Movement On The MPRDA Bill

In 2014, the South African Parliament passed the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill 15B 2013 (the Bill) and referred it to the President for assent.

Instead of assenting to the Bill, however, the President referred it back to Parliament in 2015, citing substantive and procedural concerns that may result in the Bill not passing constitutional muster. Since the above-mentioned referral, there has been very little movement (in public) on the proposed Bill.

On 1 November 2016, the National Assembly held a debate on the MPRDA Bill. The revised Bill has not yet been published. At the debate, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources indicated to the National Assembly that the concerns raised by the President have been addressed and called for the National Assembly to vote in favour of the revised Bill.