| |
SA govt to call charter review
David McKay
Posted: Mon, 09 Feb 2009
[miningmx.com] -- THE South African government would call a meeting with the country’s mining sector and unions before October to discuss whether minerals legislation promulgated in 2004 was working.
This is according to Sandile Nogxina, minerals and energy director-general who also confirmed a Reuters report that plans to split the minerals and energy department (DME) had been discussed.
Reuters said earlier on Monday that the DME would be split into two separate ministries for mining and energy.
“There have been discussions,” said Nogxina in an interview with Miningmx. “And a natural consequence of the split is that we’ll have more time to focus on mining issues such as the mining charter,” he said.
One of the crucial issues is whether the mining charter was working. “We will do a review of the charter before October or so,” said Nogxina. “It has to be done in terms
of the legislation which said a review was necessary within five years.”
The South African government has recently expressed dissatisfaction with the progress of empowerment in the mining industry.
It has said there has been no real transfer of wealth, except to a privileged few while some black entrepreneurs had simply traded their mineral rights for personal wealth.
Nogxina is in Cape Town to attend the debate around last week's State of the Nation address given by President Kgalema Motlanthe, and the Mining Indaba where the mines minister, Buyelwa Sonjica, will speak on Tuesday.
| |
