Roundup: S. Africa's draft mining charter published amid concerns

The South African government on Friday published a draft mining charter, which is designed to ensure that black people hold at least 26 percent of mining shares even after those stakes were sold.

The plan, known as the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Charter, seeks to strengthen the efficacy of the Mining Charter, developed in terms of section 100 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), as one of the tools for effecting meaningful transformation of the South African mining and minerals industry, Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane said.

He said the Charter further seeks to integrate the government's transformation policies and legislation in order to enhance the ease of doing business, and create regulatory clarity, predictability and certainty.

The Charter is accordingly published for a period of 30 days, as defined in the MPRDA, from the date of publication. During this period, Zwane will, as is the norm, engage with organised business and organised labour in the mining industry, to get their inputs on the draft.

Other interested and affected parties are hereby invited to submit written inputs and comments as per the Gazette notice, no later than May 31 this year.

The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) wants mine-right holders to ensure that their empowerment credentials are "consistent with the amended 2016 Mining Charter," which states that producers "must achieve a minimum target of 26 percent ownership per mining right to enable meaningful economic participation of black people".

The charter also sets targets for companies to boost the number of black people in management and improve training and benefits for communities near mines.

In response to the publication, the Chamber of Mines said it is committed to constructive engagement with the DMR and other stakeholders in pursuit of ongoing transformation.

The Charter is the instrument that gives effect to the intentions of the MPRDA. It initially came into effect in 2004 and a revised version was gazetted in 2010.

The Chamber, the biggest organization of mining companies in the country, said its member companies continue to be committed to the achievement of all the transformation objectives of the Charter and, for the most, have met the targets set by the 2010 Mining Charter.

The version published Friday will be used as the basis for engagement between the DMR and key industry stakeholders.

The Chamber is currently seeking clarity through the High Court on the interpretation of black economic empowerment ownership transactions carried out by the industry between 2004 and 2014. This decision, which is only expected later this year, will undoubtedly influence both the assessment of the industry's historical performance in terms of ownership and the way forward and could significantly influence this version of the Charter.

"With more than a decade of the application under our belt, we have better understanding of the drivers of transformation that yield the most desirable outcomes, and some of the potential pitfalls," said Chamber President Mike Teke.

He said they look forward to constructive interaction with the government and the other stakeholders in the period ahead.

"It is in all of our interests that a mutually acceptable version of the revised charter is finalised at the earliest opportunity," said Teke.

Since the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa has been pushing for increased black ownership of the mining industry, which accounts for almost half of the country's exports. Enditem