The long-awaited transparent record of South Africa’s mineral rights – the lifeblood of the mining industry’s future – is barely out of the starting gates and is already mired in distrust.

There is no question that a functioning cadastral system is critical to attract mining investment to South Africa.

In most other mining jurisdictions that have such a system, it means investors looking to pour funds into exploration need only to open a web browser to access an up-to-date record of who holds which mining rights over any particular property.

Receive Fin24 writer-at-large Carol Paton's articles about the political economy, state-owned enterprises and energy sector.