Vague Zwane fails to impress miners
Tension between mining companies and the Department of Mineral Resources palpable at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town
The tension between mining companies and the Department of Mineral Resources was palpable at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, where pleas from the local industry for certainty and greater consultation were met by stale and sometimes hostile responses from Minister, Mosebenzi Zwane. Delegates expressed disappointment at the "bland" nature of Zwane’s address, which, for a second year, committed to creating certainty in the industry and finalising the Mining Charter and amendments to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act by March and June, respectively. "That was a monumentally squandered opportunity," said Peter Major, a mining analyst at Cadiz. "We’ve already heard everything he said today, last year, in fact. And nothing much has changed in the past year. It’s just become more difficult and uncertain." At a media briefing afterwards, the extent of the department’s frustrations with mining companies became apparent when Zwane warned them against threatening with litigati...
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