South Africa risks investment delays over its mining rights system
South Africa’s planned mineral rights database is set to be instituted within the next 10 months, as disclosed by one of the country’s senior officials.
Black News 
South Africa’s planned mineral rights database is set to be instituted within the next 10 months, as disclosed by one of the country’s senior officials.
- South Africa plans to launch a new mineral rights database, or cadastre, within the next 10 months.
- Delays in implementing this online system may deter potential investors in the mining sector.
- Currently, only the Western Cape province has been integrated into the new cadastre system.
- South Africa remains a leading global exporter of various minerals, but faces competition from rapidly growing mining sectors in other African countries.
By delaying the adoption of the so-called cadastre, an online registration that shows mining and prospecting rights, the country’s government is taking the risk of pushing away potential investors.
As presently constituted, businesses have been provided with the new method to apply for mining licenses.
“We recognise that we have to move with speed,” Jacob Mbele, Director-General of the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, said at a conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The government has “set ourselves a target” to migrate all nine South African provinces into the cadastre by the end of March 2027, he said.
As reported by Bloomberg, the South African officials revealed that, to date, only the Western Cape, the region with the lowest level of mining activity in South Africa, has been integrated into the system.
South Africa remains a primary global producer of gold, iron ore, coal, and platinum-group metals.
While the nation maintains its status as the continent's leading mineral exporter, the mining sectors in Zimbabwe, Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are currently experiencing more rapid expansion and a higher volume of transactions.
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“Many other countries don’t have the complexity that we have,” Mbele said, highlighting the extent to which the lengthy commercial mining has been taking place in South Africa.
“There’s a lot of data to move from the current system to the cadastre.”
In January 2024, the government picked a group of companies to construct the new system. Exxaro Resources, Gold Fields, and Valterra Platinum are some of the major businesses operating in South Africa.
Implementing the cadastre is seen as a crucial step in attracting investment from junior mining companies and exploratory firms.
