MPRDA and Mine Health and Safety Act deadlines for mines and quarries in South Africa
Mines and quarries carry two parallel regulatory relationships with the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources: health and safety reporting under the Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996, which runs on medical surveillance and incident-reporting cycles, and mineral rights administration under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002, currently in the middle of a slow-moving system change.
Reviewed by TefCo Compliance Research — last verified 15 September 2026.
In short
- Medical surveillance is a standing legal requirement under the Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996, not a once-off exercise.
- Reportable occupational diseases — including pneumoconiosis, noise-induced hearing loss above a 5% threshold and specified lung diseases — must be reported to the Principal Inspector of Mines.
- The department's new mining cadastre, meant to replace SAMRAD, has repeatedly slipped and now carries a target of 31 March 2027 for full national rollout.
- A draft Mineral Resources Development Bill was published for comment in 2025; it is not yet enacted, so the current MPRDA remains the operative law.
Medical surveillance and occupational disease reporting
Medical surveillance is a legal requirement under the Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996, alongside the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, for employees exposed to occupational health hazards at a mine.
Employers must report specified reportable occupational diseases to the office of the Principal Inspector of Mines. These include cardio-respiratory tuberculosis and silicotuberculosis, pneumoconiosis (silicosis and coal workers' pneumoconiosis), asbestos-related lung disease with proven exposure, lung carcinoma with proven exposure to environmental hazards at the mine, chronic obstructive airways disease, and noise-induced hearing loss where the percentage loss of hearing shift is 5% or more.
The reporting mechanics and exact forms sit in the Regulations relating to Machinery and Equipment and other regulations made under the Mine Health and Safety Act — confirm the current reporting form and timeframe with the department's Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate before submitting.
Mineral rights administration: the cadastre timeline keeps moving
SAMRAD, the department's existing online system for prospecting and mining right applications, is widely regarded as unreliable, and government has been building a replacement cadastre for several years. In November 2025 the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) told its Portfolio Committee it aimed to roll out the new cadastre to every province by November 2026.
By June 2026 the department's director-general was giving a revised target of 31 March 2027 — the end of the department's financial year — for full national rollout, after the system had gone live only in the Western Cape as a pilot. Industry has publicly noted a pattern of missed dates on this project, so any rollout date should be treated as provisional until the department confirms it has gone live in a given province.
| When stated | Target given | Status at the time |
|---|---|---|
| November 2025 | All provinces by November 2026 | Live only in Western Cape pilot |
| June 2026 | 31 March 2027 (DMPR financial year end) | Western Cape fully migrated; Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape next |
Because the rollout is provincial and staggered, mining right holders and applicants should check with DMPR directly which system — SAMRAD or the new cadastre — is live for their province before submitting an application.
Frequently asked
Is medical surveillance a once-off requirement when a person joins a mine?
No. It is an ongoing legal requirement under the Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996, applied throughout employment and, in some cases, on exit, not only at appointment.
Has the new mining cadastre fully replaced SAMRAD?
Not as at the department's own June 2026 statements. It was live in the Western Cape only, with a target of 31 March 2027 for full national rollout — a date the department itself has acknowledged has moved before.
Is the noise-induced hearing loss reporting threshold a fixed number?
The reportable threshold referenced in the Mine Health and Safety Act regulations is a percentage loss of hearing shift of 5% or more — confirm the current definition and measurement method with the department before relying on it for a specific case.
Sources
- Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources — Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996 (full text)
- DMPR — Annual Medical Reporting (Mine Health and Safety)
- DMPR — Occupational Medicine in Mining (medical surveillance)
- Mine Health and Safety Act Regulations — Machinery and Equipment, reportable occupational diseases (GN R.89, Government Gazette 34003)
- Daily Maverick — SA mining cadastre national rollout kicked to 31 March 2027
- News24 — Cadastral cleanup: government wants to finish critical mining database rollout in a year
- Miningmx — Cadastre to be rolled out within a year, says DMPR's Mbele
TefCo Corporate Compliance (Pty) Ltd is a compliance management platform, not a legal, tax or advisory firm. This guide is general information, not advice. Fees, dates and thresholds change — confirm current figures with the regulator before you rely on them.
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