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The Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources is concerned about the scale of illegal coal mining at a derelict mine in Osizweni, outside Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal province.

Last week on Friday, 17 October 2014 the Committee met with entities of the Department of Mineral Resources including Mintek, Council for Geoscience and Mine Health Council. 

The entities appeared before the Committee to report on how they performed in the 2013/14 financial year.

On Mintek presentation, Committee Chairperson Mr Sahlulele Luzipo asked about measures that were put in place to effectively deal with illegal coal mining in Osizweni and what resources are needed.

Similarly, Mr Luzipo advised Mintek to build partnerships with relevant stakeholders including the Department of Mineral Resources in order to come up with a holistic intervention that will bring a solution to illegal coal mining.

“This practice is a serious problem in Osizweni, considering that these illegal miners are digging beneath one of the community schools and in so doing they put the safety of learners and staff members at risk,” Mr Luzipo said.

Meanwhile, the Committee is happy with the fact that all entities have achieved unqualified audits with findings in the 2013/14 financial year, but reiterated that more work still needs to be done in order to obtain unqualified audits with no findings.

Issued by Parliament