SA’s CoM looks forward to departure from Charter “template”

SOUTH Africa’s Chamber of Mines said it looked forward to “creative thinking on transformation” following a recent meeting with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) regarding a potential reframing of the Mining Charter.

“We look forward to creative thinking on transformation from all stakeholders which might result in some aspects of a new Charter being approached in ways different from the template of the first two iterations of the Charter that have operated since 2004,” it said.

Mines minister, Gwede Mantashe, said on March 20 that the first meeting with the Chamber among other stakeholders in the mining sector had been “robust”, but constructive. He also denied claims the mining sector had been disappointed to learn he intended using the Mining Charter 3 as produced by his predecessor, Mosebenzi Zwane, as a framework for a new Charter. “We can’t pretend nothing happened,” he said of Zwane’s Charter.

Said the Chamber: “The Chamber confirms that discussions over the weekend were robust. That is no less than we and all other parties should expect on matters as critical to the industry as this. The industry is appreciative of the real engagement that Minister Mantashe began at the weekend, after an absence of such processes over the last few years”.

“We are aligned with the Minister’s thinking that transformation, competitiveness and growth are and should be mutually reinforcing goals. These imperatives are not at odds with each other,” it added.

It said it would participate in the technical task teams established by Mantashe: one to discuss the Mining Charter and the other to discuss competitiveness and inclusive growth.

“The Chamber looks forward to an effective engagement process that, as the Minister indicated today, should include all interested parties including representatives of mining communities,” it said.

“We are not tied or married to Mining Charter 3,” said Mantashe. He also said he intended to make short work of the Mining Charter negotiations setting an end-May deadline for conclusion – a reference to the three months he said it would take when commenting on discussions earlier this month.

Responding to media questions, Mantashe also indicated a level of satisfaction with the 30% equity target contained in Mining Charter 3 – published by his predecessor, Mosebenzi Zwane in June last year. He indicated that the target was not necessarily unrealistic if mining companies had already achieved 26% empowerment which is a provision of the 2010 version of the Mining Charter.

However, the 30% issue had not been contested in the meeting with the industry. “The 30% target was not raised by anyone, including the Chamber of Mines. There is no problem with the 30%. If we revise it, it will be an issue for the future,” he said.

“My argument is that 30% is not substantial. 20% is not substantial if it’s versus 100%. But if you move to 30% from zero that is substantial. If we agree on 30%, let’s meet and comply. If we grow it, it will be done systematically as we empower people; it will be possible once we increase the [black] ownership,” he said.