Definition of black people ‘is lawful’

The definition of “black person” in the new Mining Charter was strictly in accordance with the definition in the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, head of the BBBEE Commission Zodwa Ntuli said on Wednesday.

The definition of “black person” in the new Mining Charter is strictly in accordance with the definition in the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (BBBEE), head of the BBBEE Commission Zodwa Ntuli said on Wednesday.

One of the criticisms of the charter by, among others, the Chamber of Mines, was that it changed the definition of “black person” from the historically disadvantaged in the previous charter, to one that includes those naturalised after 1994.

This has been interpreted as a “Gupta clause” that would allow the family — which is caught up in a web of state capture allegations — to benefit from black economic empowerment.

Chamber CEO Roger Baxter questioned the changed definition of beneficiaries of empowerment transactions to include black, coloured and Indian people naturalised after 1994.

He questioned whether the new Mining Charter was written in the national interest to promote transformation, or to benefit a small group of people with vested interests in operating in SA’s mining space.

“The way the charter is written and what we are seeing, we are not convinced this is in the national interest,” Baxter said.

But Ntuli said the definition of black people in the BBBEE Act included naturalised persons and that the definition of black persons in the Mining Charter was consistent “word for word” with the act.

The act refers to black people as a generic term that means Africans, coloureds and Indians: a) who are citizens of the Republic of SA by birth or descent; or b) who became citizens of the Republic SA by naturalisation – (i) before April 27 1994; or (ii) on or after April 27 1994 and who would have been entitled to acquire citizenship by naturalisation prior to that date.

In a written reply to DA MP Dean Macpherson, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said that the Department of Mineral Resources had not consulted the BBBEE Commission on the reviewed Mining Charter.

However, it had consulted his department on the definition of “black person”.