f or the r emo v al of MRD S under the defnition of w as t e a t v arious engagements tha t in v olv ed further polic y amendments la t er included in the NEMLA IV Bill T his c ertainty w as v ery important f or mining c ompanies t o ensur e c omplianc e with the pr e v ailing legisla tion a t leas t up until the appr o v al of the NEMLA IV Bill b y P arliament It is anticipa t ed tha t the NEMLA IV Bill will be adopt ed int o la w in mid20 20 3 Int erf ac e betw een mining and agricultur e During the Nedlac pr oc es s tha t in v olv ed the Pr eserv a tion and De v elopment of A gricultur al Land Bill the Miner als C ouncil r aised k e y is sues tha t posed pot ential risk t o the de v elopment and e xpansion of mining in the Bill T he Miner als C ouncil ar gued tha t some of the pr o visions in the Bill ar e adequa t ely c o v er ed in other r ela t ed A cts f or ins tanc e the addition of another authorisa tion r equir ement t o be r egula t ed b y the Minis t er of A gricultur e f or an y activity on the agricultur al land including mining is unnec es sary and will only be bur densome t o the indus try Furthermor e the Miner als C ouncil highlight ed the f act tha t the mining indus try tak es the nec es sary pr ecautions t o mitiga t e the en vir onmental impacts of mining in agricultur e and sugges t ed tha t the bill should be balanc ed t o pr o vide f or equitable dispensa tion f or both sect ors t o mutually c oe xis t 4 Mine w a t er r esour c es management policies T he is sues tha t underpinned the Miner als C ouncil engagement with the D W S on the dr aft Mine W a t er Management P olic y ar e the duplica tion and c ontr adictions of the polic y pr oposals with the Na tional En vir onmental Management A ct the Miner als and P etr oleum R esour c es De v elopment A ct and other legisla tion which alr eady e xis ts T he Miner als C ouncil engages in these discus sions with a vie w t o pr omot e and embr ac e the pr ot ection of w a t er r esour c es and further belie v es this can be achie v ed b y fully implementing the e xis ting legisla tiv e fr ame w ork and b y int er go v ernmental c oor dina tion in t erms of the r egula t ory r equir ements T hr ough these engagements the Miner als C ouncil w as ins trumental in f acilita ting solutions t o challenges f ac ed b y members in r espect of w a t er use lic ensing and the implementa tion of the Na tional W a t er A ct and other r ela t ed policies and legisla tion T he Miner als C ouncil is a w aiting a r esponse fr om the D W S on its writt en submis sion r egar ding the dr aft Mine W a t er Management P olic y and a Cabinet decision on the dr aft Na tional W a t er and Sanita tion Mas t er Plan Siban y eS tillw a t er Rus t enbur g PGM oper a tions P age 6 9 MINERALS C OUNCIL SOUTH AFRICA INTEGRA TED ANNU AL REVIEW 20 19