In the published amended regulations of the National Disaster Management Act of 2002 on 16 April 2020, Section 11K (3) stipulates that “the monitoring and impact of seismicity through the Council for Geoscience must be intensified with immediate effect”.

The Council for Geoscience (CGS) welcomes the responsibility bequeathed by the State authorities and affirms its readiness to fulfil this obligation in accordance with its legislative mandate and in collaboration with key protagonists in implementation of regulations.  The CGS maintains a national network of seismic stations across the length and breadth of the country and has a track record of recording and analysing seismology information for over a century. In giving effect to the resolution, the CGS will work together with a number of expert institutions including, albeit not limited to: the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC), The CSIR, the Minerals Council, the South African National Institute of Rock Engineers and the Institute of Mine Seismology.

On Thursday, 26 September 2019, the Auditor-General awarded the CGS the much-coveted PFMA Clean Audit award for the financial year 2018/2019. This prestigious award marks the culmination of 16 years of consecutive unqualified audits by the CGS. The Auditor-General’s Business Executive, Ms Zolisa Zwakalisa, presented the award to the CGS Management team at our Silverton head office in Pretoria. Ms Zwakala congratulated the CGS on this achievement and encouraged the Management team and staff to continue with the good work.

The CGS has donated geological maps and their explanations to the University of the Witwatersrand to the value of R141 000. Professor Gillian Drennan (Dean of Faculty) and Professor Roger Gibson (head of school) accepted the map donations on behalf of the School of Geoscience at the University of the Witwatersrand.

The Council for Geoscience (CGS) mourns the passing of Professor Maarten de Wit, an internationally acclaimed geoscientist who worked over several decades in numerous fields, including the evolution of the early Earth; Earth system processes and science transdisciplinarity. Professor de Wit’s passion, commitment to geoscience education and development led him to occupy various prominent positions at research institutions around the world and the supervision of several hundred Master’s and Doctoral graduates. His contribution toward the body of geoscience knowledge and understanding of the Earth is unrivalled and has assisted in the characterisation of numerous critical Earth processes and the development of applied geoscience solutions, especially on the African continent.

The CGS is deeply saddened by the tragic passing of our Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources, Ms Bavelile Hlongwa last Friday, 13 September 2019. Ms Bavelile Hlongwa was an aspiring, young and energetic leader who was passionate about the plight of women and youth in South Africa.

The community ofKwaMachi, near Harding in the South Coast of KwaZuluNatal has in recent times claimed to have found gold in the area. The Council for Geoscience (CGS) being the custodian of all geoscientific information in the land, was then tasked by the Minister of Mineral Resources Hon. Gwede Mantashe to investigate the veracity of the purported gold. In June 2018, the CGS conducted investigations in the Harding quarry where the aggregate was mined to maintain local roads and where the local community claimed to have found a gold deposit. In the first investigation, rock samples were collected from the quarry andanalysed at the MINTEK Laboratory in Johannesburg. The 150 m by 150 m quarry was used primarily as a source of aggregates for improving the condition of the local roads. Although the first set of results showed that the quarry did not contain gold, the CGS decided to conduct further investigations.

The Council for Geoscience (CGS) has observed with concern the accusatory statements made by the Boere Krisis Aksie on 20 February 2020 via social media. We accordingly place on record that the statement was issued without consultation with the management of the CGS to address the purported concerns. We have further resolved to thoroughly investigate these allegations, in collaboration with the Law enforcement Authorities, and intend to engage all affected and interested stakeholders upon conclusion of the same within a period not exceeding a month. The reports from these comprehensive investigations will also direct the necessary actions to be duly considered in pursuit of justice.

On 28 May 2019, the President of the Republic of South Africa, the Honourable Cyril Ramaphosa, announced the merger between the Departments of Mineral Resources and of Energy (now known as the DMRE). Subsequently, and in line with Parliamentary requirements, parliamentarians were appointed to serve on various Parliamentary Portfolio Committees (PPC). The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy embarked on an oversight visit to all DMRE entities in view of introducing its members to these entities and their various functions.

The Council for Geoscience, as the national custodian of all geoscience data in South Africa, has embarked on the development of an updated and digitally interactive geological map of South Africa. This map takes advantage of fundamental geological data that has been collected over a period spanning more than a century and is presented on a scale of 1:1 000 000 scalable to a resolution of 1:250 000. Several previous inconsistencies were noted and have been resolved using advanced technological intervention and/or targeted field work.

The Council for Geoscience (CGS) can confirm that an earth tremor occurred roughly 72 km south-west of Durban on 31 October 2019 at 13:19. The earth tremor registered a preliminary 3.7 on the local magnitude scale as recorded by the South African Seismograph Network. Although the tremor could be felt around the south-west of the Durban and areas further north, in Pietermaritzburg its epicentre has been located to an area around the regional route R612, near Sawoti Police Station in Braemar.