South Africa’s Minerals Council continues to urge lawmakers to ensure that the Mineral Resources Development Bill delivers legal certainty and competitiveness to attract much-needed investment into the mining sector. Responding to the government’s proposed overhaul of mining legislation, the Council, whose members account for 90% of national mineral production, last month stressed the urgent need for clear, globally competitive rules if South Africa is to expand mining output, jobs, and tax revenue.

“We want pragmatic conversations on a globally competitive regulatory environment,” said the CEO of the Minerals Council, Mzila Mthenjane, cautioning that uncertainty in the Bill threatens to hold back South Africa’s untapped mining potential.

Mining investors told The Common Sense that for the better part of 20 years, South Africa’s mining policy framework has sabotaged the potential of the mining industry to properly contribute to investment, infrastructure development, job creation, and exports. Industry insiders say that the country developed a reputation of being hostile to mining investment and has increasingly been passed by, given the attractiveness of mining jurisdictions in the rest of the world.