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BusinessLive reports that according to critics, when Department of Mineral Resources & Energy (DMRE) director-general Thabo Mokoena vacated his post at the end of March he left behind the same dysfunctional and institutionally incompetent department that he took over five years ago.
A clear sign of this dysfunctionality is said to be the backlog of mining licences, which the Minerals Council SA (MCSA) estimates to number 4,500 and which can take years to finalise. This backlog has held back mining exploration in SA enormously. But while Mokoena concedes that the department still faces historical challenges, he insists there were improvements under his watch. He cites the setting in motion of the process of developing a new cadastral system; an improvement in the turnaround time for processing mining right applications; the department’s intervention during the Covid-19 pandemic to enable the mining industry to continue operating; a close working relationship with the MCSA; the implementation of the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan; good audit reports; and the successful amalgamation of the energy department and the mineral resources department. Yet while the department’s dysfunctionality cannot be laid solely at Mokoena’s door, industry insiders say he did little to ameliorate the situation. They cite gross inefficiency, a woeful lack of skills and the further loss of skills with the departure of experts. Central to the dysfunctionality is said to be the utter failure of the SA Mineral Resources Administration System (Samrad), a cadastral system meant to provide online access to the locality of applications, rights and permits made or held throughout the country. A MCSA spokesperson said the major task for a new director-general would be to expedite the introduction of a new cadastral system, clear the mining rights backlog, bring new skills into the department, and align regional offices with the head office in Pretoria. The post has been advertised and the process of appointing a replacement for Mokoena is under way.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor at BusinessLive
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