Chamber of Mines launches scathing attack on Minister Zwane

THE CHAMBER of Mines yesterday launched a scathing attack on Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, accusing him of lacking integrity and charging that the industry had lost faith in him.

The chamber’s chief executive, Roger Baxter, said Zwane’s decision to forge ahead with the implementation of the controversial mining charter had put a strain on relationships between the two.

Baxter said the rift had grown to such an extent that the chamber refused to share any platform with Zwane, adding that they believed that only courts would bring normalcy into the industry.

He said significant corruption allegations against Zwane had also not been cleared, adding that Zwane’s reconciliatory tone on the charter was not genuine.

“It is a pity that he (Zwane) opens up his arms for engagement after the horse has bolted,” Baxter said. “He has had more than two years in which to negotiate, it is a shame that he has not used those opportunities.”

The rebuke came after Zwane’s apparent reach-out to the mining industry when he told delegates that his door was always open for talks on the charter.

Baxter said the chamber had lost faith in Zwane.

He said the last time the chamber shared a platform with Zwane was at the annual Africa Down Under Conference last month – in Perth, Australia.

“The outcome was not at all constructive,” Baxter said, adding that the decision to boycott Tuesday’s dinner was not impetuous.

“It was not a decision based on personal animosity towards the minister. It was a carefully considered decision based on the current regulatory and judicial situation,” said Baxter.

The reason for boycotting the dinner was that not only had Zwane unilaterally published a mining charter whose full implementation would destroy and damage the industry; he also recklessly sought to introduce a moratorium on approving new mining rights, he said.

He said the gazetting of the charter came on top of Zwane’s questionable history.

“He came in as minister seemingly with the primary task of strong-arming a legitimate rights holder of a major mining asset, conspiring with then Eskom leadership to apparently force the sale of a mine to a well-known family,” he said referring to reports that Zwane had helped the Gupta family to acquire Glencore’s Optimum Mine.

“This pattern of behaviour makes it impossible for the industry to engage with any confidence with him on the industry’s future,” said Baxter.