Namibia: Parliament Committee Calls for Urgent Overhaul of Small Scale Mining Sector

What the report says

Namibia’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources is calling for urgent legal and institutional reforms in the country’s small-scale mining sector, saying the current framework is holding back its growth and leaving miners with unresolved problems. The comments came from committee chair Tobie Aupindi at the end of an oversight visit this week to small-scale mining areas in the Erongo Region, where lawmakers toured sites and met miners and traditional leaders.

According to the report from The Namibian, Aupindi said the committee saw both promise and major shortcomings in the sector. He argued that Namibia’s mining laws and related policies need to be updated to reflect newer mining technologies and to better recognize small-scale mining as part of socio-economic development. He also pointed to disputes between Exclusive Prospecting Licence holders and mining claim holders as a key area needing action.

The article says miners raised similar concerns, especially about access to claims located inside EPL areas. One miner cited in the report described uncertainty over whether claim holders can work their land if permission from an EPL holder is refused. Aupindi said the issue is not limited to Erongo and affects small-scale miners across Namibia, making it a broader national policy question.