Mining Charter promises stability
Guarantees of 30 years allay fears
Holders of mining rights will have up to 30 years of stability on their Mining Charter obligations, says Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe.
Briefing the media yesterday on the new Mining Charter, Mantashe said the department was trying to ensure community and labour involvement in the fractious mining sector, which would bring an element of ownership to those who have been excluded in the past.
In drafting the charter the department had drawn on best practices from other mining countries, including Botswana, Mantashe said.
The third iteration of the Mining Charter, released on Friday, keeps the 30% ownership target introduced in the previous charter by former mineral resources minister Mosebenzi Zwane, but with major concessions to the industry on recognising past deals, provided partners left voluntarily.
The constant change in ownership targets has brought deep levels of uncertainty to the industry. With the latest charter, the Mineral Resources Department wants to bring stability and certainty to mining companies by ensuring they know their obligations for an extended period.
The Minerals Council SA [formerly Chamber of Mines] said yesterday that while the new draft version, which is open for comment for 30 days, was a “material improvement” over Zwane’s charter gazetted in June last year, it was still a deeply flawed documents.
“The Minerals Council believes that much more work needs to be done to create a Mining Charter that promotes competitiveness, investment, growth and transformation for the growth and prosperity of South Africa,” it said, labelling parts of the charter as unconstitutional, in violation of company law and anti-growth.
There would be a summit on July 7 and 8 for all stakeholders to discuss the draft charter as part of the 30-day feedback period, Mantashe said.
Mosa Mabusa, chief executive of the Council for Geosciences and one of the key negotiators for the Department of Mineral Resources, said the new charter would provide the sought-after stability to mining companies by guaranteeing them a single set of rules by which to abide during the tenure of the mining rights – up to a maximum of 30 years, at which time the agreements would be renegotiated.
Since the first charter was implemented in 2004, outlining companies’ obligations around empowerment, 26% black ownership, employment criteria and procurement, it has been regularly changed, with amendments in 2010 and last year in the deeply flawed charter issued by Zwane.
Mantashe said the department wanted communities, employees and black entrepreneurs to grow their shareholdings to racially transform the traditionally white-owned industry.