MANTASHE DEFENDS EMPOWERMENT DRIVE DESPITE U-TURN ON PROSPECTING
- BEE NEWS
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
Jacob Webster | 9 February 2026
The minister backtracked on a proposal to place BEE requirements on prospecting rights in June.
Mining minister Gwede Mantashe said his recent reversal on empowerment requirements for prospectors should not signal a retreat from BEE, which remains vital to the local mining sector’s agenda.
“Many say BEE is driving investors out. It is not. It is an opportunity given to people who were excluded by apartheid. Do your exploration. At the point of production, we can talk about having a black partner,” said Mantashe at the opening of the 2026 Mining Indaba.
In June, Mantashe backtracked on a proposal to place BEE requirements on prospecting rights after industry players and legal experts warned the move might hurt investment.
The proposal was part of Mantashe’s draft Mineral & Petroleum Resources Development Amendment (MPRDA) Bill of 2025, an overhaul of the country’s flagship mining regulation of 2002.
A correction notice published a month after the draft bill’s release for public comment showed the minister removing the requirements.
Legal experts had warned it would dampen deal-making and scare away foreign investment in exploration by making the process for obtaining a prospecting right even more onerous.
In his opening address on Monday, Mantashe assured the crowd that the move was not a “retreat from transformation”. Neither was he advocating the view that “black participation is a barrier to economic growth”.
“It is rather a pragmatic recognition that prospecting is a high-risk phase where no economic value has yet been proven,” he said. “The change is designed to stimulate exploration, increase South Africa’s global share of exploration investment, and ultimately expand the pipeline of future mines.”
The comments come as debates around South Africa’s empowerment laws have been reignited by US President Donald Trump’s false claims of a “white genocide”, putting a global spotlight on the country’s transformation agenda.
Business Day reported in November that the DA had unveiled its “Economic Inclusion Bill for All”, which it said would replace the ANC-backed broad-based BEE framework. The party argues that the existing model has failed to uplift the country’s unemployed and impoverished majority and has instead benefited a politically connected elite.
However, ANC national executive committee member Zuko Godlimpi has accused the DA of basing its objections to BEE on misinformation, saying the opposition’s proposed replacement policy is rooted in flawed assumptions.
Policy changes aside, Mantashe said the department of mineral & petroleum resources is “working very hard” to improve its licensing system and boost exploration in the country. He said things are moving in the right direction, with the department having granted 358 prospecting rights and 32 mining rights between February 2025 and January 2026.
The minister’s opening remarks centred on a call to action for African countries to work together on regional value chains, accelerating exploration in an era of “profound global uncertainty”.
“We are witnessing heightened geopolitical tensions, driven largely by the competition of some developed economies seeking greater control over the natural resources of developing nations,” he said.
“It is a strategic imperative for Africa to act collectively, speak in one voice, and avoid the destructive race to the bottom in our engagement with global powers and investors.”
‘Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the BEE CHAMBER’.