Chamber of Mines will go to court over charter ‘negotiated in bad faith’
The chamber will restart the process to seek a declaratory order on the continuing consequences of past empowerment deals — one of the surprises in the new charter
The Chamber of Mines will approach the courts to interdict the implementation of the Mining Charter, rejecting the “unilateral imposition” of the document — which it had not seen since April 2016 and which had set unachievable and brand new targets, said CEO Roger Baxter. The chamber has instructed its lawyers to approach the court to restart the process to seek a declaratory order around the continuing consequences of past empowerment deals, something the new charter ignores. The chamber wanted to use the court process to bring the department back to the chamber to reopen talks around the charter, but was fully prepared to follow its rights as far as the Constitutional Court, said deputy president Steven Phiri. The minute an interim interdict was granted in favour of the chamber against the charter, the document would cease to be in effect, allowing a legal process to unfold as well as give the department and industry a chance to negotiate elements of the charter, Baxter said. The...
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