Honourable Members,   Any company that extracts a mineral resource in South Africa is required to pay the South African government a mineral royalty. This is because mineral resources are finite and cannot be replaced.   While it is always good to review existing policies against national priorities, there is no intention at this stage to reform the mineral royalty regime.   The Honourable Member raises the issues of resource rent taxes.   Such taxes aim to ensure that companies extracting minerals pay a larger share of their profits to government when profits are high.   South Africa’s mineral royalty regime incorporates an element of the principle underlying resource rent taxes.   The royalty rate applied to the sales value of a mineral is determined by a formula that varies according toprofitability, as well as whether the mineral is refined or unrefined.   There is a minimum rate to ensure that even if profitability is low, the country is still reimbursed for resources extracted.   In this way, government collects more corporate tax revenue and mineral royalty revenue from the mining sector during commodity booms and periods of high profitability.   Statistics from the South African Revenue Service show that mineral royalties doubled from R14.2 billion to R28.5 billion between 2020/21 and 2021/22 because of the commodity boom.   They remained elevated in 2022/23 before dropping to almost R16 billion in 2023/24, indicating that companies were not as profitable in that fiscal year.   In addition to the payment of mineral royalties, mining companies contribute to national revenue through corporate income tax, capital gains tax on the disposal of assets, VAT and employees’ pay-as-you-earn tax contributions.   Mining companies also make contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the National Skills Fund and SETAs through the Skills Development Levy.   In the past financial year, the mining industry paid 14 percent of all corporate taxes in South Africa.   Earlier this month, Cabinet adopted a Critical Minerals Strategy for South Africa, which places a sharper focus on domestic mineral value addition.   The strategy aims to maximise the country's potential in the global market for critical minerals, particularly those crucial for the country’s just energy transition and the ones for which the country holds comparative advantage.   This strategy aims to ensure that South Africa derives greater benefits from its mineral wealth through beneficiation, localisation and employment.   I thank you.