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Mining Act Amendment very significant – Peter Leon, partner WWB
In an interview on ClassicFM @ 18:00 on Tuesday, 7 February 2007
[miningmx.com] -- PETER Leon, a partner at legal firm Webber Wentzel Bowens and vice-chairman of the mining law committee of the International Bar Association, said the announcement that the South African Government could amend the contentious Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) was one of the most significant announcements to come out of Government since 2002 when the Act was passed.
This follows comments by South Africa’s Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica that certain parts of the Act could be amended to make it more investor friendly.
Leon was speaking on Classic FM business programme Classic Business Day.
“I think it’s one of the most significant announcements to come out of government since 2002 on this issue which is when the Act was passed, and which came into force in 2004,” he said.
“I think that’s a really very significant
announcement, because in the last four or five years government has been very defensive about this legislation. Now they are actually admitting for the first time that there is a problem with the law itself.”
Leon said the key issue was that the Act was far too vague in terms of its requirements.
“If you look at the mining charter - which is a rather vague document that doesn’t have very detailed specifications - and if you look at the Act itself the requirements are quite vague,” he said.
“There is always a danger that people will differ quite legitimately about what it means - so the Department of Minerals & Energy (DME) can quite legitimately say to a mining company that they haven’t complied with the Act while the company says they have. At the end of the day it’s up to the regulator - which is the same department licensing these companies.”
Leon also said that there was the realisation on the part of Minister Sonjica, who has only been in office for
eight months, that the processing of applications has to be completed more expeditiously.
“You can’t have the rest of Africa showing up South Africa - which was for a long time the leading African mining destination,” he said.
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