South Africa artisanal miners want stake in critical minerals boom

• Artisanal coal miners call for formalisation
• Informal miners want share in critical mineral surge
• New bill aims to legalise their work

ERMELO, South Africa - In South Africa's coal heartland, grey smog hangs over parts of the Mpumalanga province like a thick blanket, while miners descend underground to chip away at the black rock.

One of them is Mooi Masuku, an artisanal coal miner of 17 years, who says a new bill to legalise informal mining is key to protecting and creating jobs, particularly as critical minerals are eyed for green technologies.

"In South Africa, I think the government will begin to see why it should legalise (artisanal mining) to protect these jobs," said Masuku, sitting on a concrete slab outside his home in the Nomzamo informal settlement in the town of Ermelo.
"We want to work, and we want to work legally," he said.

Submissions for public comment on the Mineral Resource Development Bill closed last week before awaiting parliamentary review to become law.

South Africa is rich in coal reserves, but as the country moves away from planet-heating coal industries towards renewables, miners - both formal and informal - fear mass unemployment.

But mining experts say the industry is not going anywhere overnight.

According to the government's Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy, coal is described as a "critical mineral" based on its economic value, a similar stance to that taken by U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, who in May designated coal used in steel production as a critical material.

This stands in contrast to most other countries who consider coal a fossil fuel that the world agreed to "transition away" from at U.N. COP28 climate talks in Dubai in 2023. 

South Africa is rich in other minerals more commonly designated as "critical" like copper and manganese, needed for green energy infrastructure like solar panels and wind turbines.

The National Association of Artisanal Miners (NAAM), of which Masuku is a member, say artisanal and small-scale miners can be a part of this extraction.

"The critical mineral boom should benefit artisanal miners ... we want to mine all the minerals underneath our feet," said NAAM spokesperson Zethu Hlatshwayo.

Fill the employment void

Upskilling artisanal miners for critical mineral mining could fill the employment void left behind by phasing out coal, said Hlatshwayo.

There are roughly 20,000 artisanal miners in South Africa, according to the Regional Policy in the Southern African Development Community book. 

However, figures vary widely and are considered to be underestimates as no proper baseline study has been conducted, according to the Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. 

Overall, about 400,000 jobs are linked to the coal sector, from formal and informal miners, to street vendors selling food to them, government data found.

When unregulated, artisanal mining can go hand-in-hand with environmental damage and criminality such as soil erosion and mineral smuggling, according to the Regional Policy in the Southern African Development Community.

But human rights charity Global Witness say the abuses need to be cut out of supply chains, not the artisanal miners.

Creating safe jobs is key, said Masuku, in a country with an unemployment rate of 33%, according to government data.

NAAM is also pushing for local processing of minerals on South African soil, to bring greater financial gain to South Africans instead of exporting raw minerals.

Bill pros and cons

The Mineral Resources Development (MRD) Bill proposes formal regulation for artisanal and small-scale miners, including the roll out of permits and creating designated artisanal mining zones.

Formalisation could boost job creation, improve miner safety and ensure environmental compliance, said Kangwa Chisanga Jr., an advocate and legal studies lecturer at the National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA) in Zambia.

He said artisanal miners could be trained to take part in the future mining of critical minerals.

"If there is a shared common goal of environmentally sustainable mining (between government and mining companies), theoretically - this bill could do it," said Chisanga Jr.

But there is criticism of the bill too.

Requirements for legalisation, such as needing ministerial consent if there are any changes in ownership of an artisanal mining site, could over-regulate the sector, scare off investors and inadvertently spike illegal mining, said Chisanga Jr.

NAAM said the bill was still too vague, limited artisanal miners to small, surface mines and risked putting rehabilitation costs, such as planting vegetation and sealing off mine shafts, onto artisanal miners.

"We are concerned that the permit application process will be lengthy and costly," said Bonginkosi Buthulezi, an artisanal miner in Ermelo and a NAAM member.

The bill has also received pushback from national agricultural organisation AgriSA, saying that an increase in artisanal mining poses a risk to water quality, the agricultural sector and food security.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy did not reply to requests for comment.

As NAAM waits to see if its feedback on the bill is considered, it plans to keep campaigning to be seen as mining allies of the state, rather than enemies.

"To improve our communities, we need to share in the mineral wealth of our country," said Masuku.

(Reporting by Kim Harrisberg; Editing by Jon Hemming.)