Question NW1731 to the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy
05 August 2021 - NW1731
Lorimer, Mr JR to ask the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy
(1) With reference to the mining permit granted for the farm Boschmanspoort adjacent to the Optimum coal mine, (a) on what dates was the mining operation inspected by officials of his department and (b) what were the findings of such inspections; (2) (a) what consultation was done with the landowner before the permit was issued and (b) for what reason (i) was a certain company (name furnished) allowed to mine without a permit as was subsequently found by the court and (ii) was information relating to the specified permit not shared with the landowner after the commencement of mining; (3) whether his department has been informed that critical parts of the application for the permit were allegedly cut and pasted from other applications; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details; (4) what are the reasons that (a) it took his department one year to acknowledge the request to be furnished with the permit by Ms A M M Weber in February 2020 and (b) the information has still not been provided; (5) what (a) internal investigations is his department conducting into the issuing of this permit and the subsequent court case and (b) actions have been taken as a result? NW1942E
Reply:
1. a) On the 25th of October 2019.
b) Inspection findings;
- No mining activities were taking place onsite at the day of inspection.
- The access gate was locked with security guard onsite.
- Mine infrastructure onsite, include office, access and haul road, opencast pit, overburden stockpile, opened trenches with berms, coal stockpile.
2. a) There is no mining permit issued on the area that was inspected and as such no consultation took place.
b) (i) The court order found Lunathi to be mining; no authorization neither a permit/mining right or prospecting right was issued to Lunathi to mine the area.
(ii) No information could have been shared with the land owner as Lunathi was never authorized to mine the area.
3. The office of the Regional Manager has not received any concern or objection alleging that certain part of the applications constituted of cut and paste material.
4( a) The Department was still investigating the validity of mining permit.
(b) Ms A M M Weber was provided with the copy of the approved Environmental management plan (EMP) of Hlelo.
5(a) There is no mining permit on portion 24 of Boschmanspoort and as such no internal investigations are being conducted. This is being treated as an illegal activity and law enforcement will assist in dealing with the matter.