Business Report writes that the Chamber of Mines on Wednesday warned that between 50,000 and 100,000 jobs could be lost in the industry in the next few years if the 2017 Mining Charter were to be implemented in its current form.
The Chamber, which represents 90% of SA’s mining industry by value, said that the impact could even be felt beyond the mining industry. “I know of two particular transactions that have been cancelled this week, because of the uncertain environment following the gazetting of the Charter,” the Chamber’s chief executive Roger Baxter said at a round table briefing.
The third version of the Charter, which was announced by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane two weeks ago, aims to promote equal participation of all South Africans in mining.
Baxter shrugged off Zwane’s claims that the Chamber was anti-transformational, following its decision to approach the High Court in Pretoria to stop the implementation of the Charter. He argued that the Charter could not promote transformation at the expense of the sustainability of the mining industry. “Is this really a Charter that promotes the country’s transformation agenda or somebody else’s agenda?” he asked.
The Chamber previously said that it had achieved empowerment ownership levels of 38% on average, with the value of transactions since 2000 of more than R205 billion.
Baxter said that the Charter was drafted in isolation and also at the meeting, said the application for the interdict against implementing the Charter was to be heard in the High Court in Pretoria by 18 July.
Elize Strydom, chief negotiator for the Chamber, said that the Chamber expected to meet the deputy judge president of the High Court on Thursday to discuss why its application was urgent. She said that the Chamber also wanted the Charter to be reviewed and had 60 days in which to prepare its application, adding that they wanted the court to re-enroll the application for a declaratory order in respect of the continuing consequences of black empowerment in terms of the so-called ‘once empowered always empowered’ doctrine.
The declaratory order was put on ice last year by agreement between the Chamber and the DMR.
This report by Dineo Faku is on page 17 of Business Report of 29 June 2017
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