[miningmx.com] — PARLIAMENT has asked the Chamber of Mines to again explain how the industry’s assessment of BEE compliance differed so vastly from government’s conclusions.
The Mining Charter, an ancillary document aimed at providing a framework for the promotion of black economic empowerment (BEE) in the mining sector, demands that 26% black ownership be attained by 2014. According to the Chamber of Mines, the sector has already achieved 28% ownership and has therefore already exceeded the target.
The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), however, has pegged black ownership at 9%, while the South African Mining Development Association (SAMDA) estimated it at around 5%. Trade unions, including the National Union of Mine Workers (NUM) and Solidarity, have also disputed the Chamber of Mines’ figures.
Chairman of parliament’s mining portfolio committee, Fred Gona, told Miningmx on Tuesday that he did not understand how, if the Chamber of Mines figures are correct, a sector could have exceeded the 2014 targets so quickly.
“We do not seem to be able to get reliable and factual information out of the umbrella bodies, so we have invited the captains of industry themselves to come and talk to us on transformation,’ he said, following the presentation of the DMR’s latest annual report to the committee.
Gona said MPs wanted to get to the bottom of the figures in order not to base their discussions on disputed information.
