Assessing the Impact of Mining Legislation in the Design and Development phase of Opencast Coal Mining Projects in South Africa
Date
2014-01-21
Authors
Matambele, Thusani Comfort
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Abstract
It is a well-known fact that South Africa is rich with coal resources. Remaining
coal reserves are estimated to be at least 69 billion metric tonnes. Both
underground and opencast mining methods are used to extract the energy
mineral in South Africa. South Africa uses its coal domestically as well as
internationally for electricity generation and heating in the Iron and Steel
industries. After the promulgation of South Africa‟s constitution, numerous
mining related acts were passed in order to address social, economic and
environmental factors in a sustainable way. The study sought to assess the
positive and negative impacts of mining legislation in the design and
development phase of opencast mining projects. An empirical, interpretivist and
simple qualitative design approach was used. Data was collected from mining
consultants, government authorities and mining companies through face to face
semi-structured interviews. The study found that positive impacts of mining
legislation on the budget, time and quality of opencast coal mining projects
were: Standardised requirements to enter the mining sector, world class drafted
legislation, timelines on authorisations, promotion of environmental
consciousness and up-skilling of officials involved in authorisation processes.
The negative impacts were: Lack of alignment on pieces of legislation, absence
of timelines in some acts, turf war between the Department of Minerals
Resources (DMR) and the Department of Environmental and Water Affairs
(DWEA), long lead times to issue water use licences and environmental
authorisations, insufficient clarity on Social Labour Plans and Political influence
on authorisations. Recommendations on negative impacts are: Legislation
harmonisation, proper and equal remuneration of staff involved in authorisation,
site inspection by authorities, and clarity on SLP and stakeholder engagements
Description
MBA thesis
Keywords
Open cast mining, Coal mining, Mines and mining, Mining legislation