As of 2013[update] the political head of the department, the Minister of Mineral Resources, is Ngoako Ramatlhodi and his deputy is Godfrey Oliphant.
In the beginning of June 2014, during the platinum wage dispute between mining companies and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), Ramatlhodi threatened that the mineral resources department would withdraw from the negotiation process.
[3] The replacement of Ngoako Ramatlhodi was considered controversial and greeted with criticism from Labour Unions.
[7][8] In January 2017, during a judgement on the case between Aquila Steel and six respondents, which include the Minister of Mineral Resource and the department management, the Guateng division of the High Court of South Africa stated that the DMR stood in the way of private investment into the mining industry in South Africa, and failed to resolve central issues in a time effective and responsible manner, thus building a solid case for its own substitution.
There are regional offices in Polokwane, eMalahleni, Johannesburg, Klerksdorp, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Mthatha, Cape Town, Kimberley, Springbok and Welkom.