Differences narrowed down to 3 issues
Case between the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and top mining houses is set to be heard in April
THE ONGOING dispute between the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and the country’s top mining houses is set to be heard in April, after the Minerals Council SA, which represents the companies, said they had narrowed down the differences to three issues.
The councils said it wanted the courts to rule on ownership, investment, and exploration requirements of the Mining Charter.
It said the remaining provisions of the charter had been agreed on and companies have started implementing them.
“We thought we were getting closer to resolving these issues, but at the end of the day the matter is still going to court,” council spokesperson Tebello Chabana said.
The council said in a report yesterday that its members had made progress on transformation targets set out in the charter. It said, however, Historically Disadvantaged South African (HDSA) representation in crucial decision-making positions, top and senior management levels was still relatively low.
“Women are still under-represented across all management levels,” said the report which was published yesterday.
The report said mining companies met and exceeded ownership targets of the charter. It said average BEE ownership stood at 39.2 percent compared to the charter’s target of 26 percent.
The report said that 80 out of the 93 companies had met the minimum 26 percent HDSA ownership requirement and represented 86 percent of the sample.
“The 13 mining companies that do not meet the target account for 1 percent of the sample data, based on the number of employees,” said the report, adding that black entrepreneurs held the majority of HDSA ownership.
It said the majority of the BEE transactions, however, did not create meaningful economic participation as outlined in the charter definition.
“This is, however, because most of the BEE transactions of the companies analysed were executed prior to the implementation of the Mining Charter 2010. In line with the definition in the Mining Charter 2010, only 22 mining right holders, which represent 23.7 percent of the sample, created meaningful economic participation,” it said.
The DMRE first introduced the
Mining Charter in 2004 to right the wrongs of apartheid and since then, the charter has been amended twice, in 2010 and 2018. The industry remains a critical component of the economy, especially with regards to employment and its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP). In 2018 the sector’s contribution to GDP was 7.3 percent and directly employed 453 000 people.
The report said the proportion of procurement from BEE entities had exceeded the targets in capital goods, services and consumable goods.
It said sampled companies reported that 75.4 percent or R16.9 billion of expenditure on capital goods was procured from BEE entities against the 40 percent Mining Charter 2010 requirement.