Question NW676 to the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy
25 May 2020 - NW676
Mileham, Mr K to ask the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy
Whether there are any national standards for the quality, installation and maintenance of mining equipment and/or assets; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) what are the details of the standards, (b) who is responsible for the enforcement thereof, (c) what total number of compliance inspections were undertaken in the (i) 2016-17, (ii) 2017-18 and (iii) 2018-19 financial years and (d) what were the outcomes thereof?
Reply:
a) There are 36 South African National Standards (SANS) and 2 South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) referenced in the Mine Health and Safety Act No 29 of 1996, as amended. The list is in Annexure 1.
b) The monitoring and enforcement is done by the Department’s Engineering Inspectors.
c) (i) The total number of compliance inspections conducted in 2016/2017 was 9 363 which included the mine equipment inspections.
(ii) Similarly, the total number of compliance inspections conducted in 2017/2018 was 9 425.
(iii) The total number of inspections conducted in 2018/2019 was 8567.
d) Where there were non-compliances observed during the inspections, to deal with dangerous conditions or non-compliance with mine standards or provisions under the Act, Inspectors issued sections 55 and 54 instructions as per the Mine Health and Safety Act, No. 29 of 1996 as amended. For instance, during the reporting period 2018/2019, there were 1399 section 55 instructions and 963 section 54 instructions issued, respectively.
Chief Inspector Mines
Date:
Recommended / Not Recommended
Advocate T S Mokoena
Director General: Department of Mineral Resources and Energy
………………/………………/2020
Approved/Not Approved
Mr SG Mantashe, MP
Minister of Mineral Resource and Energy
Date Submitted:-……………/………………/2020