Criticism of South Africa's new Mineral Resources Bill: A disaster in the making?

SHARP criticisms have emerged over the structure of the new Mineral Resources Bill that was gazetted for public comment last week by Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe with the DA on Wednesday saying, "The new minerals bill is a disaster in the making.

- TAWANDA KAROMBO

This comes hot on the heels of the Minerals Council on Tuesday saying its contributions were not incorporated.

Mantashe and other government officials hope that the Mineral Resources Development Bill and the Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy blueprint will help to shore up mineral exploration, spearhead SA’s production of critical minerals and attract international investment into the mining sector.

“The bill is poorly thought out. It is contradictory and unclear in several places. It grants new powers to the Minister to rule the industry according to his own whim,” said James Lorimer, the DA’s spokesperson on mining issues. He further said the bill will “end the already tottering case for foreign investment” in the mining sector.