Minister Gwede Mantashe told Parliament that illegal mining and mineral theft fall under law enforcement, not his department, prompting debate after ATM’s Vuyo Zungula referenced the Phala Phala scandal.
Image: GCIS
Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe told Parliament on Tuesday that theft is a criminal matter that must be handled by the police and not government departments, prompting ATM leader and MP Vuyo Zungula to raise the Phala Phala controversy during the same meeting.
Responding to questions from MPs during a Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources briefing, alongside the CEF Group and Alexkor on their 2025/26 second to fourth quarter performance reports, Mantashe addressed illegal mining.
He said there was a clear distinction between legal mining and illegal mining, which he described as a criminal offence.
"We can't take an account for illegal mining. That's a criminal activity. And it's not our responsibility to deal with that," he said.
He said once theft was involved, the matter became one for law enforcement authorities.
"Once you steal, you have a different minister. Now you have an acting minister called Cachalia. That's your minister.
''If you are stealing minerals, your minister is Cachalia. If you are mining, I'm your minister. But if you steal those minerals, you belong to a different minister," Mantashe said.
He added that illegal mining in environmentally sensitive areas should be dealt with by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE) and the police.
"If people mine illegally in areas of ecology, that is the DFFE and the police who must deal with that issue. Not us," he said.
Following Mantashe's remarks, Zungula said he agreed that theft should be dealt with by law enforcement authorities, but drew a parallel with the Phala Phala scandal involving the theft of foreign currency from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s farm.
"On my side, I agree, and I wanted to thank the Minister for clarifying that theft should be dealt with by police. Meaning even in Phala Phala, when those dollars were stolen, they should have been dealt with by the police," Zungula said.
Mantashe also told MPs that derelict and unauthorised mines date back to the apartheid era, and added that the state acts as a “father figure” for ownerless and abandoned mines.
Mantashe said the department had sealed about 40 mine shafts over the past financial year within its available budget.
He further updated the committee on junior mining exploration licences, saying all eight licences that had been allocated were performing well, with four already ready for mining.
"Out of the eight, four are already ready for mining," he said.
The minister said exploration projects had identified the quality and quantity of minerals in their respective areas, adding that the Council for Geoscience was monitoring the work and providing oversight.
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