By Thapelo Molefe
The Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua) has accused Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources of failing in its constitutional duty of oversight.
This comes after the committee allowed the Minerals Council of South Africa to dismiss, without evidence, a damning report detailing systemic looting in the mining sector.
This happened during a committee meeting on Tuesday, where Macua’s report titled “Looted Promises: The Crumbs Economy of Mining”, was dismissed as inaccurate without any substantiation.
Macua expressed disappointment on Wednesday at what it described as Parliament’s continued failure to protect the rights of mining-affected communities.
“This is not just a slight against Macua. It is an attack on the right of mining-affected communities to document, expose, and demand redress for the systematic looting and mismanagement of resources meant for their development,” the organisation said.
It accused the council of not engaging in the facts.
Despite the mineral council’s claims that the report was riddled with mistakes and simply wrong, Macua said it provided not a single shred of evidence to support this assertion.
It said the report was a product of years of field-based research, verified documentation and direct testimony from communities living near mining operations.
It paints a grim picture of systemic corruption, exclusion and failed promises in the mining industry particularly around Social and Labour Plans (SLPs), which are meant to drive community development.
According to Macua, the council’s dismissal reflected a broader culture of impunity in the sector and one that was reinforced by a lack of political will.
“The dismissive hand-wave by the minerals council is not only intellectually dishonest but emblematic of the impunity with which industry continues to operate in South Africa, enabled by a government that increasingly sees no duty to its people,” Macua said.
The organisation also criticised committee chair Mikateko Mahlaule.
“We are especially disappointed in the chairperson of the portfolio committee, who has time and again failed to discharge his oversight role with the integrity and independence required of his office.
“He has instead acted as a rubber stamp for the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, ignoring evidence, sidelining community voices and defending a minister who refuses to meet with the very people most affected by mining.”
Macua claimed that this was not a case of individual failure but a reflection of a deeply broken oversight system.
It cited the silence of committee members from all political parties, Parliament’s lack of action after Macua submitted evidence to the Ethics Committee and a continued failure to respond to the deaths of over 100 artisanal miners in Stilfontein as examples of systemic neglect.
In its statement, the organisation linked these parliamentary failures to broader political and economic interests, accusing political parties of being compromised by mining-sector funding.
“We cannot ignore the unholy alliance between political parties that accept funding from mining corporations and their failure to stand up for communities whose constitutional rights are violated daily,” Macua stated.
“This alliance is not just unethical, it is deadly. It perpetuates poverty, exclusion and violence.”
It has called for an urgent meeting with the committee to present the full findings and a rejection by Parliament of the council’s unsubstantiated dismissal of the report.
The organisation also wants a transparent and inclusive public process to revise the draft Mineral Resources Development Bill in accordance with community demands.
Furthermore, Macua called for binding legal reforms that guarantee free, prior and informed consent, enforcing mandatory community ownership, ensuring that SLPs are enforceable and introducing independent oversight mechanisms.
Lastly, it demanded a renewed commitment from Parliament to uphold constitutional principles particularly the rights to dignity, participation and development that it claimed were routinely denied to those living in mining-affected areas. “Until this happens, the minerals council will continue to loot with impunity, the DMPR will continue to govern by decree, and Parliament will continue to fail the people it was elected to serve,” Macua warned.
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