[miningmx.com] – SOUTH Africa’s mining sector may fall under the complete control of whites if empowerment targets failed mining not perpetually set a 26% target, said BDLive citing the views of Thibedi Ramontja, director-general of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).
Ramontja’s comments are in court papers, seen by BDLive, which argue against the principle of once-empowered, always-empowered. The papers are an answering affidavit to the Chamber of Mines which believes past empowerment deals should be recognised in the mining charter even if the vehicles of empowerment no longer exist.
“The concept “once empowered, always empowered’, if valid as an interpretation tool, would entail a possibility that the mining industry will in the future again be owned by non-HDSA [Historically Disadvantaged South Africans] only,” Ramontja is quoted to have said.
“The concept should, for that reason, be declared to be inconsistent with the provisions of the MPRDA. If this were permitted, the historic inequalities that are sought to be redressed may recur,” he said.
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