Chamber heads to court to halt charter
The Chamber of Mines says it will apply for an urgent interdict to stop the implementation of the newly released Mining Charter by next Monday.
This as the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) warned of a jobs bloodbath in the mining industry that will be exacerbated by the contentious charter.
The CCMA held a first of its kind forum with mining stakeholders, including the Department of Mineral Resources, in Magaliesburg on Thursday to analyse the state of the industry.
While speakers tried to steer clear of the charter released by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane last Thursday, some projected that its consequences would be catastrophic.
The charter dictates that mining companies should increase black ownership to 30% within 12 months and includes provisions for the allocation of shares to employees.
Elize Strydom, the chamber’s senior executive for employment relations, said on the sidelines of the forum they planned to challenge the rationality of the policy among other legal issues they found problematic in it.
Strydom said they would also apply to the court for a review of the charter.
“I foresee there’s no way the judge will look at the charter and redraft it, what she or he will say to the minister is that the grounds for review … is found in the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act … that it is vague, confusing and even irrational.”
CCMA director Cameron Morajane said that there was a high likelihood the commission would end up discussing the charter and its implications when the time was right.
“If it continues, as a commission we will take interest in that and ask how does this affect us. If indeed the figure reflected is what is lost financially, you can start to think what is the effect of that on jobs, because then if it affects jobs then it is taking it to section 189 with the retrenchments. If it’s there, then it comes back to the commission. We have a special interest there,” he said.
Strydom said the upward trend in jobs witnessed in the mining sector last quarter was likely to take a dive as the charter, if it succeeds, will put the industry under severe pressure.
“If you think that on Thursday, R51bn was wiped off the JSE mining sector in one day.
“The investors are fleeing and if we don’t have the money and we can’t do capitalisation, keep up the machinery and all of those things, you can think what it will do to that spike.
“I don’t see it maintaining, in fact I think that we are about to come up with negative growth, sadly,” she said.
IF YOU THINK THAT ON THURSDAY, R51BN WAS WIPED OFF THE JSE MINING SECTOR IN ONE DAY