Mpumalanga remains the mysterious black hole which keeps expanding South Africa's backlog in mining applications. Tseliso Maqubela, deputy director-general for petroleum and regulation at the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, says this is a reflection of an overlooked item in the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.

The main bottleneck for various kinds of mining applications remains Mpumalanga, which has an abundance of coveted coal.

The deputy director-general for petroleum and regulation at the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), Tseliso Maqubela, reiterated this point at Resources for Africa's Junior Indaba in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Mpumalanga accounts for about two-thirds of a currently undisclosed backlog which stood at over 5,000 three years ago -- Maqubela elaborated on this in an interview with Daily Maverick on the sidelines of the conference.

"The issue of mining permits was overlooked when the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) was amended in 2008," Maqubela explained.

"When an application is made for a mining or prospecting right, only one can be accepted. That does not apply to permits. Multiple applications can be made."

Mining permits are far less onerous to obtain than mining rights and only cover up to 5ha. They don't require a social and labour plan or an extensive environmental impact assessment. Their design is meant to support small businesses such as brickworks or sand mines to service a small town or rural hamlet.

But in Mpumalanga, as Daily Maverick has reported before, there has been a deluge...