Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (Act No. 28 of 2002)

Notices

Mine Community Resettlement Guidelines, 2022

4. Policy and Legal Framework
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4.1South Africa has numerous policies and legislative instruments regulating issues of land and resettlement of landowners, lawful occupiers, holders of informal and communal land rights, mine communities and host communities. These in summary include but are not limited to:

 

(i)Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.

Section 25(6) of the Constitution provides that "A person or community whose tenure of land is legally insecure as a result of past racially discriminatory laws or practices is entitled, to the extent provided by an Act of Parliament, either to tenure which is legally secure or to comparable redress."

 

(ii)The Mineral and Petroleum  Resources  Development Act, 2002 (Act No 28 of 2002).

The MPRDA sets out the procedure that must be followed and requirements that must be satisfied when an application for a prospecting, mining right or mining permit is made under it. In particular sections 5, 22, 25, 54 and 55 contain sufficient detail about  meaningful consultation with landowners, lawful occupiers and interested and affected parties. The MPRDA, section 54 further provides for appropriate redress in the form of agreement on compensation for loss or damage as a result of proposed prospecting or mining operations.

 

(iii)Expropriation Act, 73 of 1975 (Act No. 73 of 1975).

Section 3 of this Act permits any Minister of the department to expropriate land with compensation for the attainment of the objects a given Act.

 

(iv)National Environmental Management Act, 107 of 1998, (Act No. 107 of 1998).

This Act provides comprehensive regulation of environmental impacts. It provides for Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA's) which are required for certain activities listed in that Act. EIAs are used to evaluate the possible environmental impacts of a proposed project, taking into account inter-related socio-economic, cultural, and human-health impacts.

 

(v)National Water Act, 36 of 1998 (Act No. 36 of 1998).

This Act provides for protection of water resources. It provides for water use licence (WUL) or authorisation. In terms of this Act every mine must have a WUL from the Department of Water and Sanitation  in order to regulate and minimize the detrimental impacts on the water resources.

 

(vi)Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful  Occupation of Land Act, 19 of 1998, (Act No. 19 of 1998).

This Act is administered by Department of Rural Development Land Reform and prohibits illegal evictions from land and provides recourse for affected parties.

 

(vii)The Local government Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No 32 of 2000) and the Development Facilitation Act, 1995 (Act No 67 of 1995) are also some of the pieces of legislation requiring public participation and regulating land tenure intended to afford communities sufficient legal protection in relation to their land and recourse in the event of arbitrary deprivation of land.