The Junior Mining Council has welcomed government’s Operation Prosper crackdown on illegal mining but says law enforcement alone will not solve the crisis.
The council argues that regulatory bottlenecks, lengthy mining licence approval processes and declining investment in the sector are among the factors driving illegal mining.
Operation Prosper, a joint initiative between the SAPS and SANDF led to thousands of arrests linked to illegal mining.
Council Corporate Development Coordinator Nkosinathi Mdlolo further calls for mining regulations to be strengthened.
“We welcome Operation Prosper with regards to the enforcement. And we’re already seeing that there’s a lot of ground that is being made, a lot of arrests. But now we need to look at it a bit deeper. We need to look at the system itself. How did we even get here in the first place? So, it’s a regulatory issue. you look at it now, the reality is it’s actually easier for you to mine illegally than it is for you to mine legally. And why is that? Because of the regulation that we have, the red tape, right? And also, with that being said, it’s becoming harder and harder for someone to actually try and start a mining operation legally.”
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