Dear Editor
The latest Annual Survey of Mining Companies from the authoritative Canadian Fraser Institute rates South Africa as the 68th most investable mining jurisdiction. That’s out of a total of 82 mining jurisdictions that were surveyed, indicating the decline of the South African Mining industry.
Despite this, Mining Minister Gwede Mantashe continues with his plans to introduce an amendment bill that is unpopular with mining companies. He’s also spending a great deal of time talking about his critical minerals strategy which is wordy but largely meaningless.
The DA will be submitting Public Comments on the Draft Mineral Resource Amendment to fight back against over-regulation, excessive ministerial power and disastrous BEE regulation.
The Annual Survey shows quite clearly how investment into South African mining is hampered by ANC mining policy. Mining is in a recession which looks to be getting worse. That means the loss of jobs and declining revenues for the cash strapped fiscus. Mining tax payments halved last year.
The attractiveness index is a combination of perceptions of mineral potential, where the region’s geology encourages exploration investment and perceptions of mining policy.
While South Africa comes in at position 39 of 58 in terms of mineral potential, it scores 70 out of 82 in policy perceptions.
The Fraser report says South Africa decreased its policy score by almost 20 points and dropped to the 70th spot out of 82 jurisdictions after ranking 66th out of 86 in 2023. The report says investors expressed increased concern over the country’s political stability, socioeconomic agreements, and its geological database.
South Africa needs investment-friendly mining legislation and regulation that would involve a wholesale rewriting of mining law, and we need to see an end to the pervasive effects of BEE on this sector, to facilitate investment in our mines.
Investment-friendly laws, allied with a cleaning up of the incompetent and often corrupt department that administers those rules, would open the way for rapid growth of the mining industry.
Given the inherent advantages of South Africa’s mineral endowment and highly capable mining industry, growth in mining could kick-start a recovery of South Africa’s economy and pull millions of South Africans out of poverty.
The DA calls on interested parties to submit public comments on this disastrous amendment bill by 13 August 2025.
Regards
James Lorimer MP
DA Spokesperson on Mineral and Petroleum Resources