[miningmx.com] – South Africa’s mining and petroleum sectors will be exempt from complying with the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (BBBEE) for 12 months whilst it was aligned with industry legislation, said BDLive.
The mining sector is ruled by the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) but the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has argued that its BBBEE needs to be applied to mining.
Since the acts differ on issues relating to empowerment equity, there has been confusion as to whether the mining sector has to reach for targets, or whether it must stick to the MPRDA.
According to BDLive, a government gazette on Friday (October 30) stated that this confusion was set aside for 12 months while the two acts and the DTI’s codes are aligned and a review of the charter is undertaken.
“The exemption is intended to avoid creating uncertainty for the mining and upstream petroleum industries,” Mines minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, said.
“The announcement indicates clear recognition by government that the mining industry and its stakeholders need continuity and certainty to be able to effect the transformation envisaged in the MPRDA and to continue to sustain and grow investment in our sector,” said Chamber of Mines CEO, Roger Baxter, told BDLive.
