ANALYSIS: Kumba court victory repairs sector’s dents
The Sishen ruling provides South Africa’s mining sector with a measure of certainty
One of the most unsavoury chapters in South African mining history closed last week when Kumba Iron Ore was finally granted a hotly contested and controversial 21.4% stake in its flagship Sishen mine after years of legal battles. The struggle for control of the 21.4% stake rattled investors’ confidence in SA as a mining destination because of the allegations of corruption made by Kumba against the unknown shelf company Imperial Crown Trading and people within the Department of Mineral Resources when the stake came up for grabs. The stake was shaken free after steel maker ArcelorMittal SA failed to convert its historical 21.4% stake in SA’s largest iron ore mine to a new-order mining right in 2009. It was immediately applied for and granted to Imperial Crown Trading. The company had links to the Gupta family, which has come to the attention of the public protector’s office in a state-capture investigation for its alleged undue influence on government appointments, decisions and its c...
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