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The government has pushed back against criticism of delays in rolling out its revamped system for processing mining rights applications, saying it is on track to be deployed in other provinces after its launch in the Western Cape.After years of discussions on the need to replace the dysfunctional South African mineral resources administration database for prospecting and mining rights applications, the government in 2024 appointed PMG, a Canadian-based company with a South African partner, to design, implement and maintain a new cadastre system.On Monday, the department of mineral & petroleum resources said it had needed time to ensure that the software was customised for the South African context to ensure that it was administered in line with the Mineral & Petroleum Resources Development Act.“The system needs to be able to allow the general public to be able to apply for rights; it needs to allow the department to be able to evaluate the rights; it needs to be able to allow the department to execute the rights that have been granted,” the department’s director-general Jacob Mbele told journalists.Minerals Council South Africa CEO Mzila Mthenjane said last month the body was concerned that the longer the rollout takes “the less confident we become in terms of what the final product will look like”.The new cadastre system is an important step in attracting exploration, as it aims to make the management of mineral rights more efficient and transparent while clearing the backlog of mining and prospecting licences.Customisation On Monday, Mbele said it was not a “plug and play” system. “It is customised to how the rights are managed in a particular environment,” he said, adding it was important to ensure the system adhered to the principles of awarding rights on a first come, first served basis to applicants with the right expertise and financial means, and to avoid accepting more than one application for the same mineral right over the same land.It was therefore necessary, Mbele said, to ensure that historical data, including on those rights that have been awarded already, is populated into the cadastre.“This is where a lot of the time has been spent in the department to make sure that the accuracy of the information does not create [legal complications] for this new system that we are rolling out,” he said.The department is testing the system in the Western Cape and has already processed some applications for mining rights in the province through it, project manager Vuyiswa Ramosongoana said.“In the next few months we will be focusing on the rest of the other provinces. Data migration is the key for us to be able to deploy the system,” she said.The department said last year it had chosen to debut the new system in the Western Cape because the province does not have an appreciable backlog, has a limited number of outstanding appeals and has the greatest number of operational mines in any region, making it an ideal case study to test its efficacy.Mbele dismissed suggestions that PMG and its local partner had been handpicked to manage the system without going to tender.“We went out on a procurement process, which was an open tender in line with government procurement processes, and the tender was mainly based on functionality and price,” he said.“It was a competitive tender, so contrary to … some of the information out there, the company that was appointed was not handpicked. They bid in an open tender with other companies.”
