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Motlanthe says mining legislation leaves the poor disempowered

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe arrives for his wedding. Photo: GCIS
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe arrives for his wedding. Photo: GCIS

The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act is a “hell of a disadvantage for poor communities“‚ which is exacerbated “if you have a captured state“‚ chairman of the high level panel set up to study South Africa’s legislation Kgalema Motlanthe says.

Motlanthe was speaking at the Public Interest Law Gathering‚ currently being held at the University of the Western Cape.

Motlanthe chairs a panel of 17 people tasked by Parliament to investigate current legislation and how it impacts South Africans particularly in the areas of the triple challenges of poverty inequality and job creation‚ the equitable redistribution of wealth‚ land reform and restitution and nation building and social cohesion.

Motlanthe said he was not able to share the fine details of the work the panel had been doing‚ ahead of the release of their report‚ set for the end of August.

But he said‚ the three working groups which had travelled across the country meeting with communities‚ and who received over 1‚000 written submissions had come across many of the same lived experiences.

 The land issue came up in almost every meeting. Motlanthe said “redistribution has all but ground to a halt because of too many incoherent policies“.

Asked by a member of the audience about “bad legislation” like the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act‚ Motlanthe said their engagements had revealed that it takes about eight years to set up a greenfields mining project from the time of prospecting to the point where mining operations can commence.

“Only people with deep pockets can go through that process‚” he said.

He said the legislation was also a “hell of a disadvantage” for communities where mining was being done as traditional leaders were allowed to sign off on projects “under the pretence of representing everyone“.

He said the mining companies gave these leaders “an office or a 4x4 vehicle and they sign off“.

He said the panel would suggest “remedies” for this.

“If you have a captured state‚ the matter is exacerbated because then they don’t even care about going through the processes properly.”

He said as a result‚ mining companies who already have access to capital are “selected to be at the head of the queue” and the empowerment partners became the politically connected‚ rather than communities.

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