INLSA

Minister of Minerals and Energy Susan Shabangu.

JOHN YELD

Environment & Science Writer

THE DEPARTMENT of Minerals and Energy has revised its implementation procedures for dealing with Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) applications, but is still short-staffed for processing these applications.

This was revealed to the Centre for Environmental Rights during a recent meeting requested by the centre to express its concern about the manner in which PAIA was being implemented by the department, headed by minister Susan Shabangu.

Earlier, the Observatory-based not-for-profit centre said a “significant majority” of PAIA requests it had submitted to the department had been “simply ignored” and it had not received any correspondence in this regard, despite paying the R35 request fee.

Centre staff attorney Dina Townsend revealed that in the past year they had submitted 37 requests for information and 19 appeals on applications for information that were refused, but had not had decisions nor any correspondence in respect of any of the appeals.

The department has also come under fire from other organisations for ignoring PAIA applications and other requests for information and is now facing high court action by the Treasure the Karoo Action Group, which was snubbed in its bid for details on fracking.

The Cape Argus has approached the public protector after its PAIA application, also for information about fracking, was similarly ignored.

The centre’s executive director, Melissa Fourie, confirmed they had met department officials, including chief director: legal services Pieter Alberts, in Pretoria recently.

She said they had been told the department had revised and updated its PAIA manual and implementation procedures and that the manual was waiting to be approved by the new director-general, Dr Thibedi Ramontja.

The department had also stated that landowners and registered “interested and affected parties” did not have to apply through PAIA for information about mining rights and environmental management plans and programmes (EMPs and EMPRs), but could access these documents through a written or telephonic request. However, other parties had to apply using PAIA.

In response to several specific complaints, the department also told the centre it was not its policy to encourage or instruct mining companies to refuse access to documents to parties legally entitled to them.

“We were given no undertakings in relation to the unprocessed PAIA applications and appeals and we were advised that the unit was significantly overburdened by a wide range of appeals lodged with the department – that is, not just PAIA appeals,” Fourie said.

“While we are heartened at the measures being taken, we are still concerned that capacity constraints will continue to hamper the department’s compliance with PAIA.”

Information about mining rights, EMPs and EMPRs should be voluntarily disclosed by the department and mining companies and, ideally, should be published on their websites, Fourie said.

Pointing out that environmental authorisations under Nema (National Environmental Management Act) and water use licences under the National Water Act were available automatically without PAIA applications, Fourie said the centre would make a submission to the department that its documents be made available voluntarily.

“We also continue to challenge mining companies to publish their permits on their websites.”

l The department did not reply to a request for comment on this story.

john.yeld@inl.co.za