Mudslinging, warnings as mining row intensifies

The spat over the publication of South Africa’s reviewed Mining Charter has become ugly.

Johannesburg - The public spat around the publication of the reviewed Mining Charter got ugly with mudslinging from political parties including the Economic Freedom Fighters and trade union Solidarity yesterday, warning of its devastating consequences for the country.

Since the draft of the charter was gazetted last week, the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has come under increasing fire for publishing it without industry-wide consultation.

Read: Zwane to meet miners on empowerment review

The furore over the draft, which is available for public comment for 30 days, comes as the Chamber of Mines has also approached the courts for clarity on elements in the previous charter.

The backlash continued yesterday with trade union Solidarity general secretary Gideon du Plessis charging that the timing of the draft charter was most perturbing in the wake of the retrenchment bloodbath in the mining industry.

“The DMR is attempting to enforce the charter amid trade unions and other players’ struggle to save thousands of jobs in the industry… The DMR should rather now make an effort to create a more favourable investment environment as opposed to trying to push through a draft charter that will have the opposite effect,” Du Plessis said.

Du Plessis warned that the charter in its present form would create the potential for numerous court actions due to unconstitutional, illegal and unfair clauses.

“The only sensible way forward is that the charter, as in the case of the previous charter, should be rewritten through comprehensive consultations between stakeholders in order to avoid litigation. The latter will also create the climate and opportunity for the Chamber and the DMR to iron out their differences regarding ‘once empowered, always empowered’,” Du Plessis said.

The Mining Charter, adopted in 2004, was the government’s plan to address the inequalities of apartheid and included targets which were supposed to be achieved by 2014.

In the gazette, the department indicated that mine-right holders should ensure their empowerment credentials were “consistent with the amended 2016 Mining Charter,” which stated that producers “must achieve a minimum target of 26 percent ownership per mining right to enable meaningful economic participation of black people.”

Mining companies have voiced their disappointment over the publishing of the charter without extensive consultation and the court case was under way.

The charter was discussed in Parliament this week during Minister of Mineral Resources Mosebenzi Zwane’s budget vote. Political parties did not hold back punches.

EFF deputy president and chief whip Floyd Shivambu during the budget vote noted the government’s failure to meet the targets in the 2014 charter.

He also questioned Zwane’s credibility to lead the ministry following allegations of his ties with the Gupta family.

“This minister’s first official trip after being appointed Minister was to Switzerland to meet with a criminal organisation called Glencore, alongside the Gupta family to negotiate family deals.

“2014 has come and gone and none of those targets were achieved. You have placed on the government gazette a new mining charter which just shifts the goal posts,” Shivambu said.

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