Transitions: The role of the DMRE in SA’s just energy transition

By Thoko Chilenga-Butao and Waseem Holland A month before the publication of this report, the President announced his new cabinet under a Government of National Unity – appointing two ministers at the helm of what was the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE). Both ‘new’ departments – Mineral and Petroleum Resources, and Electricity and Energy – have a pivotal role to play in enabling South Africa’s transition to a green and more socially just economy. To do this effectively they must transform the old DMRE into two forward-looking departments that adapt to the demands of the coal phase-out and the escalation of renewable energy. The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) must oversee the reform of the mining industry, and respond to mining for the new minerals required by the green economy, in a manner that is not simply a repeat of the exploitative, destructive mining practices of the past. Aside from the need to address the climate crisis, the concept of socially and environmentally sustainable mining is a central tenet of the early post-apartheid legislation regulating the mining and energy sectors.