Illegal mining is costing South Africa billions of rand in lost revenue and posing growing risks to safety and economic stability, Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe told a national human rights inquiry on Wednesday.
Speaking at the South African Human Rights Commission’s National Inquiry into the Policy Framework around Artisanal Mining, Mantashe said illegal mining has become one of the most pressing challenges facing the country’s mining sector. He warned that criminal syndicates operating underground are draining state revenue, undermining lawful operators and exposing communities to violence and environmental harm.
“While progress has been made, significant challenges remain. One of the most pressing challenges confronting the sector is illegal mining, which is often conflated with artisanal and small-scale mining,” Mantashe said, cautioning against treating fundamentally different activities as the same problem.
Mantashe drew a clear distinction between the two. Illegal mining, he said, is a criminal activity conducted in direct contravention of South African law and is often linked to organised economic crimes, including illicit financial flows, extreme violence, human trafficking, gender-based violence and the smuggling of weapons and explosives.
By contrast, artisanal and small-scale mining is a legitimate economic activity when carried out within a regulated framework. Such operations are typically undertaken by South African citizens or legally documented residents and are intended to support livelihoods and local economic development.
The minister said a “disturbing trend” has emerged in recent years, with many illegal mining incidents involving undocumented foreign nationals. He cited the Stilfontein incident, where 1,826 illegal miners surfaced from underground, most of them undocumented migrants from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.
In Barberton, authorities arrested around 1,000 illegal miners, again largely undocumented foreign nationals from neighbouring countries. “An individual who enters the country illegally and engages in unlawful economic activity cannot be sanitised or reclassified as an artisanal and small-scale miner,” Mantashe said.
Mantashe warned that illegal mining, once largely confined to derelict and ownerless mines, is now increasingly encroaching on operational and licensed sites. This shift, he said, poses serious risks to worker safety, mine security and broader economic stability.
The economic cost is substantial. According to the minister, illegal mining drained an estimated R49 billion from the South African economy in 2019 alone, depriving the state of revenue needed for public services and infrastructure.
In response, the government has rolled out a multi-pronged strategy. This includes accelerating the rehabilitation of derelict and ownerless mines, implementing Operation Vala uMgodi to clamp down on illegal mining activities, and streamlining regulations to formalise artisanal mining while strengthening sanctions against criminal operations.
Significant progress has been made in mine rehabilitation, with at least four asbestos mines rehabilitated and 280 mine openings closed, Mantashe said. An additional R180 million was allocated to the programme in the previous financial year, followed by R134.7 million transferred to Mintek in the current year.
The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources is also reviewing the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA). The proposed changes aim to formalise artisanal and small-scale mining, prohibit illegal mining outright, and criminalise the transportation and trade of minerals without the required documentation.
Mantashe said government has already moved ahead with reforms, noting that the Policy on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining was published in 2022. The policy, he said, creates lawful pathways for participation in the sector while ensuring that criminal activity is “firmly and decisively addressed.”
As the SAHRC inquiry enters its second phase, its findings are expected to shape future policy on artisanal mining, enforcement and community protection. For government, the challenge remains balancing economic inclusion with a hard line against criminal syndicates operating beneath South Africa’s mines.