SA mining industry “has lost confidence in Zwane”: Baxter

Roger Baxter, in-coming chair, Southern Palladium Pic: Martin Rhodes

SOUTH Africa’s mining industry had “lost confidence” in its mines minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, who had backed the re-write of a Mining Charter which was “… designed to benefit a select few at the expense of the whole country”.

Speaking on the final day of the Africa Down Under conference in Perth, Chamber of Mines CEO, Roger Baxter, said the country’s sector, which was critical to implementing the targets of the National Development Plan (NDP), was also laboring under the pall of corruption.

The NDP is a blue-print written by influential South African political, civil society and business figures aimed at steering the economy towards inclusive growth whilst dismantling the legacy of apartheid.

“There are a number of critical factors impacting South Africa’s investment attractiveness … including the fact the mining industry has lost confidence in the DMR Minister,” said Baxter. “Significant corruption allegations have not been cleared and the proposed judicial commission of enquiry into state capture has not been established.

“The industry does not believe that the approaches adopted by the DMR [Department of Mineral Resources] are serving the national interest of the country. The negative impacts of the unilaterally imposed RMC17 [Redrafted Mining Charter 2017], the proposed s49 rights moratorium, the non-resolution of the charter ownership issues, imposition of inappropriate s54 safety stoppages, etc, are a major crisis for the sector,” he said.

Section 49 of the Minerals & Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) allows the mines minister to halt the granting of new prospecting the mining rights given certain circumstances. However, mining industry attorneys believe this was intended to have specific application whereas Zwane applied it industry wide until withdrawing his intention to do so.

Baxter’s comments follow those of Zwane who presented at the African Down Under conference on September 7 in which he said the Mining Charter was law and would be implemented. This is despite the DMR having agreed to suspend it whilst it responded to an interdict launched in the High Court by the Chamber. Zwane also said all financial institutions with whom he had met supported the redrafted Mining Charter.

“In essence, there is a freeze on investment (it is extremely difficult to get an investment committee to approve any new Greenfields project in South Africa),” said Baxter. “The industry is of the firm view that the DMR’s RMC17 is designed to benefit a select few at the expense of the whole country.”