Instead of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) thinking up plans to boost South African mining, recent court judgments demonstrate how the DMR is sending this country’s invaluable minerals endowment down the drain. Urgent steps should be taken not only to put an end to this, but also to make good by introducing innovative measures to stimulate mining, as is being done in other mining jurisdictions like Australia, Canada and even incipient ones like Madagascar. The Mining Cadastre Bureau of Madagascar this week chose South Africa to launch its impressive mining business centre, which is dedicated exclusively to showcasing the range and depth of Madagascar’s mineral wealth. Yet South Africa, which has metals and minerals in the ground worth many trillions of dollars, frightens off would-be investors through ongoing errant DMR behaviour.