R51.5 billion needed to close abandoned mines in South Africa

The South African government requires R51.5 billion to close all derelict and ownerless mining facilities in the country.

This was revealed by the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, in response to a parliamentary question from National Assembly Member Mzwanele Manyi.

Manyi had asked the Minister for his department’s current assessment of the total financial cost of closing abandoned and derelict mines in South Africa.

He also asked the Minister to disclose the total amount recovered from mining companies for rehabilitation to date.

In his response, Mantashe said his department’s current assessment of the total financial cost of derelict and ownerless mines had been conducted in 2024.

The report estimated the total closure costs for all abandoned mining sites at R51.5 billion, with R8.6 billion for the closure and rehabilitation of high-priority sites.

“The Department therefore prioritises sites on a risk basis and determines the cost of each project after the necessary technical assessments and scope of work have been completed,” Mantashe said.

“The completion timeframe depends on future budget allocations from the National Treasury.”

In addition, Mantashe revealed that no consolidated amounts had been recorded as having been recovered from mining companies specifically for the closure of abandoned mines.

He said these mines, by definition, had no identifiable or legally responsible owner against whom rehabilitation costs could be recovered.

This is because there was no obligation to rehabilitate mines under any of South Africa’s laws until the introduction of the Minerals Act of 1991.

Manyi’s question to the Minister comes as illegal mining continues to grow in South Africa, damaging communities, the environment, and the national fiscus.

South Africa has approximately 6,100 abandoned and derelict mining sites, of which 2,322 are classified as high risk.

These mines are defined in the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act as mines for which a closure certificate has not been issued.

Major concentrations of these mines occur around the Witwatersrand goldfields in Gauteng, the Okiep copper district in the Northern Cape, and coalfields in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.

These abandoned mines present significant safety hazards for local communities, including acid mine drainage into local water systems and farmland.

Open pits, unsealed vertical shafts, ground subsidence, and sinkholes can cause accidental injury or death and can lead to infrastructural damage.

Despite the risks, thousands of informal mine workers operate inside abandoned mining shafts, with many of them being illegal immigrants from neighbouring countries.

This exposes them to underground gas leaks and cave-ins, while rising crime and gang violence across South Africa’s mining sector have prompted military deployment in some regions.