President Cyril Ramaphosa.Photo: Leon Sadiki/Bloomberg via Getty Images
PResident Cyril Ramaphosa expressed confidence in the government’s ability to clear the mineral rights backlog now that it has selected a service provider to develop the country’s new cadastral system.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 30th Mining Indaba in Cape Town this week, the President said a new mineral rights management system was one of the commitments made at last year's conference.
Cadastral systems provide a record of available mining rights and when the rights currently held expire.
The announcement by the service provider (a consortium of three companies) a few days before this year's Mining Indaba seems to have inspired some confidence among miners. Confidence in the industry has largely eroded as energy and logistics constraints, as well as a growing backlog of mineral rights, have hampered growth.
Earlier on Monday, the Minerals Council gave a more positive assessment of the industry compared to last year, finally seeing a marked escalation in the country's energy crisis and increased scrutiny over Transnet's decline. became.
The frequency and severity of load shedding should ease over the next 12 to 18 months, said Hugo Pienaar, chief economist at the Minerals Council. Additionally, there are signs that South Africa's logistical constraints – which cost the industry an estimated R50 billion in losses in 2022 – may also start to ease, albeit at a slower pace.
Prime Minister Ramaphosa highlighted his government's efforts to free the economy from energy and logistics-related constraints.
In the case of Transnet, the President noted that the private sector had played a key role in halting the decline of the national power company. Mineral export revenues fell by more than 11% year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2023 as bulk commodity exporters grappled with Transnet's aging rail infrastructure, according to analysis by the Minerals Council.
Prime Minister Ramaphosa said the country's logistics system was “going through a process of rapid and fundamental change”, citing the recent approval of a cargo logistics roadmap.
The President added: “Introducing competition in freight rail operations while maintaining national ownership of the lines will enable significant new investment in South Africa's rail system.”
“This will support jobs in all sectors of the economy, from mining to manufacturing to agriculture. As a Government, we need to ensure that without bold and innovative reforms to the logistics sector, mining will not thrive. We recognize the reality that this is not possible and we are working hard with the industry to ensure this roadmap is implemented without delay.”
However, it will take some time for the industry to truly turn around.
Developing a new cadastral system could take a year, if not longer. Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said on Monday that the government had given 12 months to get the system up and running.