections were indeed carried out. When asked what happens if these procedures are not followed, DMRE said: “If the holder has just abandoned a mine without following prescribed closure processes, the DMRE would firstly assess if the financial provision for remediation provided by such a holder is adequate to fulfil the obligations and if such is the case, the State will utilise the same to ensure proper remediation.”
According to the mining houses, this has not happened in years. In a recent opinion piece in Mining Weekly, Mulibana estimated that in the gold sector alone, more than R70-billion of revenue is lost through the smuggling of this commodity.
“A multi-departmental body, the National Coordination and Strategic Management, comprised of representatives from the DMRE, the SAPS, Intelligence Services and the Department of Home Affairs, has been established. The body will allow for a seamless and coordinated collaboration in law enforcement operations to uproot any criminal activities related to illegal mining,” he wrote.
The piece, however, did not mention the R4 billion rehabilitation fund or the fact that DMRE is in court for refusing to grant closing certificates to the mining companies. The Auditor-General, Tsakani Maluleke, also called for stricter management in rehabilitating abandoned mines and mine openings and urged DMRE to “speed up its management of rehabilitating South Africa’s abandoned mines, as they pose serious health, safety and environmental hazards for nearby communities,”
Maluleke’s comments were made at the release of the report on the follow-up performance audit conducted on the department’s rehabilitation of abandoned mines, also referred to as derelict and owner-less (D&O) mines. She added that while she recognised the efforts the department had made since the first performance audit in 2009, the government needed to urgently improve its rehabilitation efforts as they negatively impact local communities and the environment.
The majority of the 6 100 D&O mines closed down before the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002, which compelled the holder to fully rehabilitate mines before a closure certificate was issued by the department.
Anglo American spokesperson Nomonde Ndwalaza said: ”Our mine closure procedures are aligned to the guidelines of the Minerals Council.”
Group Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communication at ImpalaPlats, Alice Lourens, said the company has a multidisciplinary, risk-based approach to closing a mine.
“We have carried out all the required procedures, and over the last nine months, the company has had no operational losses associated with illegal mining activity,” she said.
Wellsted said the regulatory bodies are not doing what they are supposed to.
‘’There’s also illegal mining happening at existing mines. This puts mines at risk. There’s a loss of tax revenue for the government, and it puts communities at risk. The DMRE has some R4 billion in a rehab fund to close mines,’’ he said.
DA spokesperson for mining in Rustenburg, Cheryl Phillips, said the big mining companies followed proper procedures and added that it’s usually the smaller mining companies which misuse the rehabilitation funds.
“DMRE is not as strict as they should be. Some mining companies still pay for maintenance and security even after the mines are closed. Legal battles can mothball this issue into infinity,” she said.
The spokesperson for the Minerals Council SA, Allan Seccombe, said Illegal miners access shafts that are sealed, using explosives or digging around the thick concrete slabs that sealed the tops of disused shafts.
“Illegal miners are determined to access underground areas, and mining companies spend more than R2.5 billion a year securing their operations. Many of the mines accessed by illegal miners are derelict and owner-less mines which fall under the responsibility of the DMRE,” he said.
Seccombe added that illegal mining is a major security concern for the mining industry, which has for years called for the establishment of a specialised police unit to deal with illegal mining and security concerns. This unit has yet to be established. “The DMRE is obliged to rehabilitate owner-less and derelict mines and has dedicated funds for this process,” Seccombe concluded.