Search

South Africa's Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) of 2002 addresses the socio-economic injustices of the post-Apartheid (after 1994) era. Additionally, the Act stipulates that a mining permit or licence is required to mine lawfully. Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities that occur without a mining permit, therefore, are illegal and criminalised. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) in South Africa recently released the draft Artisanal and Small-Scale mining policy for implementation in March 2022. The announcement of this policy is the first step in formalising the artisanal mining sector in South Africa. Yet, formalisation strategies often fail in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of Africa. Consequently, the artisanal mining sector continues to operate informally or, in many cases, in an illegal setting. This paper argues that efforts should be directed toward addressing the sector's challenges, and the formalisation process ought to be viewed as an ongoing process. This article outlines developmental initiatives that industry players can apply to support the sector's challenges as part of a formalisation strategy. Ultimately, this will create opportunities where historically disadvantaged people can benefit from South Africa's mineral resources. • Developing the artisanal mining sector could provide wider socio-economic opportunities. • Zama Zama mining, if supported, could contribute to sustainable development in South Africa. • Criminilaisng and policing the artisanal mining sector is counterproductive and unsustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract While auctions are becoming increasingly popular for tendering renewable energy projects to private developers in Africa, their specific project risk implications are not yet fully understood. This paper identifies project risks arising from two types of auction schemes. It compares an approach where the government pre-selects the sites for future renewable energy plants in Zambia's Scaling Solar initiative to one where project developers choose, secure and conduct due diligence on their sites before bidding in South Africa's Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REI4P). Semi-structured interviews with developers who have participated in both schemes reveal notably different risk profiles. Despite contrary intentions, site-specific risks have been perceived as the highest overall project risk in the government-led site selection process in Zambia. Specifically, site-specific risks were driven by several severe technical issues such as geotechnical, grid connection and solar irradiation uncertainties. In contrast, in South Africa's developer-led site selection process, site-specific risks have been reported to be important, but less pronounced, and more evenly distributed among technical, economic, legal, permitting and social risk factors. This paper recommends an auction design which minimises project risks for all stakeholders. Where governments pre-select sites, closely consulting the private sector is advisable prior to bidding to identify and mitigate technical and other site-specific risks. Highlights • Explores risk impact of two site selection & preparation strategies for solar PV project procurement in sub-Saharan Africa. • The widely used strategy in the region is for a government institution or utility to select and prepare the project site. • The second strategy is where the private sector developers are responsible for selecting & preparing the site before bidding. • We find that a government-led site selection strategy can lead to increase risks, costs and timelines if poorly executed. • It is argued that more private sector involvement in the site selection & preparation process might reduce these risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]