Prospecting audit shows major breaches

[miningmx.com] — THE department of mineral resources has said the preliminary findings of its audit into issued prospecting licences were “not encouraging’, and pointed to various instances of “gross non-compliance’.

Minister of Mineral Resources Susan Shabangu in August slapped a six-month moratorium on the processing of prospecting permit applications, to allow for an audit of licences granted since the promulgation of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of the Chamber of Mines on Tuesday, acting chief mines inspector David Msiza said interim findings showed gross non-compliance on the part of rights holders in terms of commencing prospecting activities within 120 days.

Other irregularities also include the sale of rights without ministerial consent, rights holders whose companies have been deregistered or liquidated, illegal drilling in some areas causing hazards to land owners, the use of consultants to a “disempowering’ effect, as well as cases of fronting.

“(In some instances), applicants are not serious about mining and, as a result, have no idea of areas where their rights were granted,’ Msiza said.

He said procedures would commence for the cancelling of rights in all cases of non-compliance.

“I must indicate that there is no room to tolerate non-compliance and those who are found to have transgressed will be dealt with in the appropriate manner.’

He said the department’s intention in conducting the audit is to restore integrity to the regulatory system.

“The minister wants to encourage the Chamber of Mines to spread the message to your members and bring to her attention to unbecoming conduct, even on the part of the DMR officials who are involved in this process. Equally so, it is crucial for your members not to try to tempt our officials.’

SYSTEMS OVERHAUL

Msiza said since Shabangu’s announcement at February’s Mining Indaba that the department would halve the times for processing prospecting and mining rights, it has started to analyse the root causes of problems besetting its administrative systems.

Some problems identified included the inability of the department’s administrative systems fo manage competing applications which lead to double granting, overlapping and rights that couldn’t be registered.

Msiza also acknowledged officials couldn’t be held properly accountable for the processing of applications and the administering of rights, while a lack of transparency in decision-making lead to perceptions of too much official discretion and impropriety.

“In an effort to systematically address these problems internally, we started a process of addressing cases of double granting and overlapping rights,” said Msiza, stating cases of double granting that were attended to were less than 120 out of a total of 26,000 applications that were processed since the implementation of the MPRDA.

“I must also indicate that some of the errors we encountered were occasioned by consultants of applicants themselves who submitted sketch plans with incorrect polygons leading to overlaps, changes in boundaries during the demarcation process, inability of the system to effectively detect and manage competing applications, and gaps between the appeal process and processing of applications.”

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Msiza said the department was also busy mapping out guidelines that will underpin the administrative processes which will assist both applicants and officials in processing applications.

“These guidelines would also serve to clarify roles and areas seen to be a mischief such as community engagement, over-concentration and optimal utilisation,’ he said.

“These guidelines are being mapped onto the new system to ensure that there is certainty in our regulatory framework.

“We are doing all these during the moratorium period so that we can ensure a structured and properly coordinated clean-up of our entire system.’