Indians, coloureds left out of mining charter
IT IS of grave concern that the new mining charter released by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane is being railroaded for implementation.
Notwithstanding an urgent interdict applied for by the Chamber of Mines in the high court in Pretoria, the content of this charter is contentious as it is devoid of proper applicability, which is confusing.
The revised charter states that the “black ownership target is upped from 26% to 30%”, which must be complied with within a year.
My concern is with the term “black ownership”.
The hullabaloo with transformation and black empowerment relegates two aspects of transformation – the Indian and coloured communities – to the back burner.
It has become apparent that transformation is specifically designed for our black compatriots only and this is highly racist.
The ANC champions the Freedom Charter and promised an equal society that was non-racial and fair. That is evidently becoming further and further from the truth.
The Indian and coloured communities were equally oppressed, and contributed significantly to the dismantling of apartheid, yet the reticence to incorporate them in the “black” category is ominously deficient in terms of economic empowerment.
The natural resources of South Africa, once the prerogative of the white elite, are fast becoming the prerogative of the black elite, much to the disadvantage and detriment of the majority of people, which includes the Indian and coloured communities.
The new mining charter is a racist document in the government’s zest to transform and, while not being blind to the inequities of the past and their disastrous effects on “black” citizens, it effectively excludes a significant aspect of South African society.
Speaking truth to cause, it is mainly a small portion of well-connected people who will benefit, and this is unacceptable.
It is pointless striving for social cohesion and a non-racial society when strategic empowerment tools are being fashioned to advantage a few.
Cyril Ramaphosa, for example, didn’t become a billionaire by some incantation. Having been given shares in the mining industry in the name of political expediency, he enjoys great wealth. Likewise, many of his ilk, who are high-profile government officials, both past and present, enjoy much the same.
We cannot hope to have a society transformed when basic economic policies are designed to advantage a particular race group.
I am opposed to the revised mining charter, which has a bias that disadvantages the Indian and coloured communities in acquiring shares in the natural resources of this country, and fully support the application made by the Chamber of Mines. NARENDH GANESH
Durban North