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MINERAL & PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT: AMENDMENT BILL DRAFTING IN PROGRESS
- 12 July 2024
- Parliament
- SA Legal Academy
Further amendments to the Mineral & Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), 2002, are being prepared – among other things with the intention of reducing red tape and improving the business environment for investors. This is according to Mineral & Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, whose 2024/25 budget vote speech nevertheless noted the importance of ensuring that the changes envisaged remain ‘in sync with South Africa’s social and economic fabric’. Other amendments envisaged will seek to address aspects of the Act ‘identified as weak … and challenged legally’ so that they are more closely aligned with international best practice.
Other legislation apparently ready for Cabinet approval, includes:
- a General Laws Amendment Bill (ready to be tabled in Parliament with the intention of synchronising provisions in the MPRDA, Diamonds Act, 1986, and Criminal Procedure Act, 1977, in order to ‘define illegal mining as a criminal act, thus empowering police to enter and arrest illegal miners for their criminal deeds’)
- a Petroleum Products Amendment Bill (ready to be released for public comment, and on which the Minister provided no information), and
- a South African National Petroleum Company Bill (also ready to be released for public comment and intended to create ‘a state-owned national champion for active participation in oil and gas projects’ in anticipation of which the entity has already been registered and ‘an interim CEO appointed to get governance arrangements going’).
Stakeholder consultations on the draft Gas Amendment Bill having apparently been concluded, according to the Minister this proposed new piece of legislation is expected to be submitted to the National Economic Development & Labour Council in August. Once that process is complete, the Bill will be finalised for tabling in Parliament, subject to Cabinet approval.
Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch
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