The Bolshevicks Party of South Africa (BPSA) has raised concerns about the government’s slow pace in issuing sand mining permits.
The party said the failure to speed up the sand permits was hitting poor people the hardest, adding that this was an unacceptable treatment by the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) under Minister Gwede Mantashe.
There is a backlog in terms of housing delivery and municipal service provisions with reference to road construction and maintenance, said Seun Mogotji, the secretary-general of BPSA.
He said the volume of applications for sand mining permits is very high, and the pace at which the government is processing them is very slow.
Call to issue permits speedily
“Instead of the government acknowledging its failure and speed up the process of issuing sand mining permits, it opted for a questionable route of harassing those who try their best by ensuring that there is food on the table for their families,” he said
“We know and also understand that for municipalities to mine sand they must get permits from the DMPR that is derailing service provisions by failing to issue permits speedily.
“As the Bolshevik Party of South Africa, we were happy when the government extended the due date for spaza shops, as we understood clearly that these kinds of businesses are for survivalists.”
He continued: “And therefore, as a country, we must also understand that the mining of the sand is not a hobby, but a … situation deriving from the demand of houses and service expected to be provided by municipalities.
“It is for this reason we call for the DMPR to extend and speed up the process of issuing the permits to the most needy and municipalities as well.”
Sand mining backlog soaring
Over the past year, a number of people were arrested and charged with illegal sand mining. Their trucks were also seized.
The backlog of mining licence seems to be an ongoing issue, as neither a single application of the souring 2 525 was processed by January 2024 for 2023/24, according to www.miningmx.com, something Mantashe blamed on the State IT Agency.
“My department has done its part of the job by selecting its preferred applicants to develop the cadastre,” Mantashe said previously.
“The ball was in the court of the State IT Agency, which must audit the department’s decision before a formal announcement can be made.”
