South Africa will overhaul its mining regulations to attract greater investment and ensure more value is added locally to its mineral resources, Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said on Monday.
Opening the annual Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town, Mantashe said the government had completed its long-awaited Critical Minerals Strategy and had begun implementing it as part of efforts to strengthen Africa’s position in global supply chains and assert greater control over strategic resources.
“A central pillar of this strategy is the review of our regulatory framework,” Mantashe told delegates. The government aims to create a mining regime that is “more certain, more predictable and more transparent,” while ensuring that the benefits of mineral wealth are shared more equitably, he said.
As part of the reforms, South Africa has removed Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) ownership requirements at the prospecting stage, a move intended to stimulate early-stage exploration.
Mantashe described the decision as pragmatic, noting that exploration is a high-risk phase in which commercial value has yet to be established.
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“This change is designed to stimulate exploration, increase South Africa’s global share of exploration investment and ultimately expand the pipeline of future mines,” he said.
The minister said new geological data pointed to significant untapped mineral potential across the country and highlighted progress made under the state-backed Junior Mining Exploration Fund (JMEF). He said the fund had supported exploration activities, including drilling for rare earth elements in the Free State province.
According to Mantashe, the second funding round of the JMEF attracted 80 applications targeting minerals such as tin, tungsten, uranium, fluorspar and lithium, underscoring growing interest in critical and energy-transition minerals.
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He also invited delegates to the launch of a new Virtual Core Library by the Council for Geoscience, describing it as a national initiative that would improve access to geological data and enhance South Africa’s appeal to investors.
Mantashe cited continued investment in the sector, including the commissioning of new operations such as West Wits Mining’s Qala Shallows gold mine, Arnot OpCo’s open-cast colliery, Seriti’s Naudesbank colliery, Ivanplats’ Platreef platinum-group metals project and Ikoti Coal’s underground operations.
Between February 2025 and January 2026, South Africa granted 358 prospecting rights and 32 mining rights, figures Mantashe said reflected sustained investor confidence despite global economic uncertainty.
The minister also reported further improvements in mine safety, with 41 fatalities recorded in 2025, the lowest number on record and down from 42 deaths in 2024. “One life lost is still one too many,” he said.
The Mining Indaba, Africa’s largest mining investment conference, is taking place amid intensifying global competition for the continent’s mineral resources and growing calls for African countries to coordinate policies and avoid what Mantashe described as a “race to the bottom” in negotiations with global powers.
