Mining Charter finalisation waiting on ‘Meeting of Principals’

SOUTH Africa’s mining sector will schedule a crucial ‘Meeting of Principals’ consisting of central industry figures including the country’s mines minister, Gwede Mantashe, and key executives from the Minerals Council in the coming weeks to discuss the findings of two task teams appointed in March to redraft the Mining Charter.

“The meeting has not been scheduled as yet,” said Charmane Russell, a spokeswoman for the Minerals Council (formerly known as the Chamber of Mines). “The Principals’ Meeting is to discuss the findings of two task teams – on transformation and competitiveness, and growth – in the mining sector. They have been working independently “but with knowledge of each other’s progress on the Mining Charter,” she said in a telephonic interview.

The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), which Mantashe heads, said in a statement last night that it had concluded community meetings – 11 in all – regarding potential adaptations to the Mining Charter. The DMR claimed the meetings a success, and said that the process of the Mining Charter (negotiations) was “drawing to a close”.

“This process has afforded us an opportunity to reach out to all stakeholders and receive inputs from communities that will contribute in shaping the Mining Charter,” the DMR cited Mantashe to have said. “We have been encouraged by the level of engagements held throughout the country.

“We believe that with the inputs received, we will have a solid Charter, which once implemented, will move our transformation objectives forward”.

Commenting on ‘the way forward’, Mantashe said: “Before we present the Charter to Cabinet and gazette it, we will convene a summit where the department will present a draft and allow all stakeholders to comment on the final product that came out of the process of community consultations”. Details regarding the summit would be disclosed in due course.

Mantashe said during question time following the Minerals Bureau’s annual general meeting last month that there were still one or two subjects that needed to be ironed out regarding Mining Charter negotiations. “I’m sure we can do it,” he said regarding a three month deadline he imposed in early March in respect of Mining Charter negotiations – a timeframe that has raised an eyebrow or two among mining sector commentators.

“The negotiations are behind closed doors,” said Mxolisi Mgojo, president of the Minerals Council (and CEO of Exxaro Resources) during the question time.