1. BUDGET OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES: VOTE 29
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BUDGET OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES: VOTE 29
MARCH 2015

2. The budget and APP of the Department of Mineral Resources
Vote 29: Department of Mineral Resources
The budget and APP of the Department of Mineral Resources
Presentation prepared for the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources
Martin Nicol and Nkosinathi Kweyama – Parliament
18 March 2015
prepared by Martin Nicol, Researcher, Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources from
Research Unit, Parliament. (2015) Budget Analysis: Vote 29 - The Department of Mineral Resources. 16 March.

3. Outline
Reminder of the issues in the Mineral Resources: 2014 Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report (BRRR)
Legislative issues in the DMR Strategic Plan
Parliament’s analysis of Vote 29 and the DMR APP 2015/16 is provided to members in writing. It is not ‘presented’ here as this would duplicate inputs from the Auditor general and the DMR.
Key issues for consideration by Parliament

4. Mineral Resources: 2014 BRRR
PCMR raised five areas where budget allocation of the DMR fell short of its needs in terms of the mandates it has been given by legislation.
More funds were required to strengthen inspection in respect of transformation, health and safety and the environment.
Specific funding was required for the integration of DMR databases to ensure transparency in the applications for and granting of licenses.
The Council for Geoscience (CGS) lacked an annual amount of R115-million to fund the requirements of the 2010 Geoscience Amendment Act.
The future growth of the mining sector is dependent upon continued mineral exploration and a substantial national investment in geological mapping, of the order of R1-billion, is needed by the CGS to provide the knowledge base to attract exploration companies (and to assist the State Owned Mining Company in its exploration endeavours); and
State liability for the environmental harm caused by mining operations in the past exceeds R40-billion across the country. Present resources allocated towards the rehabilitation of hazardous mine sites, acid mine drainage and research on these issues are clearly inadequate.

5. Legislative issues in mining
Legislation that the Department will present in 2015/16
MPRDA Bill issues
MHSA Amendment (now with NEDLAC)
SOMCO Bill
Regulations for presentation to PCMR
Shale gas technical regulations (was expected in Feb-15)

6. Legislative issues in the strategic plan that are not being brought to Parliament in 2015/16
Review and amend the Precious Metals Act.
Review and amend the Diamond Act.
Develop the Geoscience Amendment Act Regulations.
Review the Mineral Technology Act (Act No. 30 of 1989).

7. Two key issues for consideration by Parliament 2015/16

8. Two key issues for consideration by Parliament 2015/16
Urgency of dealing with the MPRDA amendments
identified as a constraint by the National Planning commission in 2011.
Need to promote transformation in the mining sector
A key objective of the MPRDA
Hard to judge the performance of the DMR in achieving this goal.

9. References
DMR (2014a) Department of Mineral Resources Strategic Plan
DMR (2015c) Annual Performance Plan of the Department of Mineral Resources for 2015 – RP29/2015.
Minister of Finance. (2015) 2015 Budget Speech. RP:10/ February.
National Planning Commission (2012) National Development Plan 2030: Our Future – make it work.
National Treasury (2015a) Budget 2015: Estimates of National Expenditure - Vote 29: Mineral Resources. RP:08/2015. [unabridged]. Available at: [Accessed 26-Feb-15].
National Treasury (2015b). Budget Review RP:09/ February.
Nicol, M. (2015) Possible questions on the DMR Annual Performance Plan 2015/16 . Research Unit, Parliament. 16 March.
Nicol, M. (2015c) Analysis of the 2014/15 Third Quarter Performance and Expenditure report: Vote 32: Department of Mineral Resources. Research Unit, Parliament. 3 March.
Nogxina, S (2010) Presentation on measures to deal with the issues recently raised by the media on the mining industry. 18 August. Available at: < [Accessed 14 March 2013] (Adv Nogxina was then the Director General of the Department of Mineral Resources.).
Parliament (2014) Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report of Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources, dated 24 October Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports No 84─ October. Pages 2299 to 2332
Research Unit, Parliament. (2015) Budget Analysis: Vote 29 - The Department of Mineral Resources. 16 March.