Minister under fire for mine rehabilitation failure

A report on the BDlive site notes that the Department of Mineral Resources annual performance plan for 2012-13 committed it to the rehabilitation of 12 derelict and ownerless mines by March next year, said Melissa Fourie, executive director of the Centre for Environmental Rights. In 2009, the Auditor-General estimated the bill for cleaning up existing abandoned mines would top R30bn. Shabangu, in response to a parliamentary question posed by Democratic Alliance (DA) water and environmental affairs spokesperson Gareth Morgan, said no rehabilitation had been carried out in 2010-11 or 2011-12 and none was planned. There are 5 858 derelict and ownerless mines in SA, according to Shabangu's answer. Morgan said he accepted mine rehabilitation was 'a costly exercise, and ultimately may never be completely achievable, but there must surely be a list of mines requiring priority rehabilitation, particularly those that are negatively affecting the surrounding environment'. Fourie said 12 mines was a 'negligible target', and it was of 'extreme concern' that nothing had been done. Full BDlive report