Modern Mining October 2025

Mining companies must allocate appropriate resources (people and money) to ensure that the compliance requirements are met.

Additionally, unless mining companies allocate appropriate resources (people and money) to identifying compliance requirements and ensuring that the compliance requirements are met, enforcement action is likely to follow, which can

enhanced consultation and engagement requirements. While the Draft Regulations are intended to give effect to the requirements of the Carbon Tax Act, the Draft Regulations and

Draft Technical Guideline raise more questions than giving answers, around key aspects such as the calculation of a data provider’s emissions, the way in which carbon budgets will be allocated, and compliance requirements in the various commitment periods. This new legislation, together legislation over the past two to three years, will significantly increase the complexity of the legal framework, and this will require mining companies to adopt a new approach, or risk non – compliance, and the consequences that flow from this. The new strategy must include a multi-disciplinary approach to compliance which with changes to key aspects of the mining and environmental

result in stoppages of operations, suspension or revocation of prospecting and mining licences, and even asset forfeiture where mining is regarded as illegal. The legal framework, and compliance, is made even more complex by the regular judgments of the South African courts and, in relation to employment aspects, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and the Labour Court, which interpret and apply the relevant laws that apply to the mining and natural resources industry. The statutory duty of care which was introduced by Section 28 of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) has been the

South Africa is on an accelerated path to becoming one of the most complex mining jurisdictions, impacting on investment, compliance, growth, development, and transformation.

subject of various judgments of the South African courts, and the scope of the “duty of care” is being extended through these various judgments, together with what is regarded as sufficient to meet the requirements. The duty of care applies broadly and incudes government. In the recent judgment (14 July 2025) of

acknowledges that perspectives add value and provide novel, practical, implementable solutions. Buy-in from key stakeholders such as the recognised trade unions, communities, regulators, service providers and employees is vital to achieving, and just as importantly, maintaining, a complaint operation.

OCTOBER 2025 | www.modernminingmagazine.co.za  MODERN MINING  23